By Seun Adams
The Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mr. Kashifu Abdullahi, on Wednesday inaugurated a 10-member advisory committee to advise federal government
on measures to be taken to cushion the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on start-ups, SMEs as well as the technology ecosystem.
Mrs. Hadiza Umar, in a statement made available to SHARPEDGENEWS, said because of the potential impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the ICT sector, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Mr. Ibrahim Pantami, directed NITDA to urgently look into how government can effectively provide the enabling environment for technology start-ups and ICT businesses to help in mitigating the potential impact of the pandemic on their businesses.
The Committee, she said has the Chairman, Innovation Support Network (ISN) and President, African Business Angels Network (ABAN), Mr Tomi Davies, as its Chairperson.
Other members of the committee include Amal Hassan, MD/CEO, Outsource Global, Bosun Tijani, MD/CEO Co-Creation Hub (CCHub), Juliet Anammah, Chairperson Jumia Nigeria and Head, International Affairs, Jumia Group, Kola Aina, Founder, Ventures Platform, Musa Ali Baba, MD/CEO Teasy Pay, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Co-Founder, Andela, Collins Onuegbu, MD/CEO Signal Alliance and Dr . Kalli Zannah, Special Assistant to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy. Dr Amina Sambo-Magaji, the National Coordinator, Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE), is to serve as Member/Secretary.
At the inauguration, Umar quoted the DG as saying that members were carefully selected for their significant contributions to the ICT sector in general and the technology and innovation ecosystem in particular.
He charged them to consider the assignment as a call to national duty, especially at this critical time when the Federal Government is making all efforts to ensure the containment of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as minimize its impact on the economy.
The terms of reference of the committee include, to: devise suitable strategies for the provision of affordable Internet access to individuals and businesses, develop a framework to facilitate access to financing for tech and tech-enabled ventures.
The other terms include devising modalities for encouraging the development and adoption of digital technology use support policies in line with the ‘Work From Home’ directives of the federal government and
develop a support program for Innovation Hubs to facilitate access to remote resources by startups during the work from home as well as other forms of support the hubs may require to be sustainable.
This Umar, added is in line with the social distancing measures aimed at minimizing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital technologies were used for the inauguration.
It is also expected that the committee will make effective use of digital technologies in carrying out this assignment. The Committee has been assigned 48 hours to submit its preliminary report, she said.