INTRO [Apr. 29 – May. 3]

In a bid to attract capital inflow into Nigeria’s digital economy sector, Honourable Minister, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani engaged extensively with private and public sector officials in Wales and Sweden to identify areas of collaboration and investment opportunities in the nation’s fast-growing technology ecosystem.

KEY FOCUS

Innovation and Investment: Attracting investments for capacity development and innovation was the key focus of the Honourable Minister as he met with potential partners and institutional investors in Wales and Sweden to draw their commitments towards investing in Nigeria. 

This is coming days after a similar visit to the Kingdom of Netherlands in the company of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu who met with Prime Minister Mark Rutte and other key government officials to highlight the benefits of investing in Nigeria for sustainable returns.

TIMELINE

Monday: 

• Dr. Tijani’s first official engagement for the week was an extensive virtual meeting with Directors in the Ministry to review their work plan. Following the Directors’ presentations, the Honourable Minister gave his feedback and offered ideas on finetuning the plans for greater efficiency. The meeting was attended by the Permanent Secretary, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo.
• The Honourable Minister then had another virtual meeting with Lana Graf, the Global Lead for Artificial Intelligence/Deep Tech at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), World Bank, who expressed the organisation’s interest in investing in cutting-edge technologies across the globe, especially in the field of AI. Dr. Tijani highlighted the Ministry’s mandate to increase the nation’s level of productivity using technology, while expressing Nigeria’s readiness to partner with the IFC/World Bank for accelerated growth. 

Tuesday:

• Dr. Tijani travelled to Wales, United Kingdom with a view to explore areas of collaboration with Swansea University, an institution renowned for its research capabilities and technological advancement in semiconductor fabrication for utilisation in industries. 
• On arrival, the Honourable Minister was taken on a tour of the Clean Lab at the institution by Professor Owen Guy, Head of Chemistry at Swansea University. The multi-million pound lab, which was set up with the support of the UK government and other players in the semiconductor industries, is a facility that supported the practical training of technical talent specifically in the semiconductor industry. Professor Guy highlighted the specialised training procedures required, and the Honourable Minister initiated discussions around the possibility of working with the University to create a bespoke hybrid programme for Nigerian talent to attract students from Nigeria towards the industry which is facing a significant talent shortage globally.

Wednesday: 

• At Swansea University, the Honourable Minister attended the SEMI Talent Forum tagged, ‘Building a Digital Future’. The Forum connects the microelectronics industry with government, academia, and STEM students while also highlighting the role of the technology in building a digital economy and sustainable future. The seminar highlighted the urgent need for talent in Europe and globally as the increased usage of Artificial Intelligence and other 4th Industrial Technologies drives increased demand for chips in devices. In addition, there was emphasis on the need to expand the talent pool and to ensure that more younger and diverse people were being introduced into the industry. 
• Following the morning session, Dr. Tijani engaged with leaders of the SEMI Talent Forum in the company of Mrs. Kofo Akinkubge, Managing Director, SecureID, to identify opportunities for talent development and job creation in the semiconductor industry as articulated in his Strategic Blueprint document. The discussion explored the possible setup of a curriculum and an exchange programme with university networks across Europe to develop these potential trainees. The Honourable Minister witnessed the signing of the agreement between SecureID and SEMI Europe to formally explore these discussions and take things forward with the support of the government. The SEMI Europe team was represented by Laith Altimime, President, SEMI Europe and Cassandra Melvin, Senior Director of Business Development & Operations, SEMI Europe.

Thursday: 

• On the invitation of the Swedish government, the Honourable Minister travelled to Stockholm, Sweden to take part in a series of meetings to explore investment partnerships with both government and private sector players in Sweden with a focus on Innovation, Connectivity, Research and Digital Technologies. 
• The Honourable Minister’s delegation on the 2-day visit included Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and other officials. 
• A packed schedule kicked off with a Roundtable Meeting with Team Sweden at the country’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs where the Honourable Minister was received on arrival by the State Secretary for Trade, Håkan Jevrell. Discussions at the meeting focused on setting the tone for the visit, where the Honourable Minister gave an overview of the current state of Nigeria’s digital economy and the extensive opportunities for collaboration. He reiterated the mandate and desire of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to diversify the Nigerian economy, especially in the technology sector. In view of this, the deepening and expanding of Nigeria’s trading relations with Sweden and Swedish companies, and leveraging the Nordic country’s technical expertise in developing our technology sector was an important part of this trip. The Swedish delegation was made up of Fredrik Kirst, Acting Director for Africa, Ministry for Foreign Affairs; Marie-Claire Maxwell, Regional Trade Officer – Africa, Business Sweden; Nathalie Thiel, Project Manager, Regional Office for West Africa, Business Sweden; Birgitta Lindström Kruk, Head of International Finance, Swedish Export Credit Corporation; and Johan Boström Heiskala, Project Manager, Swedfund Project Accelerator. Others are Frida Ericsson, Policy Specialist Capital Mobilisation and Catalytic Development Financing, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); Patrik Stålgren, Senior Advisor Private Sector, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); and Adiam Tedros, Head of Scholarship and Leadership Programme, Swedish Institute.
• The Honourable Minister was hosted to a luncheon by Johan Forssell, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, who formally welcomed Dr. Tijani to Sweden and highlighted Nigeria’s strategic importance to his country, especially in the area of technology startup and innovation. He highlighted Nigeria as Sweden’s second largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa with over 40 Swedish companies operating in Nigeria. Dr. Tijani thanked Mr. Forsell and Ambassador Annika Hahn-Englund for the invitation and warm reception and highlighted President Tinubu’s several economic reforms and initiatives to transform infrastructure in Nigeria, including the $2 billion fibre fund for connectivity which would be a backbone for our digital economy.
• Following the Luncheon, Dr. Tijani met with representatives of tech companies within Ed-tech, Med-tech and the gaming industry to explore potential areas of collaboration. In attendance at the meeting which was facilitated by officials of Business Sweden, were IST, Europe’s oldest Edtech firm; The Park, an innovation company working in education; Binogi, a web and mobile application company delivering STEM education to kids, and other members of Business Sweden. The Swedish businesses showcased their companies highlighting the extensive success of the use of Edtech tools in public education which also led to the EdTech sector contributing 6% to Sweden’s GDP.
• The next meeting was a tour and meeting with the leadership of Norskken House, a startup investment firm with a rich history of being one of the earliest investors in global music platform Spotify. Norskken leadership team, represented by Sara Kappelmark, Co-CEO and Niklas Adalberth, Founder, highlighted their work in Fintech, market enablement and EdTech while expressing their interest in collaborating with Nigeria. Dr. Tijani focused his remarks on showcasing Nigeria as an ideal destination for investment in Nigeria, with our strong foundation of tech talent, digital identity, and payment systems
• The Honourable Minister’s next meeting was with representatives of Sweden’s Post and Telecom Agency (PTS) and the SPIDER innovation programme from Stockholm University who have a longstanding cooperation agreement with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), and other regional regulatory agencies in Africa, for peer-to-peer learning and collaboration. Dr. Tijani was keen to see a stronger emphasis on research and knowledge generation in the relationship to strengthen our ability to generate insights in cutting-edge technology and position for growth in our digital economy. Dr. Tijani ended the day by joining a gathering of Nigerian professionals in technology in Sweden where he outlined all the work that was being done in the Ministry and by the government to strengthen our economy and provide opportunities for them to participate and contribute to the growth of Nigeria.