Afrigather 
By Mubarak Umar
Within the quickly evolving world digital panorama, nations should always adapt, innovate, and safe their technological ecosystems. Nigeria’s IT ecosystem, underneath the stewardship of the Chief Data Know-how Officer and Director Common Kashifu Inuwa of the Nationwide Data Know-how Improvement Company (NITDA), is rising as a beacon of digital transformation. By means of strategic worldwide and native stakeholder engagements, Inuwa is steering Nigeria’s digital sector towards unprecedented progress, aligning with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Lately, Inuwa’s worldwide engagements replicate his dedication to positioning Nigeria as a worldwide digital chief. Throughout GITEX International 2024, one of many world’s premier know-how occasions, he delivered a keynote handle on “Securing Africa’s Digital Future: Nigeria’s Cybersecurity Roadmap.” On this handle, he meticulously outlined Nigeria’s cybersecurity framework, a cornerstone of the nation’s ambition to foster a safe and resilient digital ecosystem.
Emphasising the essential function of digital innovation in financial diversification, Inuwa mapped out 5 foundational pillars: digital fluency, cybersecurity expertise, strong coverage frameworks, technological innovation, and cybersecurity innovation roadmaps. He left no stone unturned in highlighting Nigeria’s dedication to closing the cybersecurity expertise hole, securing information methods, and growing a nationwide cybersecurity structure aligned with world requirements.
Along with cybersecurity, Inuwa has proven a outstanding capability to have interaction with worldwide stakeholders, fostering collaborations that promise to spice up Nigeria’s digital ecosystem. His conferences with executives of the Dubai World Commerce Centre (DWTC) at GITEX 2024 exemplify this.
He engaged (DWTC) in direction of organising GITEX Nigeria 2025 to chart methods for inclusive stakeholder participation within the occasion, positioning Nigeria as a major vacation spot for world buyers. He rightly argued that Africa’s largest economic system, brimming with a vibrant youth inhabitants and a burgeoning tech startup scene, is ripe for value-driven investments.
Consistent with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to rework Nigeria’s agricultural sector by innovation, Inuwa has spearheaded collaborative efforts between NITDA and the Nationwide Agricultural Improvement Fund (NADF). This strategic partnership goals to harness cutting-edge know-how to handle the myriad challenges plaguing the agricultural sector, from useful resource optimisation to enhancing productiveness.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the 2 entities marks a watershed second in Nigeria’s quest for meals safety. The aim is to combine know-how into agriculture, drive innovation, and in the end improve nationwide meals safety efforts of the current administration.
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Inuwa’s native engagements are equally spectacular. His keynote handle on the Nigeria Govtech Convention and Awards touched the function of digital innovation in fostering financial progress and empowering residents. He emphasised the significance of a complete agenda centered on human capital growth, digital literacy, and expertise coaching, significantly in each formal and casual sectors. This imaginative and prescient aligns seamlessly with President Tinubu’s dedication to leveraging know-how to construct robust establishments that improve governance and enhance the standard of life for Nigerians.
On a broader continental stage, Inuwa’s participation within the third Moonshot Annual Tech Convention in Lagos, alongside tech leaders from throughout Africa, additional solidified his standing as a digital economic system visionary.
In his panel dialogue on “Constructing Digital Economies for the World,” Inuwa articulated the necessity for governments to collaborate with the tech ecosystem in growing strong laws that assist cross-border information change inside the continent.
He advocated for constructing Digital Public Infrastructures (DPI) to unlock the complete potential of Africa’s digital economic system, positioning Nigeria as a frontrunner within the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Inuwa’s management in selling Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) was additionally entrance and middle on the seventeenth Worldwide Convention on Concept and Apply of Digital Governance (ICEGOV 2024) in Pretoria, South Africa.
Representing the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Financial system, Dr. Bosun Tijani, Inuwa reiterated the necessity for scalable, inclusive, and safe DPI that builds belief between governments and residents. He additionally launched the African DPI Group, a platform for collaboration aimed toward accelerating digital transformation throughout the continent.
His efforts in advocating for digital id methods, fee platforms, and information change infrastructures have positioned Nigeria on the forefront of DPI innovation in Africa.
Moreover, Inuwa’s lively function within the world DPI discourse was additional demonstrated by his participation within the United Nations Common Meeting, the place he contributed to the launch of the Common DPI Safeguards Framework.
This initiative units new requirements for the design and implementation of digital infrastructures, prioritising public curiosity and selling secure, inclusive, and interoperable methods.
Inuwa’s insights on Nigeria’s journey towards constructing a resilient DPI showcased the nation’s dedication to harnessing know-how for sustainable growth, reinforcing the Federal Authorities’s dedication to supporting analysis and technological innovation.
In each sphere of his engagement, each native and worldwide, Inuwa’s efforts are emblematic of a frontrunner dedicated to digital transformation. His work is in step with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda; and it’s shaping the very way forward for Nigeria’s digital ecosystem, making certain that Nigeria’s digital future is each safe and affluent, setting the stage for the nation to steer within the world digital economic system.
Mubarak writes from Abuja
