INTRO 

The Honourable Minister and his team continue to maintain laser focus on the digital trade component of their delivery strategy as they progress on the journey to make Nigeria a $1trillion economy. This informed a number of his engagements, including a bilateral meeting with trade facilitators from Brazil, a country which hosts some operations of IHS Towers, a Nigerian based globally recognised communications infrastructure company.

Nigeria will continue to engage with countries who share its vision of leveraging innovation and technology to facilitate holistic growth for shared prosperity. 

TIMELINE

Monday:

• To start the week, the Honourable Minister received a briefing from Jane Egerton-Idehen, MD/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT), on the Nigeria Defence Space Council meeting scheduled for later in the week.
• After this briefing session, he had separate internal meetings on the progress of the Ministry’s Fibre Fund and Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) initiatives. The Fibre Fund project will facilitate the deployment of 90,000km of fibre-optics cable network across Nigeria, while DPI will enable the delivery of quality public service to the people.
• Following Dr. Tijani’s meeting last week, where he received a briefing on Nigeria’s participation at the 2025 World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), he inaugurated a committee made up of key professionals under his Ministry to coordinate Nigeria’s participation and ensure the country is adequately showcased at the global Summit. The WSIS is scheduled to take place this July in Geneva, Switzerland.

Tuesday:

• His first meeting on Tuesday was a with representatives of the Brazilian Trade Promotion and Investment Attraction Agency – ApexBrasil and SEBRAE – the Brazilian Support Service for Micro and Small Enterprises, led by Jorge Viana, President of ApexBrasil, and the Brazilian Ambassador to Nigeria H.E. Carlos Gacete. At the meeting, both parties had conversations on digital trade between Nigeria and Brazil, and the need for bilateral cooperation as leaders among global south countries, to leverage Artificial Intelligence (AI) for development.
• Following this meeting, the Honourable Minister received a courtesy call from Air Vice Marshal Lanre Ibrahim Oluwatoyin, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Space Administration. Present at the meeting was Jane Egerton-Idehen, MD/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT).
• He then had a meeting with representatives of Eutelsat led by Country Manager (West Africa), Modupe Okeowo. Their discussions centred around Eutelsat’s work in providing Rural Community WiFi, which is aimed at making available internet connectivity to unserved and underserved communities in Nigeria. The meeting was attended by Jane Egerton-Idehen, MD/CEO, Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited (NIGCOMSAT).
• He received Prof. Ibrahim Adeyanji, MD/CEO Galaxy Backbone Limited, in his office to discuss updates and plans regarding critical initiatives relating to the agency. The Honourable Minister’s last meeting for the day was with Tomide Akinribido, the Senior Special Assistant on ICT to the Ondo State Governor, H.E Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, in his office. They explored areas in which my Ministry can support the State Government in delivering on its digital transformation goals.