- FG Solicits Foreign Companies’ Support for Technology Development
The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, will be leading a delegation of Nigerian professionals to the headquarters of some top global technology companies in the United States on how to grow Nigeria’s technology industry.
According to a statement from the Office of the Vice President, Osinbajo will be leading a public-private sector collaborative investment roadshow to the US, where he will be speaking to global industry leaders in information technology and entertainment at the Silicon Valley in San Francisco and Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, this week.
Osinbajo would be joined on the investment roadshow by members of the recently inaugurated Advisory Group on Technology and Creativity – an integral part of the National Industrial Policy & Competitiveness Advisory Council – primarily to showcase the continued improvement in Nigeria’s business environment to entrepreneurs, investors and business leaders in both American cities.
The statement said, “During the US trip, the Vice President will also visit the headquarters of some leading global technology companies. There will be sessions with investors, fund managers and large US technology companies, as well as presentations by the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council, the Bank of Industry, and the Enabling Business Environment Secretariat.”
He will also showcase to the world the progress and strides in the country’s technology, innovation and creative space by Nigerian technology start-ups and entertainment industry practitioners.
It would be recalled that in recognition of the central role of innovation and technology in the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery & Growth Plan, the Vice President spoke about the plans to support the growth of technology and creative industries in the country.
To strengthen the technology and innovation ecosystem, it stated that the Federal Government, in partnership with the private sector, was supporting the development of new technology and innovation hubs in the country’s six geopolitical zones to provide solutions to the peculiar local challenges in areas such as health care, education and technology.
It added that the Federal Government was promoting growth of the sector through its collaboration with the Bank of Industry and other private sector firms to run a presidential technology innovation challenge in all Nigerian universities starting with the University of Lagos.
“It would also be recalled that as part of the National Industrial and Competitiveness Advisory Council, which is chaired by the Vice President, the Federal Government recently established the Technology and Creativity Advisory Group to further support the growth of technology start-ups and help shape effective policy around technology, innovation and creativity,” the statement added.
