To fully realise Africa’s enormous potential, industry professionals and start-ups in the technology sector have been urged to collaborate closely with the government to develop strong regulations that will promote human and infrastructural development. This is according to Kashifu Inuwa, Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).
Inuwa made this call at the second edition of the annual Moonshot Tech Conference 2024, which brought together the brightest minds in the African tech space and was held at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos State.
The DG discussed the topic of “Building Digital Economies for the World: How African Countries are Shaping Their Tech Economies to Compete Across the Continent and Globally” while serving as a panellist at the conference, which brings together the continent’s tech ecosystem in person for networking, collaboration, and insight sharing.
He emphasised the significance of striking a balance between innovation and regulation, emphasising that innovation entails transforming concepts into significant solutions. Though creativity fosters innovation, he pointed out that regulation must serve as a check to maintain stability.
“At NITDA, we developed an intelligent regulatory framework that will help us understand the terrain before placing regulations. A regulation that will make us intelligent, understand what you are trying to build, understand the value you are bringing to the market, and dynamic because we need to create that room for people to navigate,” he stated.
Inuwa’s argument touched on the vital role of collaboration between governments and the private sector to unlock patient local capital in the continent while pointing out that Africa’s greatest asset in the tech ecosystem is its human capital.
“According to the World Bank report, by the year 2030, there would be 85 million talent deficits globally, which, if left unharnessed, could lead to $8.5 trillion in unrealised annual value.”
“So, in Africa, looking at our young population, we can harness that population and position ourselves to become the global talent factory to bridge this gap deficit,” he added.
The DG stressed the need for governments to enlighten people on the potential of the technology ecosystem, not just for solving local problems but global challenges.
He mentioned that in Nigeria, the Nigeria Startup Act was co-created with the tech ecosystem with a focus on encouraging venture capital, registration of innovation hubs, and forming a council to promote local capital investments.
While calling for collective action to strengthen Africa’s digital economy, Inuwa averred that “we need to build the digital infrastructure that will allow us to share content within Africa and foster data flow across borders.”
Other co-panellists who shared valuable insights alongside the DG were the CEO, of Ghana Chamber of Technology, Dr. Augustina Odame, the Chief Advisor Technology, Sierra Leone, David Manley; and the Director of Innovation, Ministry of Digital Transformation, Mauritania, Marieme Kane.
