Dr. Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy is leading a push to train three million Nigerian tech talents between now and the year 2027.
Information and Communication Technology is an area where Nigeria has displayed significant comparative advantage and it is hoped that the talent developed will work from home and abroad, earn hard currency and uplift Nigeria’s economy and image.
It is further hoped that Dr.Tijani’s project will win over some misguided local talents involved in antisocial practices back to the right path.
Tijani’s plan focuses on five major pillars of knowledge, policy, infrastructure, innovation and trade.
Along these lines, the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Monday, released a strategic blueprint for the digital economy, under Tijani’s supervision.
The minister’s blueprint focuses on five major pillars of knowledge, policy, infrastructure, innovation and trade, as a roadmap outlining the goals and objectives of the ministry.
The strategic plan, which was released on Dr.Tijani’s the X (Twitter) handle, highlighted some initiatives and projects planned for completion by 2027.
Under the knowledge pillar, which is the first on the agenda, the Minister said the government would work with industry stakeholders to train three million tech talents and prioritise job placements by the end of 2027.
According to the Minister, within the same period, the level of digital literacy of Nigerians would increase to 70 per cent, with a plan to position Nigeria to be among the top 25 percent in technology research globally in six key areas including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, Blockchain Technology and Additive Manufacturing.
Throwing light on the plan, Tijani said, “Government is committed to talent development. We have set the ambitious goal to train three million early to mid-career technical talents over the next four years.
“The training will cover tech-enabled and tech-adjacent skills, core tech competencies and advanced proficiencies, designed to power our workforce to thrive in a constantly evolving technology landscape.
“Ultimately, our strategic intent is to train at least 1.5 million of the skilled professionals within our local talent pool and facilitate opportunities for another 1.5 million of our talented individuals to excel in the global talent marketplace, preferably through remote opportunities.”
Under the second pillar, which is centered around policy, the minister said when properly designed and executed, the policy would provide a platform for innovation and entrepreneurship to thrive.
“Over the next four years, our policies will focus on encouraging investment, research and development and the protection of intellectual property. By doing so, we will attract talents and investments to stimulate the nation’s innovation ecosystem.
“We have identified nine priority policy, regulatory and strategic initiatives for review and implementation, which includes: National Broadband Plan, National Policy on Digital Public Infrastructure, National Policy on Telecommunications, National Blockchain Policy, National Digital Economy Bill, Nigeria Startup Bill, National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, National Data Strategy and National Digital Literacy Framework,” Tijani said.
In the area of broadband review and implementation, Tijani said government would support the existing plan to achieve 70 percent broadband penetration by 2025.
He explained that the third pillar, which focuses on infrastructure, would address spectrum management, digital public infrastructure, among others, with a plan to achieve up to 50 per cent utilisation of identified spaces for innovation and tech related initiatives.
The fourth pillar of the strategic blueprint, according to the minister, focuses on Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Capital and would provide a roadmap for Nigeria to harness the potential of innovation, entrepreneurship and capital, as catalysts to transform Nigeria’s digital economy.
The fifth pillar of the strategic blueprint would serve as a roadmap in positioning Nigeria to become a major player in the African and global technology ecosystem, designed to grow inter-African trade by 500 per cent by 2027.
Tijani earned a PhD in innovation and economic development from the School of Business, University of Leicester.
His doctoral research focussed on contributing to a better understanding of how the network perspective to innovation capacity could provide a contextually relevant framework for explaining the adoption and adaptation of innovation in developing countries and specifically offer an alternative path to how African countries could effectively organise their innovation ecosystems.
