……says Conference is to prepare Africans for partnerships and global investment
L-R : Executive Producer 77, Tonye Princewill ; Co- Founder DLD, Steffi Czerny,; Co-founder, Venture Garden Group, Bunmi Akinyemiju; CEO Global Tech Africa Dr. Inya Lawal; US Consul General, Will Stevens, DG, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi and Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of Sweden, Jordan Bjallerstedt
Global Tech Africa (GTA) is set to empower 13,000 Africans to become ICT experts.
This was said by the Chief Executive Officer, GTA, Dr Inya Lawal at the Global Tech Africa GTA Summit which was held at Lagos Continental Hotel, Lagos, Nigeria during the week.
According to Dr. Lawal, with Information Communication and Technology (ICT), Nigeria is talented in terms of Innovation and talents, hence the need to be prepared for partnerships and global Investment
Speaking on how accessible this program is to the underserved communities, Dr Lawal said GTA is activating programs in various communities across Nigeria in States such as Jigawa, Osun, Oyo, Lagos, Abuja, among others.
“We also want to ensure that all trainings are translated into other languages for wider outreach” she said.
The Summit, Dr Inya Lawal said was organised to announce the GTA Conference scheduled to hold in November 17th-19th November 2023.
“During the Conference, about 13,000 Africans will be trained to become ICT experts’ said Dr. Lawal.
This Summit according to the U.S Consul General, Will Stevens, is designed to build talents that will develop technology ‘hence U.S is partnering with Nigeria to build an enabling structure with the ecosystem that works.
“Many Nigerian Students are currently studying in U.S with the aim of coming back to Nigeria with connections, ideas, research and Investment” .
This partnership, Stevens pointed out will boost Investment because increased technology Investment will create more job opportunities.
On how best to tackle cyber security threats which is still a major challenge facing ICT industry, Stevens said U.S govt is partnering with many leading companies who are experts on Artificial Intelligence (A.I) to talk about Safety, Security and Transparency. “Nigeria is also involved, we are looking at ways to bring A.I to the people of Nigeria.
His words “Nigeria can help shape the growth and development of this transformative tech and this will no doubt impact Nigeria and Africa positively” he said.
Ecosystem according to the Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi is designed to help Africa transform and ignite a flare of innovation that will illuminate our paths towards creating a digital future in Africa.
“Africa with its abandoned talents, untapped potentials and vibrant youthful population is forged to perform a pivotal role in the global Tech ecosystem” said Abdullahi.
“Coming together under this platform of Global Tech Africa, we recognize the importance and the potentials that lies ahead of us in areas such as e-commerce, Fintech and digital economy in general”
Global Tech, Abdullahi revealed will provide platform to unlock different potentials.
To build a strong ecosystem in the industry, Abdullahi highlights major stakeholders to partner with, they include : Higher Institutions that produces human capital ; Corporate organisations that absolves human capital ; Venture Capital ; entrepreneurs that can grow businesses and govt. that will intervene in the areas of policy making and infrastructures in unserved and underserved communities.
“To ensure sustainability, we’ve come up with the national digital literacy framework that will build competence within our education system, which is based on what is needed in the global ecosystem” said Abdullahi.
“The Summit serves as a catalyst to unlock potentials and empower Africa to become global leaders in technology” said the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, Dr. Williams Nwankwo Alo who was represented by the Director, ICT, Dr. Samuel Okoye.
Artificial Intelligence (A.I) in words of the Co- Founder, Venture Garden Group, Mr. Bunmi Akinyemiju begins with knowledge, talent, capital and end up with data and it is the only way to transform governance. “As we think about education, there is need for Africans to welcome A.I, inject it in how you learn, rather than rejecting it” said Akinyemiju.
Co-Founder Digital Life Designs (DLD), Conference Presentation, Steffi Czerny said Nigeria has so much talents and resources, hence the need to connect them with talents in Europe.
“DLD is partnering with GTA because we want foster positive relationship in a changing global economy” said Czerny.
GTA Summit is a pre-conference gathering of 300 top executives in the private, public, and development sectors who are key to the development of the Technology Ecosystem in Nigeria and Africa.
GTA is an initiative of the Future Map Foundation designed and implemented by Ascend Studios Foundation; and in partnership with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the U.S. Consulate Lagos, Venture Garden Group, Business Sweden, and RivExcel Health.
