News

NITDA to Create 7400 Jobs Through ICT Hubs, Startups

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said that its Idea Hatch (iHatch) programme will create 7,400 direct and indirect jobs through training of ICT hub managers across the country.

-Advertisement- WhatsApp Image 2025 04 26 at 10.51.58 PM

Director-General of NITDA, Malam Kashifu Inuwa said at the closing ceremony of a one- week training of hub managers drawn from the 36 states of the federation and the FCT held in Abuja on Friday that the agency was driving a national initiative to boost economic growth through innovation and startup hubs across the country in line with President Bola Tinubu’s agenda on economic diversification.

β€œWhat we have done here is to bring hub managers from 36 states and the FCT.

β€œWe have trained them before, virtually, on how to create an innovation ecosystem at state level. When they go back they will train startups in their states.

β€œWe want each hub to train five startups. We’ve done a pilot before here in Abuja and some states around and we trained 50 startups, those startups have created 179 direct jobs and 1500 indirect jobs.

ALSO READ -  Nigeria Customs, Federal Ministry of Transport Reiterate Commitment to Decongest Ports

β€œBased on that data, we believe if we train these five startups per state, it means we will train 185 startups in a state, and each startup would create five jobs.

-Advertisement- ads3

β€œWhen you do that, you have 740 direct jobs, and that will create 7400 indirect jobs and this will in addition domesticate innovation at state levels,” he said.

According to him, NITDA wants the beneficiaries to use technology to solve problems in their own states.

Ms Victoria Fabunmi , National Coordinator, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), a subsidiary of NITDA which anchored the training, said the it would help in bridging the digital divide in every sector.

β€œWe have, as a nation, priority areas that the President has given based on his mandate to leverage innovation. To accelerate and to catalyse some of those areas are agriculture, trade, healthcare, education.

β€œWe see through this cohort a lot of solutions coming out in this area, in agritech, edutech, Fintech, healthtech, and even to facilitate commerce and trade.,” she said.

-Advertisement-

She further said it would amplify the work the agency was doing in digital literacy thereby ensuring that young people were inspired to adopt technology, become enthusiasts and innovators who solve problems.

ALSO READ -  FG Allocates ₦438bn to 34 States, FCT for Economic Empowerment

She also said that ONDI was making efforts to boost female participation in startups, with a focus on nurturing female innovators nationwide.

Ms Lucy Mmadu, Managing Partner at Co-Creation Hub (CC Hub), one of the partners on the programme, highlighted the importance of democratising access to innovation and supporting hub managers with capacity building initiatives.

Mmadu said empowering them would create thriving ecosystems in underserved regions.

β€œThis is an opportunity to democratise access to innovation, access to resources and access to skills to ensure that we can also build a thriving innovation ecosystem across the country.

She said CC Hub was committed to supporting the hub managers as they implemented the knowledge gained from the training.

-Advertisement- Place Your Advert Here

Mrs Chinyere Otuonye of Sparks Ventures Hub, Enugu, a participant, praised the organisers for equipping them with practical tools for incubating startups and building a database of ecosystem players to track progress and impact.

Ms Aida Isah, Hub Manager for Startup Kano, said she would return to her base and restructure her team and reshape their mindset for maximum impact in the ecosystem.

ALSO READ -  Complete Ongoing Projects Timely or Face Contract Revocation, Umahi Threatens Contractors

The iHatch programme is a collaborative venture between NITDA and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) aimed at empowering Nigeria’s startup ecosystem by supporting them and innovation hubs with resources.

The training was the 4th Cohort in the series

Related Articles

Back to top button