Minister’s Week In Review

Last week’s (June 10 – 14, 2024) recap of the activities of Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister for Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

INTRO 

Following my engagement last week in San Francisco, California, where I met with a number of innovation and technology stakeholders, I travelled to Washington DC to take part in the World Bank Group-organised Nigeria Week 2024. The Nigeria Week event highlights various partnerships and engagements between the World Bank Group and Nigeria.

There, I participated in a number of activities related to the Communications and Digital Economy sector, highlighting my Ministry’s plans aimed at implementing strategic initiatives targeted at improving the lives of Nigerian citizens.

KEY FOCUS

Infrastructure and Capacity Development: Recognising infrastructure and capacity development as prerequisites for building a robust digital economy, I met with international partners to outline areas of support and co-create ideas towards achieving set goals. 

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

I attended the kick-off session of the Nigeria Week 2024 where I met with the World Bank Global Digital Development team to discuss Nigeria’s digital economy agenda, particularly our plan to build out 90,000km of fibre optic network.

The project, which aims to increase Nigeria’s fibre optic capacity to 125,000km, will make the country Africa’s third-longest terrestrial fibre optic backbone, following South Africa and Egypt.

I joined a panel where I gave a comprehensive overview of our agenda to grow Nigeria’s digital economy as outlined in my Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint. I highlighted a number of initiatives being undertaken by the Ministry around training & capacity building (3MTT) and infrastructure development (Fibre Fund, Digital Public Infrastructure, Broadband Alliance, Project 774 LG Connectivity) – all of which will form the foundation of this growth.

While responding to questions regarding my vision for how Nigeria can simultaneously develop and leverage the digital economy to mitigate against her current challenges, I noted that technology boosts productivity in key markets across the world, and Nigeria plans to take advantage of this by strategically positioning its youthful population – with 70% of them under the age of 30 – to plug the talent gap in the global workforce. 

I went on to speak about the Ministry’s focus on facilitating improved connectivity, saying it will help to build trust and strengthen the ability of the private sector to innovate and solve socio-economic challenges.

Members of the discussion panel include Rebecca Conrad, Chief Investment Officer; Christine Zhenwei Qiang, Global Director, Digital Development; and Franz Drees-Gross, Director of Infrastructure, Africa West Region, World Bank Group.

My team and I also held a meeting with the Bank’s team which included Ida Mboob, Senior Digital Development Specialist and Dr. Maryam Lawal, Digital Development Specialist to explore ideas on the possible structure for the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) which is set to deliver on the massive expansion of Nigeria’s fibre optic network. Technical details will continue to be expanded as discussions ahead of an upcoming stakeholder meeting scheduled for Abuja in 2 weeks.

The fibre optic network project, which was recently approved by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will bridge the non-consumption gap by connecting over 200,000 educational, healthcare, and social institutions, ensuring broader access to internet connectivity.

While in Washington DC, I marked Nigeria’s Democracy Day by delivering a message on social media urging Nigerians to prioritise the role of constructive conversations as we uphold our democratic values.

I also met with representatives of WorldQuant University to explore opportunities for training and capacity development with a view to growing Nigeria’s digital economy. Of particular note was a proposal to design and launch an advanced Data Science programme for the benefit of 3MTT programme participants.

The WorldQuant University team expressed commitment to support our efforts towards delivering on our strategic objectives through capacity building. The team was represented by John Endrud, Chief Executive Officer and Prof. Landry Signe, Co-Chair, World Economic Forum Regional Action Group for Africa and Chair, The Africa Dialogues.

I had a virtual meeting with representatives of the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), an independent agency of the United States government set up to advance economic development in developing and middle income countries.

At the meeting, we discussed modalities surrounding the U.S. led delegation of Nigerian investors to Washington DC for the SelectUSA Investment Summit in June and the high level commerce visit to Nigeria scheduled for July.

The USTDA representatives at the meeting were Julie LeBlanc, US Commercial Counselor to Nigeria and Josh Egba, West Africa  Representative.

BLUEPRINT REVIEW

Last week, my activities focused on the Knowledge and Infrastructure pillar objectives of our Strategic Blueprint as I engaged with key international partners including the World Bank Group, United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), and WorldQuant University.