NITDA empowers over 3 million Nigerians with digital skills

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says it has empowered over three million Nigerians with various digital literacy and skills through multi-sectoral capacity building programs.

Mr. Kashifu Inuwa, the Director-General of NITDA, said this during the Council on Global Partner Summit held in Florida, USA.

Working Towards 95% Digital Literacy by 2030

The DG said NITDA has been actively engaged in training initiatives to equip Nigerians with essential digital competencies in line with the agency’s vision to achieve 95% digital literacy by 2030.

“NITDA has empowered 3.3 million Nigerians with several digital literacy and skills through multi-sectoral capacity building programmes.”

“The programmes we engaged in included Stem Bootcamp for Kids, digital skills training for students, public servants, journalists, Digital Marketing, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Programming, Digital Entrepreneurship and others” he said.

Positioning Nigeria as a Global IT Hub

NITDA chief stated that Nigeria would ensure massive digital literacy training for her youths to position the country as a global Information Technology hub that could bridge the global digital skills gap.

According to him, the country is committed to developing policies, regulations and initiatives that will deepen digital literacy and skills in the country.

Recognizing Nigeria’s Digital Potential

The DG also noted that Mobile Information Literacy should be included into future versions of Certiport’s IC3 Global Digital Literacy Standard.

He said it would enable meeting the requirements of millions of Nigerians and African citizens who relied on their mobile phones to connect to and participate in the digital economy.

“The three days event saw six Nigerian students participating at Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (MOSWC), who were selected during the Nigerian National Championship.”

“The Nigerian National Championship was organized by ReadManna Empowerment Initiative (REI) and was witnessed by global experts consisting of corporate executives, government officials, academicians, and industry influencers.”

Inuwa commended the Nigerian representatives for making their country proud and as well put the country at the forefront of global digital literacy and skills.

He described their emergence at the global competition as a demonstration of Nigeria’s immense human capital potential and a front runner in the race for a digital nation.