Posted on:

October 21, 2024

#WeekInReview: Full Week Recap of Activities of the Honourable Minister, Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani (Vol. 59)

HM Kano1

INTRO 

In the week under review, the Honourable Minister took a trip to Sweden with Vice President Kashim Shettima and other government officials from Nigeria to explore opportunities for partnership and investment in innovation and technology for the growth of our digital economy. 

Sweden is of strategic importance to Nigeria, especially in the area of technology startups and innovation.

KEY FOCUS

Innovation & Trade: As part of Nigeria’s efforts to promote trade expansion, deepen strategic partnerships, and build on ongoing engagements with key nations across the world, the Honourable Minister joined Vice President Kashim Shettima in a range of official engagements in Sweden geared at deepening our trade relationship with the Scandinavian nation and leveraging on technology and innovation towards achieving shared prosperity.

Infrastructure: With infrastructure being one of the key pillars of the Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint, we received Cisco and Ericsson’s commitment to set up a Cybersecurity and Broadband Lab and 5G Innovation Lab respectively in Nigeria. This development validates our collaborative approach towards accelerating our digital economy for the benefit of Nigerians.

We acknowledge and encourage gestures such as that of IHS Towers to undertake the complete refurbishment of the vandalised Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Digital Innovation Park in Kano. 

TIMELINE

Monday:

  • Dr. Tijani’s week started with an early meeting with Honourable Minister, Wale Edun in his office where they deliberated on a number of issues ahead of the upcoming World Bank Annual Meeting in Washington DC. 
  • Following this meeting, the Honourable Minister headed to the Presidential Villa where the Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima inaugurated the Steering Committee of the Nigeria Jubilee Fellows Programme (NJFP). The initiative, which has shown significant support for the Ministry’s 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) programme by helping to match Fellows with jobs, is one of the measures of the Federal Government to scale up its employment initiative and enhance the employability of graduates with market-ready skills. NJFP is implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with seed investment from the European Union (EU).
  • Dr. Tijani travelled to Kano on an assessment tour of the recently vandalised Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) Digital Innovation Park. Ahead of the tour, he met with Comrade Aminu Abdussalam Gwarzo, Deputy Governor of Kano, who represented Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, and restated the Ministry’s commitment to partner with the State in the area of capacity building – particularly the 3MTT and Project 774 LG Connectivity initiatives. Following his tour of the vandalised facility, the Honourable Minister announced the commitment of IHS Towers, one of the world’s largest independent developers of shared telecoms infrastructure, to undertake the complete renovation of the Park for the benefit of users in Kano State which has the largest number of 3MTT applications across the country.

Tuesday:

  • Dr. Tijani joined a partnership workshop between the Ministry and Cisco representatives to discuss key components of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the set up of a Cybersecurity and Broadband Lab facility in Abuja. Guy Diedrich, Senior Vice President & Global Innovation Officer of Cisco led the team.
  • Shortly after the workshop, the Cisco delegation joined him on an inspection tour of the proposed Cybersecurity and Broadband Lab which they have committed resources towards developing in collaboration with the Ministry. The proposed facility is located at the Galaxy Backbone Limited Head Office in Abuja.
  • Later, he hosted a high level delegation from the World Bank Group led by Indermit Gill, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President for Development Economics, and Ndiamé Diop, Country Director for Nigeria. Their discussion focused on diverse initiatives and cooperation with the World Bank Group on digital transformation and its potential impact on the growth of Nigeria’s economy.

Wednesday:

  • On Wednesday, the Honourable Minister travelled to Sweden on a working visit as part of Nigeria’s delegation to the country led by Vice President Kashim Shettima. His engagements in the Scandinavian nation is focused on exploring opportunities for partnership and investment in innovation and technology for the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy.

Last week, Dr. Tijani’s activities focused on the Infrastructure, Innovation, and Trade pillar objectives of the Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint as he expanded discussions for the set up of a Cybersecurity and Broadband Lab facility in Abuja, and also travelled to Sweden in the week under review to discuss further collaboration in innovation and technology between both countries.

Thursday:

  • He started the day by attending the Nigeria – Sweden Business Forum at the Epicenter in Stockholm where Vice President Shettima addressed the Swedish business community on the peculiar benefits of doing business in Nigeria. The Vice President outlined the bold reforms undertaken by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to promote a competitive business environment capable of attracting foreign and domestic investments.
  • Next was a lunch meeting with the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maria Malmer Stenergard, which preceded another meeting attended by Ebba Busch, Deputy Prime Minister of Sweden. At the expanded meeting, the Vice President spoke on the need to strengthen ties with Sweden and explore new areas of cooperation between our countries. Also present at the meetings were Barr. Caleb Mutfwang, Governor of Plateau State; Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, Honourable Minister, Foreign Affairs; Khalil Halilu, EVC/CEO, National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI); Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, DG, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA); and Dr. Aminu Maida, EVC, Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC).
  • Following this meeting, Dr. Tijani joined Vice President Shettima in another meeting with representatives of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
  • His next engagement was with Sweden’s Minister of Trade, Benjamin Dousa to discuss diverse ways of boosting digital trade between Nigeria and Sweden. Also present at the meeting were Dr. Aminu Maida, EVC, NCC and Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, DG, NITDA.
  • Dr. Tijani’s last official engagement for the day was at Norrsken House where startup founders from both Nigeria and Sweden took the stage to showcase their innovative tech solutions. Technology companies who made presentations at the showcase session include Moniepoint (Nigeria), Fairmoney (Nigeria), Eyeball (Sweden), Speedinvest (Sweden) and Founderment (Denmark).

Friday

  • On Day 2 of their working visit to Sweden, the Honourable Minister joined other members of the Nigerian delegation, led by the Vice President on a tour of the automobile company, Scania Group Headquarters in Södertälje. There, Vice President Shettima spoke on the need to develop innovative solutions to ease Nigeria’s transportation challenges. 
  • The Vice President was later received by the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson. Both parties spoke broadly about strengthening bilateral relations between both countries, promoting trade expansion, and deepening strategic partnerships.
  • Following this was the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Ministry and telecoms giant, Ericsson for the set up of a 5G Innovation Lab in Nigeria. The MOU was signed by Dr. Tijani on behalf of Nigeria, and Peter Olusoji Ogundele, Country Manager, Ericsson Nigeria, who signed on behalf of his company. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Vice President Kashim Shettima who was instrumental in facilitating the agreement.    

Saturday

  • The Honourable Minister visited an innovation farm in Sweden to observe the impact of technology and automation in driving efficiency and productivity in milk production. The visit was organised by the Swedish Embassy in Nigeria, Business Sweden, and Arla Nigeria. 

Isime Esene

Office of the Honourable Minister

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