NITDA, NEPC Partner On $4.7tn Digital Service Exportation 

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) have forged an alliance that could enable Nigeria to benefit from the yearly $4.7 trillion exportation of digital service.
This alliance was in line with the Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pillar of the NITDA’s 2021-2024 Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) recently launched.
This was made known at a press briefing by the outgoing NEPC Executive Director, Mr Segun Awolowo, to commemorate the consolidation and partnership between the two organisations.
The NITDA Director-General, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, who was represented at the event by the Acting Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Dr Aristotle Onumo, said that the partnership was aimed at facilitating the exportation of digital services.
He pointed out that more partnerships of such nature from the public and private sectors would bring out synergy, exchange of ideas and knowledge sharing among them.
Inuwaemphasised that the digital innovation and entrepreneurship pillar of SRAP would enable  NITDA to collaborate with relevant stakeholders in the exportation of indigenous services.
“It would not have been so for NITDA to collaborate with sister agencies that have similar visions to drive the digital economy to its rightful place in Nigeria”, he said.
Another respondent, whose name was given only as MrAwolowo, noted that the partnership has provided about N150 million support grants to innovation hubs across three geopolitical zones in the country.
“We are also providing support to drive advocacy to ensure that Nigerian Start-up Bill is passed by the end of the year”, he added.
He said further that due to the level of inter-agency collaboration between NITDA and NEPC, they had been able to attend to all areas of services, from regulatory challenges to access to market and finance, skills gaps, and most importantly digital infrastructure.
Some of the achievements of the partnership include the Outsource Nigeria Initiative, financial interventions for six start-ups, support to three innovation hubs, setting up of skills acceleration centres and advocacy support for the Nigerian Start-up Bill.