NITDA, JICA Graduate 20 North-East Youths On Innovation, Entrepreneurship

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)  said it has  graduated 20 youths from the North East Startup Training (NEST) on building innovative businesses and entrepreneurship skills’ programme.
The graduation was done in Abuja, at the end of a free two-week training for youths drawn from North-East states.
The NEST programme was among many collaborative initiatives by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and NITDA.
The programme was implemented by NITDA’s subsidiary Office for National Development and Innovation (ONDI) and National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), focusing on innovation, entrepreneurship, and technology.
Director-General of NITDA, Mr Kashifu Inuwa, said the programme would help the youth refine their business ideas through a series of coaching, lectures, and mentorships, to generate viable and scalable business models.
Inuwa, who spoke via  Corporate and Communications Unit, Mr Inyene Ibanga, said empowering youth with digital and entrepreneurial skills to foster innovation across all sectors  was a step towards accelerating the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.
“The training engaged five industry experts on hands-on training sessions on topics such as business models, legal and intellectual property rights, international business etiquette, and pitching,” he said.
Inuwa added that JICA had kept demonstrating its reliability as a partner and helping Nigeria attain the top entrepreneurial hub in Africa.
This, he said, was by constantly supporting efforts to foster and increase the number of Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDEs).