The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani has disclosed that Africa will power the world of technology, noting that if the young people are digital inclined and given the right resources, they can become that engine the world requires to succeed.
Tijani disclosed this while speaking at The Platform’s Independence Anniversary event on Monday, hoping that in the next four years, Nigeria will become the next exporter of technological talents in the world.
The minister said Africa has an edge over the rest of the world given its young demography.
He said, ‘’If Nigeria as a nation will leapfrog our economic development and drive prosperity, we must build the core knowledge that is required.
‘’Over the next four years, we want Nigeria not only to have a strong pool of technical talents locally but to become the next exporter of technological talents as well.
‘’We have done it in the private sector, 10 years, 14 years, Nigeria wasn’t a key player, but today, our technical people are all over the place especially in the start-up world.
“And the reality is that technology is embedded in everything we do today, if you look around you, each one of us carry or use an average of 10 connected devices, from your watch to your phone, to your TV. Beyond that, we use a lot of technical platforms as well.
‘’The world is going to need technical talents to continue to build those solutions. And historically, we get these technical talents from the West, but unfortunately for the West, the population is declining, while it is declining, it is also aging as well.
‘’So, we are the future. We are a continent of 1.2 billion people. 40 percent of those are young people under the age of 25. In Nigeria, it is 60 percent of about 220 million people are under the age of 25, which means we have the ingredients that is actually going to power the world because these young people are digital natives and if we give them the right resources, they can become that engine the world requires to thrive.’’
