The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has called on Germany investors to direct their investments towards the Nigeria tech ecosystem due to its value and returns on investment (RoI).
Speaking in a conversation with a group of international investors from Ludwig von Bayern Startup Lions, Germany, on the topic, “The Evolution of the Nigeria Tech Ecosystem”, Inuwa explained that Nigeria provides opportunities for entrepreneurs to quickly and conveniently start and grow businesses.
According to the DG, Nigeria’s future is much more promising than today due to the four comparative advantages the nation has over other countries of the world, adding that these four advantages could hardly be gotten anywhere else in the world.
Listing the comparative advantages, the NITDA boss informed his audience that Nigeria’s large population and its emerging economic status positioned it at a pole-length as a suitable investment destination in Africa.
“Africa is a continent with 54 countries and 1.4 billion people with 2.9 trillion GDP. Nigeria alone has 15% of the population and the GDP, so investing in Nigeria is like investing in Africa.
Moreover, it is emerging because if you look at the tech-ecosystem, Nigeria attracts 30% of the continent’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Last year alone, the country attracted more than 2 billion USD.”
Inuwa stated further that the level of support the government now gives to the tech ecosystem is unparalleled in the history of the country.
He noted the government has been supporting innovation and startup with so many interventions in term of policies, laws and infrastructure to help businesses to grow.
According to him: “In 2019, the President expanded the mandates of our ministry to cover digital economy. Before, it was just ministry of Communications but realizing that communication is not the end but a means to an end, while the end is how we can use technology for economic prosperity.”
He further referenced the passage of the Nigerian Startup Act, the Executive Order on Ease of Doing Business, including other incentives like visa on arrival and business incorporation under 24 hours, which were aimed at transforming the country’s economic landscape.
“Thirdly, we have youthful and talented population which you can never get anywhere in the world. While the developed countries are suffering from aging population, we have one of the youngest populations in the world,” he noted.
According to him, Nigeria has high potential for social and economic impacts and investing in the country would help the country solve mirage of challenges bedeviling the nation.
While urging the investors to look the way of Nigeria, and further inviting them to grace the Africa Tech Conference planned for July 2023, Inuwa also specified areas of need: “We have so many challenges that need innovative solution; we have challenges around healthcare, financial inclusion, education, transportation, and logistics.
And you all know IT or technology can provide faster solutions for us to solve all these problems.”
