The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), along with several other stakeholders, have stressed the urgent need for accelerated intervention to drive development in the northern innovation ecosystem.
They made the call Tuesday in Abuja at a stakeholders’ engagement on the state of the northern innovation ecosystem, organized by Northern Ecosystem Working Group (NEW-G)
Speaking, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the Director General, NITDA, raised concerns regarding the widening development gap between the northern region and other parts of the country.
Abdullahi said with continuous stakeholders’ engagement, the accelerated development of the northern ecosystem is essential for achieving balanced national growth.
He emphasized the urgent need for targeted strategies to address the challenges faced by the northern region.
While highlighting the potential of the digital economy and information technology to transform the area, he noted that it could create jobs, attract investments, and empower the local population.
The DG said: “We need to do something for the northern ecosystem. In northern Nigeria, and Nigeria in general, our biggest opportunity is the large and expanding market we have. In Nigeria we have a young population where more than 60 per cent of our population is under 25.
“This means they are digitally native. This means, they know how to use technology and if we have any technological way of solving problems, the population will embrace it and use it.
“So, we want to harness this population to make Nigeria a talent net exporter, because as a country, our greatest resource is our human capital. We want to harness it and that will help to create jobs.
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is key to diversifying our economy. He has mandated our ministry to accelerate economic diversification through technological innovation. So, that’s what we want to use to use the northern ecosystem to solve problems in the north in the areas of agriculture, healthcare, transportation , education among others.”
Jemila Ali Mohammed, Head of Experimentation and Public Sector Innovation Lead, UNDP, expressed commitment to supporting the development agenda in the northern ecosystem.
She, however, called for urgent ways and new methodologies to be able to achieve accelerated development, adding that investing in the region’s human capital and technological infrastructure is crucial for reducing poverty, improving healthcare, and ensuring inclusive growth.
“We need to begin to engage stakeholders and key players in the innovation space to come together to be able to position the ecosystem to address development challenges in the region.”
On solutions to challenges bedeviling the northern region, she said: “We did a systems mapping last year where we engaged with key players in the innovation space and what we found was potential that can be used to push the agenda of development in the region.
“One solution is coming together. Second solution is getting visibility for the ecosystem to be able to put the ecosystem on the map and who knows we might be able to come up with a frontier challenge from the region and once we’re able to do that then it means that we will be able to attract funding and investment to the ecosystem.”
Musa Alibaba, the Coordinator, NEW-G, said the initiative is aimed at “ensuring that the innovation ecosystem in the North is raised to a level of prominence in the country and to bring out the amazing achievements that have already been made thus far, which still do not have national prominence and this is all with a view to enhance Nigeria as a whole.”
