INTRO [Apr. 22 – 26]

As part of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s delegation on his official visit to the Netherlands, Honourable Minister, Dr. Tijani engaged with leading Dutch companies with operations in Nigeria to identify and explore opportunities that will strengthen Nigeria’s technology ecosystem and accelerate the growth of our digital economy.

KEY FOCUS

Innovation and Investment: Attracting investments targeted at boosting Nigeria’s tech ecosystem and leveraging technology to achieve food security were the focus of the Honourable Minister as he met with potential partners at the sidelines of the President’s official trip to the Netherlands. He also took part in a presentation on the innovative National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture (NAVSA) project initiated by NITDA to improve production and productivity of farmers in Nigeria.

TIMELINE

Monday: 

• Dr. Tijani’s week started with a meeting to discuss modalities targeted at re-engineering and transforming the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) for the benefit of all Nigerians. Other participants at the meeting include Tola Odeyemi, the Postmaster General/CEO, NIPOST and Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo.
• The Honourable Minister then met with his aides to discuss key updates on various ongoing initiatives. 
• He ended the day in preparatory sessions for his upcoming journey with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the Netherlands to ensure effective representation of possible investment and collaboration opportunities in Nigeria’s digital economy.

Tuesday:

• The Honourable Minister hosted in his office, Nele Leosk, Ambassador-at-Large for Digital Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Estonia and Jungeun Lee, Deputy Head of Mission, Embassy of the Republic of Korea, to discuss his attendance at the upcoming Artificial Intelligence (AI) Summit scheduled for May in Seoul, South Korea. The Summit, which is a follow up to the one organised last November in the United Kingdom, will focus on three key issues around AI including Safety, Inclusivity, and Innovation.
• Following this meeting, he virtually attended the finals of the Girls in ICT competition where he delivered a special remark to competing students. There, he congratulated the students for making it to the finals, and charged them not only to be users, but also creators of innovative technology. He ended his remarks by encouraging the young girls to strive for success by emulating Nigerian women who have gone ahead to achieve significant success in the field of technology against all odds. Team Vianney from St. John Vianney Science College, Igbariam, Anambra State presented the winning project in the competition. Their project – Moonlight Tales and Games (M-Tag) – empowers young minds to explore, play, and connect with their cultural roots through a blend of folk stories and games.
• The newly appointed Executive Commissioners of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) were formally introduced to the Honourable Minister, with Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman of the Commission in attendance. The Executive Commissioners at the meeting were Abraham Oshadami, EC Technical Services and Rimini Makama, EC Stakeholder Management.
• Dr. Tijani later met with representatives of the German Development Agency, GIZ and National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to discuss their plans to support the growth and development of small businesses in Nigeria with particular focus on digitalisation, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Present at the meeting were Dr. Thuweba Diwani, Commission Manager, Digital Transformation Center, Nigeria, GIZ; Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General/CEO, NITDA; Ahmed Yusuf Tambuwal, Chief Computer Engineer, NITDA; and Markus Wauschkuhn, Cluster Coordinator, GIZ.
• The Honourable Minister’s final official engagement for the day was an extended meeting with his wider team to review the status of ongoing projects and initiatives. He also took time to specifically acknowledge the efforts of various team members who worked to deliver on the successful National Artificial Intelligence Strategy workshop.