… Highlights Nigeria’s Vantage Position In Driving Growth
The prospect of Africa joining in the league of technologically advanced continent has been placed squarely on the shoulders of the youth, as stakeholders at the ongoing technology conference and exhibition, IoT West Africa, sees them as the “powerhouse of technology development in Africa”.
Speaking at a side chat with the media, Managing Director of Vertex Next, a subsidiary of Vertex Group and organisers of IoT West Africa Conference and Exhibition, Shitij Taneja, noted that the startup ecosystem in Africa has attracted over $70 billion in investment, with Nigeria having a huge chunk of that money.
According to him: “We see a lot of investments coming in from the data centers on the telecom side towards the sector.
“We also see a lot of investors, pouring in money for the startups. There are a lot of startups in Africa alone, till now there has been an investment of around $70 billion that has been invested in the startups and we are just acting as an aggregator to fuel this fire to enhance more investments towards the West African economy”.
While admitting that Nigeria is pivotal to this growth, Taneja tipped the country as the new African Silicon Valley because of its vast population, burgeoning startup ecosystem and vibrant young tech enthusiast.
Noting that these qualities earned Nigeria the hosting right to this year’s conference, Taneja further said, “The reason we are hosting the IoT West Africa, which is co-located with Africa data center and cloud Expo Africa is because we see a lot of potential in the market and the growing number of youths that are working towards the development of technology.
“Also, IoT is something that is required in our daily lives, to which West Africa and Nigeria is adapting to.
“IoT is required as we are adopting to technologies. It’s something that is required in our daily lives and Nigeria is adapting to, whether it’s our coffee machine, our cities, or even with our daily shopping, so this is some of the things we are trying to bring over here with this conference.”
Also speaking at the event, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, said that Government intends to set up research centres for emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Blockchain across all six geo-political zones of the country.
Inuwa made this announcement this during his keynote address on Tuesday at the opening of the 3-Day Conference which is holding at the Balmoral Center, Federal Palace Hotels, Lagos, Nigeria.
Represented by NITDA’s Director of Corporate Planning and Strategy, Dr. Aristotle Onumo, Inuwa stated that the initiative aligns with NITDA’s focus on fostering a strong technology research ecosystem.
In the address titled “Regulatory Framework Challenges to Support IT Developments in West Africa,” Inuwa highlighted that the conference theme resonates with NITDA’s vision, and pointed out that the agency’s research priorities encompass IoT, AI, Blockchain Technology, UAVs, Additive Manufacturing, and Robotics.
Highlighting the accelerated service deliveries, the NITDA DG emphasized that emerging technologies are enhancing rural life by addressing waste disposal challenges, and smart agriculture is transforming food production through various automated agricultural processes.
