The Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) 2017 which commenced last Sunday in Dubai will be rounding off today.
While leading a cohort from Nigeria who are currently representing the country at this year’s Gulf Exhibition, the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Isa Ali Pantami, has called for investment in the country’s IT sector in view of its vast untapped capacities.
The NITDA boss while presenting a speech at the Africa Investment Forum at Dubai World Trade Centre, said there is enabling environment created by the Buhari administration’s Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council, PBEC, for businesses to thrive in Nigeria.
He also revealed that the country has developed a comprehensive National Broadband Plan (NBP) towards increasing the broadband penetration in Nigeria to 30% by 2018.
While pitching on Nigeria’s IT potentials, the NITDA boss said the ICT sector contributed 11.27% to the total nominal GDP in the 2nd Quarter of 2017.
“We see a good potential for growth in the sector and we are creating an environment that can significantly increase the sector’s contribution to the nation’s GDP.
“As such, this is a good time to invest in our ICT sector and we invite you to partner with us in this season of growth,” he said.
According to Pantami, NITDA has an Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE) which hunts talents and support promising Nigerian startups in the ICT.
He added, “The activities of the OIIE have enabled the ICT startup innovation ecosystem in Nigeria to grow at a remarkable pace. One of our startups- Genie Games- won the 2nd position at the keenly contested Startup Movement Competition at GITEX 2016.
“Many Nigerian startups have also won plaudits from home and abroad. For example, HopStop, an online city transit App acquired by Apple for a whopping $1billion, was owned by a Nigerian-born Entrepreneur. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, visited Nigeria last year and had very complimentary things to say about the quality of ICT talent in the country. His foundation also provided $24million funding for Andella, a Nigerian company focussed on building World-Class Software Development Teams.
“Konga.com, a Nigerian e-commerce company, attracted over $65million funding in 2014. Also, out of a record-breaking total of $366.8million raised by African startups in 2016, investments in Nigerian startups had the largest share of $109.4 million.
“These investment stories underscore the viability of the Nigerian startups and the capacity of Nigerians to conceive ingenious ideas. We invite you, our potential investors, to take advantage of this massive talent pool as you invest in Nigeria.”
