#WeekInReview: Full Week Recap of Activities of the Honourable Minister, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani (Vol. 63)

Back to About Us > #WeekInReview: Full Week Recap of Activities of the Honourable Minister, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani (Vol. 63)

Posted on:

November 12, 2024

INTRO

The growth of Nigeria’s digital economy is a mandate that H.E. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is extremely passionate about, and the Honourable Minister is determined to ensure that Nigeria has the right policies and regulatory frameworks to stimulate this growth. With a young population that is increasingly digital native, it is important that we ensure that our nation’s innovation and tech ecosystem is positioned to capture and create value from improved and more efficient government and digital services.

KEY FOCUS

Policy: To ensure a robust debate and collate wide-ranging input from a broad segment of the society, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani took part in the Lagos leg of the stakeholder engagement on the National Digital Economy & e-Governance Bill which is expected to streamline electronic transactions, enhance digital government services, and ensure the integrity and security of digital interactions.

The stakeholder engagement, which will take place in all the 36 States and Abuja FCT, will offer participants an opportunity to give feedback and understand the Bill’s applicability to stakeholders, including public service, regulators, innovators, startups, and service providers.

TIMELINE

Monday:

Dr. Tijani started the week by holding several internal meetings with his team and engaging with heads of agencies under the Ministry. This is part of efforts to take stock of progress on ongoing initiatives as we approach year end.

Tuesday:

The National Broadband Alliance of Nigeria (NBAN) team led by Tokunbo Oyeleye, Director, Digital Economy, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) were in his office to make a presentation on the proposed structure and deployment plan for the NBAN project. NBAN is a multi-stakeholder collaborative initiative designed to accelerate broadband adoption and consumption of the internet in critical public institutions. Following this meeting, the Honourable Minister visited the Federal Ministry of Health where he met with Dr. Muhammad Ali Pate, Honourable Minister of Health and Social Welfare to explore areas of collaboration between our Ministries for the benefit of Nigerians.

Last week, the Honourable Minister’s activities focused on the Policy pillar objective of the Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint as he attended the Lagos edition of the nationwide consultation exercise to ensure inclusive and wide-ranging input, and understand its impact and benefits to the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy.

Wednesday:

The National Broadband Alliance for Nigeria (NBAN) team formally introduced the project to World Bank representatives who were keen on identifying areas of support for the groundbreaking project. The World Bank team, led by Program Leader, Bertine Kamphuis, were intimated on the deployment structure and success metrics for the initiative, and also measures put in place to obtain the buy-in of subnationals so as to ensure the success of the project.
Dr. Tijani then hosted some Fellows of the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme who were selected to participate in the Huawei Tech4Good Summit in Shenzhen, China. He encouraged them to make the best of this opportunity, and wished them success in their transformational journey in tech.

Thursday:

On Thursday, he travelled to attend the Lagos leg of the nationwide consultation exercise on the draft National Digital Economy and e-Governance Bill. The Bill, which was sponsored by Senator Shuaib Afolabi Salisu, Ogun West Constituency, and Hon. Adedeji Stanley Olajide, Ibadan North West/South West Federal Constituency, is poised to be the most comprehensive piece of legislation guiding the transformation of Nigeria’s digital economy. The stakeholder engagements have already taken place in 7 states across the nation, and will be moving to Kano, Kaduna, Ogun, and Cross River this week.

Friday:

While in Lagos, the Honourable Minister made a stop at Imose Technologies, a local device manufacturing company, to gain first-hand knowledge of their challenges and opportunities so as to identify areas of support for them and other companies producing locally made affordable electronic devices. Device affordability is a key component of the Ministry’s efforts at ensuring more citizens are able to connect to the internet and participate in the digital economy. He also interacted with 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme Fellows undertaking their training at Teesas Learning Centre, one of the programme’s Applied Learning Clusters (ALCs). The Fellows shared their experiences and applauded the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration for supporting their journey towards acquiring technical skills through the programme.

Posted on:

November 12, 2024