By Ijeoma Olorunfemi
Abuja – A Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) — Young Innovators of Nigeria (YIN), on Wednesday, called for increased
private sector participation to promote indigenous technology in the country.
The President of the organisation, Mr Andrew Abu, made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
According to Abu, government has the responsibility to drive development in the sector but the major skills and potential is within the private sector.
He added that “Nigerians are innovative and it is time we showcase our innovation and it is the private sector that can help to
promote our indigenous technology.”
The NGO president said that promoting local content and indigenous technology would foster the achievement of the 2030 agenda for
Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
He said that the organisation had trained over 1,000 youths across the country in acquiring skills in Information Communication Technology (ICT).
Abu noted that the training was a way of developing young human capital to compete favourably with counterparts across the globe.
He, therefore, announced that YIN would hold its first Nigerian Technology Innovation Exhibitions and Awards (NITIEXA) in December
to reposition indigenous technology for growth in the IT sector.
Abu said that the event would address issues of SDGs one, five, eight and 17, aimed at ending poverty, achieving gender equality, promote
inclusive economic growth and partnerships for sustainable development.
He explained that “NITIEXA 2018 aims to set clearer agenda toward practical actualisation of SDGs one, five, eight and 17.
“It will leverage on technology applications in the development of affected sectors, a catalyst to achieve the current administration’s
economy diversification programme and create digital, technology jobs for citizens.
“It will also provide veritable platform for investors, stakeholders in the technology ecosystem to explore other sectors in the
economy where technology can be applied for development.”
The NGO boss added that the exhibition and award event would bring key players in the IT ecosystem to share experiences,
identify challenges and propose strategies for using technology-enabled innovation and entrepreneurship to diversify the economy.
He said that part of the objectives were to unveil start-ups leveraging on technology to solve problems relating to the SDGs.
He noted that more than 500 people would be participating in the event, including global business leaders, international technology
companies, investors, start-up entreprenuers, members of the academia.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the NITIEXA 2018 is “The Role of Science, Technology and Innovation
(STI) for the Achievement of Sustainable Development Goals.”
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