In a meeting with a delegation from TECHWOMEN, led by Ms. Binta Mustapha, at the Agency’s Corporate Headquarters in Abuja, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, reiterated the agency’s steadfast commitment to working with and empowering women to bridge the digital gender gap in Nigeria.
The Agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2.0 highlights the importance of encouraging digital inclusion among women from varied backgrounds for the country’s development. Inuwa added that empowering women is consistent with one of NITDA’s key pillars, “Fostering Digital Literacy and Cultivating Talent.”
The NITDA Boss revealed that efforts are underway to develop a National Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy, to address the historical dominance of men in previously launched initiatives. This initiative is in response to the growing global demand for a workforce proficient in both basic digital literacy and advanced technological skills.
He went on to say that to foster an atmosphere where women may prosper in the technology industry, there must be a minimum of 40% female representation in all NITDA projects.
Inuwa went on to discuss NITDA’s dedication to assisting women, mentioning joint initiatives with the World Bank to give women training in digital literacy.
To develop talent and improve access to digital work prospects, he also highlighted programmes like the 3 Million Technical Talent programme, highlighting the significance of women’s participation and the agency’s collaborations with major international tech companies like Google, Microsoft, Coursera, and others.
He said, “The idea is to build talent and get access to jobs. We are working with different partners both local and international on how this can be propagated and even incorporated in our mentor curriculum.
The Director General emphasized the broader goal of these initiatives – building talent and facilitating job access. He revealed ongoing partnerships with both local and international organizations to propagate these efforts and integrate them into mentorship curricula.
Earlier in her remarks, Ms Binta Mustapha stated that their organisation mentors women in various fields to provide them with the knowledge and ideas they need to make positive contributions to the growth of the nation.
“The opportunities given to women have aided in bridging the gender gap, providing them with the platform to showcase their talents and innovative ideas towards solution findings bringing about ideas and knowledge sharing.
“More women participation is needed in the tech world to contribute their quota to the growth of the nation through job creation and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),” she added.
