To promote digital literacy in Nigeria, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the Bank of Industry (BoI), and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have teamed together.
At the bank’s Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) stakeholders’ forum in Lagos, Olasupo Olusi, the Managing Director of BoI, explained that the growing youthful population and increasing urbanization have led to a rise in the digital and creative sector’s activities. He maintained that this is crucial because it will increase productivity in the Nigerian economy.
He contends that the economic strategy of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s transformation plan revolves around the creative and digital economy since these sectors are vital to the development of jobs, the fight against poverty, and the eradication of inequality in society.
We must shift our attention to methods of enhancing the output and activity from the digital and creative economic sectors in light of this awareness. The iDICE program is a transformative endeavor that is part of this repositioning, he said.
He emphasized, “The Bank of Industry established a Creative and Digital Group in 2011 to provide tailored financing for projects in recognition of the critical role of the creative sector in economic development, and the success story has been enormous.”
He emphasized that there are still chances, such as the iDICE program, for young, energetic entrepreneurs to launch and grow their enterprises by providing the capital and the infrastructure they need and advocating for the adoption of laws that will help take fledgling companies to the next level.
“I am sure that if we all contribute to this program, we can help to build a Nigeria where all of its citizens have decent jobs, there is less poverty, and their standard of living is raised,” he said.
The federal government’s iDICE initiative is timely and strategic, according to Tapera Jeffrey Muzira, Coordinator Jobs for Youth in Africa Strategy, AfDB Group. He also explained that the initiative will build the systems to support more competitive entrepreneurs driven by creativity and digital technologies, making it transformative.
He emphasized that Africa has the youngest population in the world, with over 400 young people between the ages of 15 and 35. He stated the iDICE initiative has the ability to create millions of jobs for young people.
According to his projections, about 25% of the world’s population is likely to originate from Africa by 2050, when the continent’s population is forecast to double to 2.5 billion, making up a quarter of all people on Earth.
He pointed out that in the upcoming 10-year strategy, which would run from 2024 to 2034, the multilateral organization Development Bank is investing in Africa’s youth as a corporate priority for the first time in its history.
For the first time, the bank is putting youth at the center of our corporate strategy and investing priority accordingly. In actuality, the iDICE program falls within our Jobs for Youth in Africa plan. This aims to give young people industry skills and create 25 million jobs within ten years.
He continued by saying that the iDICE program would finance 450 digital technologies to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria, as well as help 200 creative and technological entrepreneurs.
The Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (STRAP), according to NITDA Director General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, is intended to assist Nigeria surpass the rest of the world in terms of digital literacy by 2027. It focuses on blockchain, IoT, and artificial intelligence (AI).
