Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), in partnership with the European Union (EU), says the €820 million fund for the EU-Nigeria Digital Economy Package will support the creation and scaling of technology startups in Nigeria.
The fund, Development Diaries understands, is also expected to enhance digital governance and promote acquisition of digital skills for Nigerian youths.
This move is in line with number nine of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aims to ‘build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation’.
Announced at a roundtable organised by the TEF in Lagos, the development partners also revealed plans for a €150 billion investment in Africa over a seven-year period.
The Digital Sector Skills Gap Report by Jobberman and the Mastercard Foundation shows that gaps within the Nigerian education system prevents young people from developing technical and soft skills required to be employable.
According to ReadyHire, the digital skills gap is impeding economic growth and promoting generational inequity in Nigeria.
ReadyHire also noted that less than 30 percent of employers believe that they have the digital talents they require.
‘This digital economy package will take the EU-Nigeria partnership to the next level, working together to make the most of the opportunities of the data economy’, the EU Head of Unit for Western Africa, Francesca Di Mauro, said.
‘[This] will support the development of the skills needed for Nigerians to succeed in the digital economy, with a focus on youth and women’.
An advisor to the EU, Alejandro Caintos, said that the fund will also be used to expand secure 4G connectivity in Nigeria.
‘The EU will support building the fibre optic cables and data centres needed to improve Nigerians’ access to high speed connectivity’, Caintos said.
‘The European Investment Bank (EIB) will invest E100 million to expand secure 4G connectivity in Lagos and Ogun states and triple national data capability’.
For her part, the Managing Director of TEF, Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, said that there was still much work to be done as regards investing in digital technology in Africa.
‘That is also the reason for the TEF partnership with the EU. We started in 2021 through €20 million partnership to invest in women African entrepreneurs’, she said.
‘And I am pleased to say that this partnership is moving forward’.
In a bid to breach the digital skills divide, the Nigerian government launched the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020–2030) to fast-track the development of digital economy.
Photo source: IFC
