President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari says Nigeria is poised to welcome more initiatives and investments in digital technology as he expressed appreciation to Microsoft’s 200 million dollars engineering hub of the African Development Centre.
The president stated this when he received the President of Microsoft Corporation, Brad Smith, at the State House, Abuja, on Friday.
Smith was accompanied by the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami.
Buhari said: “I have been informed that the African Development Centre in Nigeria is Microsoft’s first engineering hub in Africa as the current investment stands at about 200 million dollars.
“I have also been informed of Microsoft’s skills initiative that aims to train five million citizens and provide 27,000 jobs over the next three years.
“These initiatives are commendable and I urge you to expand them and continue to prioritise Nigeria as you roll out your global initiatives.’’
The president told the visiting Microsoft team that as the largest economy and most populous country in Africa, Nigeria was positioned to play a strategic role in the global technology ecosystem and seek the right partnerships to harness the potential.
He said one of such key partnerships was in the area of capacity building.
He said that his administration had shown great commitment in providing conducive environment for investors and the massive jump in the Global Ease of Doing Business Ranking was proof that the efforts were yielding positive results.
Buhari said that apart from partnership in the area of skills building, he looked forward to further partnerships that would support the digital infrastructure and innovation ecosystem, with regard to emerging technologies.
The president commended the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy and all industry stakeholders for their support for the sector.
In his remarks, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami said he represented the president at the commissioning of the African Development Centre, adding that Microsoft had over 200 Nigerians working for it in the country, and Seattle.
Pantami noted that 320,000 Nigerians had also been trained on digital skills by the technology company.
The President of Microsoft and Vice Executive Chairman said the company would keep creating jobs to help build technology that would change the world, noting that the “multi-tasking approach’’ also stretches to digital infrastructure.
“We pledge to train five million people in Nigeria in the future,’’ Smith said, adding, “60,000 people have already enrolled for courses, while 300,000 have completed various courses.’’
Smith said the company had gone into partnership with other companies to increase Internet and broadband penetration, while efforts had been advanced in innovating technology that would fight corruption and preserve cultural heritages such as language barriers. . (NAN)
