CEM REPORT | An agreement between the Federal Government, Huawei and CISCO has been signed through the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy to see the tech companies establish 300 academies which will train 30,000 Nigerians at the minimum in advance ICT.
The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, made the disclosure at the CISCO SAFARI International Conference 2022 organised by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in collaboration with Cisco.
“Of recent, we have had an agreement with Huawei and CISCO to establish a minimum of 300 academies in Nigeria and to train a minimum of 30,000 citizens on advanced training.”
He added that the move was part of the government’s efforts towards achieving the target of attaining 95% digital literacy in the country by 2030.
While delivering his address at the event theme: ‘Digital Skills in the 4th Industrial Revolution, the Impact on National Development,’ the minister noted that National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy stands as key pillars in diversify the economy.
“If you look at our National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a digital Nigeria 2020- 2030 which was unveiled by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR, on the 28th of November 2019, you will discover that these two components of the theme have been effectively mentioned and captured in the policy under pillars number 2 and 7. Pillar number 2 is digital skills and literacy while pillar number 7 is digital society and emerging technologies”,
He recalled the Federal Government agreement with Microsoft to train 5 million Nigerians, especially in the area of Artificial Intelligence (AI) signed earlier in the year.
“In addition to this, we have another agreement with Microsoft in which 5 million citizens are going to be trained on ICT, particularly in the area of Artificial Intelligence”.
The conference is an annual event where experts converge to discuss the progress and achievements of CISCO Academy in mentorship, and career development programmes in the country and to strengthen the partnership it has enjoyed with the NITDA over the years.