INTRO

This past week, my engagements reflected our ongoing commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s digital economy through inclusive growth, collaboration with global partners, and innovation-driven policies. From advancing digital identity and security, to empowering women-led enterprises, fostering youth engagement, and deepening our work in AI, each activity aligned with our mission to build the infrastructure and knowledge systems that will power Nigeria’s transformation under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

TIMELINE

Monday, August 11 – Strengthening Nigeria’s secure identity ecosystem 

• The Honourable Minister received in his office Kofo Akinkugbe, MD/CEO of SecureID, a Nigerian identity management and digital security solutions company.

Wednesday, August 13 – Cabinet business and youth engagement

• He attended the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Presidential Villa, presided over by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
• Later in the evening, the Honourable Minister featured on the ‘An Evening With Series’ hosted by the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) Youth Leader, Dayo Israel. It was an opportunity like no other to engage extensively with young people in the Party on the progress of his work in transforming Nigeria’s digital economy in alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

Thursday, August 14 – Empowering women exporters; deepening global partnerships

• On Thursday, Dr. Tijani delivered an address at the WEIDE Fund launch event organised in collaboration with the World Trade organisation (WTO) and International Trade Centre (ITC). The Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund is aimed at empowering women-led MSMEs to thrive in the digital economy by enhancing their access to finance, building their competitiveness, and connecting them to global markets.
• Later in the afternoon he returned to Abuja Continental Hotel for the afternoon session of the event where he met with the Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in the company of the Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Dr. Jumoke Oduwole. Discussions at the meeting centred around identifying opportunities for collaboration with the WTO in the areas of digital trade. Also at the meeting was the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Adeladan Rafiu Olarinre.
• The Honourable Minister returned to his office for a meeting with the California-Africa Climate and Economic Partnership (CACEP) delegation who were on a tour of three cities in Africa including Lagos and Abuja. Led by Toks Omishakin, Secretary of the California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA), the delegation had government leaders and business representatives drawn from across the Bay Area of California. At the meeting, the CACEP delegation expressed interest in supporting the launch of the Nigeria Startup House in San Francisco, and driving deeper partnership with the State of California in the areas of climate innovation, climate smart agriculture, digital technology, and creative economy.

Friday, August 15 – Advancing Nigeria’s AI capacity

• On Friday the Honourable Minister had a virtual meeting with representatives of AI startup, Awarri to receive progress report on the Large Language Model (LLM) currently being developed in partnership with National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR). Present at the meeting was Dr. Olubunmi Ajala, National Director of NCAIR.