The Executive Vice Chairman of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI), Dr. Bashir Gwandu has visited the Ambassador of Czech Republic to Nigeria, His Excellency Zdeněk Krejčí for business collaboration and fact-finding on Delta2 Project.
Dr. Gwandu who paid a courtesy call to the Czech ambassador in Nigeria at his office in Abuja on Friday said he was on a fact-finding visit to know why the project which was supposed to benefit Nigeria’s technology companies and entrepreneurs and the country’s economic development failed.
The Delta 2 project was supposed to be a bilateral collaboration between the governments of Nigeria (represented by NASENI) and the Czech Republic (represented by Technology Agency of Czech Republic, TA CR) that would ensure take-off of projects that would foster growth and expansion of infrastructure, manufacturing and innovation in Nigeria leading to Made-in-Nigeria technologies and products.
Dr. Gwandu informed the ambassador that the new administration at NASENI is ready to work with the Czech government to drive Nigeria’s industrialization agenda and attract new investments in the country that would ensure domestication of technologies through partnerships.
According to him, the mandate of NASENI is to make sure that Nigeria produces most of the goods and services it currently imports of which Nigeria has the capability to produce locally, thus developing the country’s economy and creating jobs for millions of Nigerians.
Gwandu reeled out expectations: “I want us to work on government-to-government level on new initiatives we embark on. We want a relationship that is beneficial to our country. We have a lot of companies we are reaching out to. We want to work with Czech government and companies. We want them to come here and start producing and domesticating technologies. We want to industrialize Nigeria.
“We want Czech companies to come and invest here in Nigeria and have partnership with us.”
He added that NASENI is working on new initiatives that would accelerate Nigeria’s industrialization and would partner companies from Czech Republic and other countries ready to set up factories and industrial base in Nigeria.
On his part, the Czech Ambassador commended the EVC of NASENI and his team for making out time to visit him at the embassy to enquire on why Delta2 Project did not take off. He said his country is ready to work with NASENI on scientific cooperation.
“We await your new initiatives. In our country we have a grant agency and a technology agency responsible for scientific cooperation and also the academy of sciences which will be beneficial to you.
“We have about two or three companies that are ready to work with you and three universities working with tropical agriculture. I think they deserve your cooperation,” he said, adding that they are ready to work with NASENI to make the new initiatives fruitful.
