Minister’s Week in Review

Last week’s (July 29 – August 2, 2024) recap of the activities of Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister for Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

INTRO 

This week, I delivered a keynote address at the African Caucus 2024 meeting on ‘The Role of Government Collaboration in Unlocking Access to Financing for Start-Ups and Digital Technology’ highlighting the remarkable work of start-ups such as Life Bank, Zipline, Taeillo, and many others who continue to provide job opportunities and drive productivity through technology and innovation.

As a government, we are committed to investing strategically in developing skilled workforce, infrastructure, and policy towards ensuring growth in our digital economy for the benefit of all Nigerians.

KEY FOCUS

Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Capital: To underscore our commitment towards investing strategically in developing skilled workforce, infrastructure, policy, and facilitate transnational trade, I addressed participants at the African Caucus 2024 meeting hosted by the Ministry of Finance. It was an opportunity to highlight the importance of government collaboration in unlocking access to financing for start-ups with a view to deepening the sophistication of our economy. 

TIMELINE

Monday

To start the week, I had a meeting with Luqman Edu, Executive Director, Digital Free Zones in Nigeria (DiFZIN) to discuss issues around the promotion and establishment of digital free zones. 

At the meeting, he expressed the organisation’s commitment to work with the Presidential Steering Committee on the Establishment of Digital Free Zones to, amongst other things, update Nigeria’s free zone policies and 30-year-old regulatory framework, technology, and processes to align with global standards. 

The Steering Committee, which is Chaired by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, includes Wale Edun, Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Prince Lateef Fagbemi SAN, Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice; Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, Honourable Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment; Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, Honourable Minister of Interior; and the heads of relevant government agencies.

After this meeting, I headed to the Presidential Villa to attended the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Tinubu.

Tuesday

On Tuesday I took part in a Technical Panel Session organised by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) to discuss the topic, ‘Leveraging Digital Public Infrastructure for Government-to-Person Programmes in Nigeria’.

There, I gave my submission on the key role of technology and innovation in delivering social protection initiatives to the people with speed, transparency, and accuracy as key considerations.

Participants at the Technical Panel Session include Wale Edun, Honourable Minister of Finance & Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Dr. Muhammad Pate, Honourable Minister of Health & Coordinating Minister of Social Welfare; Michael Wiegand, Director, Inclusive Financial Services, BMGF; and Uche Amaonwu, Interim Director, Nigeria Country Office, BMGF.

My next engagement was a workshop at the Shehu Musa Yar’Adua Centre organised by the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation. Themed, ‘Rethinking Reforms: Why Many Reforms Fail in Nigeria and What We Can Do About It’, participants at the workshop proffered solutions geared at addressing the critical issues that have hindered past reforms in the public service.

The event was attended by former President Olusegun Obasanjo; Wale Edun, Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy; Sen. Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, Honourable Minister of Budget and Economic Planning; Didi Esther Walson-Jack, newly appointed Head of the Civil Service of the Federation; Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Education; Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, and others.

Wednesday

I paid a courtesy visit to Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, the Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs, in his office to discuss areas of collaboration between our Ministries.

Back at my office, I had a virtual meeting with representatives of Open AI including Asif Bhatti, Strategic Partnership Lead and Ebele Okobi, Senior Policy Advisor, OpenAI. We discussed areas of partnership towards optimising the benefits of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a manner that prioritises inclusion.

I later had a virtual meeting with the Luminate team who introduced members the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC), a leading policy think-tank under the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG) as coordinators of the scheduled workshop to design the framework guiding the operation of the AI Collective. 

Members of the consortium who will manage the AI Collective include the Lagos Business School, Data Science Nigeria (DSN), Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), and National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).

Following this meeting, I had a prep meeting with my team to discuss Nigeria’s participation at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA 79) taking place in September. 

Thursday

I attended the African Caucus 2024 meeting hosted by the Ministry of Finance. There, I delivered a keynote address on ‘The Role of Government Collaboration in Unlocking Access to Financing for Start-Ups and Digital Technology’, following which I joined a panel session to discuss issues relating to the key points of my address.

The session, which was moderated by Ayanda Dlodlo, Executive Director, World Bank Group, had other panellists including Jonas Mcebisi, Chairman MTN Group; Kola Aina, Founding Partner, Ventures Platform; Jean Lobe Lobe, Founder, Waspito; Ismael Belkhayat, Founder, Chari; and Gatumi Aliyu, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Vendease.

Later, I featured on ChannelsTV programme anchored by Seun Okinbaloye to speak on the key programmes and initiatives of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration targeting various sectors of the economy for the benefit of the people.

Friday

I made public the draft of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS) document which will serve as a roadmap towards achieving our aspiration to participate actively in leveraging the ethical use of AI for national development. The NAIS will help us to responsibly steer the AI revolution towards achieving our goals around job creation, social inclusion, and sustainable development.

Later, I got on a call with Dele Olojede, Pulitzer Prize winner and host of Africa in the World Festival to discuss my proposed participation at the event.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

BLUEPRINT REVIEW

Last week, my activities focused on the Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Capital pillar objective of our Strategic Blueprint as I delivered a keynote address and also engaged in a high level discussion panel on unlocking access to financing for start-ups and digital technology.

I also engaged in other activities, key of which was the release of the draft of the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy (NAIS) document which will guide our aspiration as we leverage the ethical use of AI for national development.