#WeekInReview: Full Week Recap of Activities of the Honourable Minister, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani (Vol. 70)

Back to About Us > #WeekInReview: Full Week Recap of Activities of the Honourable Minister, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani (Vol. 70)

Posted on:

January 20, 2025

INTRO

As a key pillar of our strategic blueprint, digital trade continues to receive significant attention from the Ministry, as the Honourable Minister engaged in a high level roundtable this week to deliberate on the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) protocols. The implementation of the protocols presents a great avenue for Nigerian businesses and startups to take advantage of this opportunity.

We are committed to working with partner organisations, players in the Nigerian startup ecosystem, and all other stakeholders to accelerate digital trade, enhance service exports, and operationalise the AfCFTA for increased intra-African trade.

TIMELINE

Tuesday:

Dr. Tijani returned to Nigeria after productive engagements in Washington DC and San Francisco where he attended the Nigeria-U.S Strategic Technology Dialogue and paid a visit to the Nigeria Startup House.

Wednesday:

The Honourable Minister visited Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment in her office to discuss ways of leveraging the opportunities presented by programmes such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), National Talent Export Programme (NATEP) among others, which have a clear nexus with a number of our Ministry’s initiatives.
Back in the office, he had an update meeting with his internal team to assess the status and progress of the Ministry’s programmes and initiatives towards achieving set goals as outlined in the Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint.
Later in the day the Honourable Minister was a guest on ChannelsTV’s Politics Today where he addressed issues around ensuring the sustainability of Nigeria’s telecoms industry for the growth of Nigeria’s economy. The telecoms sector contributes significantly to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), directly employing over 15,000 people.

Last week, the Honourable Minister’s activities focused on the Trade pillar objective of the Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint as he had key meetings geared at leveraging the opportunity that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) presents as we work to accelerate digital trade. He also met a number of Nigerian tech startups to identify potential areas of support from the Ministry, especially as it relates to AfCFTA.

Thursday:

Dr. Tijani met with Engr. Sunday Oshadami, Executive Commissioner (Technical Services), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to discuss preparations for the inaugural International Submarine Cable Resilience Summit organised by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The Summit which is scheduled to hold in Abuja this February is organised in partnership with the Ministry.
He then attended the High Level Roundtable on Nigeria’s Implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Protocols organised by the Ministry of Industry, Trade & Investment. There the Honourable Minister highlighted the significant opportunity that AfCFTA presents for Nigeria’s businesses and tech startups. The Roundtable event was attended by Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade & Investment; Sen. John Owan Enoh, Honourable Minister of State for Industry; and H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat.
Following the event, Dr. Tijani met 7 tech startups including Moni Africa, Vendease Africa, Co-creation HUB (CcHUB), Renda Africa, Norebase, Helium Health and Bamboo – who attended the roundtable, to further engage and identify potential areas of support from the Ministry, especially as it relates to the AfCFTA.
His last engagement for the day was a feature on AriseTV Primetime to further speak on the sustainability of the telecoms sector amongst other things, including the status of the Nigeria Startup House in San Francisco, California and the Ministry’s newly launched Digital Trade Desk to support local technology companies.

Friday:

Following this, the Honourable Minister met with his internal team to receive briefing updates on the progress of our Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiative amongst others.
Next was a virtual meeting with Thani Mohamed-Soilihi, French Minister of State for Francophonie and Partnerships, attached to the Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs, to discuss Nigeria’s participation in the upcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) Action Summit scheduled to take place in Paris.

Posted on:

January 20, 2025