..invests over N720m in tech startups
By Prince Osuagwu &Juliet Umeh
The federal government Thursday revealed that it
plans to carry out a massive economic overhaul
through supports and investments in technology
developments across the country.
President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Nigeria
Google country director, Juliet Ehimuan;
VP, Project Management, Anjali Joshi and
some beneficiaries of Google programs.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, made the
revelation at the 2018 edition of Google for
Africa event held in Victoria Island Lagos.
Osinbajo said the government has made
massive investments in technology ecosystem
as well as giving supports worth over $2million,
approximately (N720 million) to about 29
startups in Nigeria to change the trajectory of
Nigerian story and provide knowledge and
information to the teeming youths.
Osinbajo who was special guest of honour at the
event, used the opportunity to express the
countrys gratitude to Google for partnering with
a local technology company, 21st Century
technology to launch the Google Station
platform in Nigeria.
The platform which was launched in Nigeria, at
the event, is Googles public wi-fi service which
allows partners to roll out free hotspots in public
places.
He said Nigeria cannot provide all the services
the country and its citizenry need and called on
more corporate organizations both locally and
internationally to join Google in assisting to keep
Nigeria as the technology hub of Africa and all
emerging markets of the world.
According to Osinbajo, “We in Nigeria cannot
train nearly 200 million young people by 2045
in classrooms alone; it’s impossible. We must
use the internet and even mobile telephony. We
must connect our young people to knowledge
and information as is done all over the world.
For instance, when we started the graduate
employment programme that we have, tagged
the Mpower programme, we were trying to
access 200,000 people in the first phase and
300,000 in the next phase; ofcourse we couldn’t
congregate that mass anywhere at any location
in Nigeria without chaos. We had to resort to the
internet. We had to develop a platform which
enabled us to conduct tests, get all their details,
pay them and gave them tablets which they are
working with, today. All of these would have not
been possible without the internet.
“Without connectivity, development trajectory of
our nation and our continent is truncated. Today
it is also becoming increasingly clear that the
availability of food and health space of huge
number of our people will depend on how
democratized technology becomes. That is to
say, we simply cannot provide food or drugs in
Nigeria or Africa, without innovations in
technology and agriculture.
“Every step in making technology hub available
is a quantum leap in the African development
story and a major contribution to global stability
and growth. This is why the launch of Google
Station event here in Lagos, Nigeria is an
enormously significant development. It means
that in collaboration with the indigenous
technology company, 21st century Technology
which will provide access, more Nigerians will
connect into the internet.
“More exciting for us is that the Google station
is first launched in the market places. It is
absolutely important because that is where the
largest number of our people gathers”.
He noted that millions of Nigerians have shared
stories of how internet transformed their lives in
positive ways, and so the government was
trying its best to see that more people join in
these testimonies.
“With Senior Special Assistant to the president
on SDGs we have launched digital skills training
programme with target to train 400, 000
Nigerians in basic digital skills, working with
google and other local training institutions we
have surpassed the target, training more than
one million Nigerians in different basic digital
skills in the last 24 months.
“We scale up our support to the private sector in
the technology space and recently we created
technology and industry advisory group. The
group brings together young private companies
and relevant government agencies like NNPC
and Bank of Industry to stimulate growth in
technonolgy and creative industries of our
economy . The federal government has given
out $2m dollar to 29 start ups across the
country. Some of these initiatives have helped
the country rise in world banks ease of doing
business index” he claimed.
By Prince Osuagwu &Juliet Umeh
The federal government Thursday revealed that it
plans to carry out a massive economic overhaul
through supports and investments in technology
developments across the country.
President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, Nigeria
Google country director, Juliet Ehimuan;
VP, Project Management, Anjali Joshi and
some beneficiaries of Google programs.
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, made the
revelation at the 2018 edition of Google for
Africa event held in Victoria Island Lagos.
Osinbajo said the government has made
massive investments in technology ecosystem
as well as giving supports worth over $2million,
approximately (N720 million) to about 29
startups in Nigeria to change the trajectory of
Nigerian story and provide knowledge and
information to the teeming youths.
Osinbajo who was special guest of honour at the
event, used the opportunity to express the
countrys gratitude to Google for partnering with
a local technology company, 21st Century
technology to launch the Google Station
platform in Nigeria.
The platform which was launched in Nigeria, at
the event, is Googles public wi-fi service which
allows partners to roll out free hotspots in public
places.
He said Nigeria cannot provide all the services
the country and its citizenry need and called on
more corporate organizations both locally and
internationally to join Google in assisting to keep
Nigeria as the technology hub of Africa and all
emerging markets of the world.
According to Osinbajo, “We in Nigeria cannot
train nearly 200 million young people by 2045
in classrooms alone; it’s impossible. We must
use the internet and even mobile telephony. We
must connect our young people to knowledge
and information as is done all over the world.
For instance, when we started the graduate
employment programme that we have, tagged
the Mpower programme, we were trying to
access 200,000 people in the first phase and
300,000 in the next phase; ofcourse we couldn’t
congregate that mass anywhere at any location
in Nigeria without chaos. We had to resort to the
internet. We had to develop a platform which
enabled us to conduct tests, get all their details,
pay them and gave them tablets which they are
working with, today. All of these would have not
been possible without the internet.
“Without connectivity, development trajectory of
our nation and our continent is truncated. Today
it is also becoming increasingly clear that the
availability of food and health space of huge
number of our people will depend on how
democratized technology becomes. That is to
say, we simply cannot provide food or drugs in
Nigeria or Africa, without innovations in
technology and agriculture.
“Every step in making technology hub available
is a quantum leap in the African development
story and a major contribution to global stability
and growth. This is why the launch of Google
Station event here in Lagos, Nigeria is an
enormously significant development. It means
that in collaboration with the indigenous
technology company, 21st century Technology
which will provide access, more Nigerians will
connect into the internet.
“More exciting for us is that the Google station
is first launched in the market places. It is
absolutely important because that is where the
largest number of our people gathers”.
He noted that millions of Nigerians have shared
stories of how internet transformed their lives in
positive ways, and so the government was
trying its best to see that more people join in
these testimonies.
“With Senior Special Assistant to the president
on SDGs we have launched digital skills training
programme with target to train 400, 000
Nigerians in basic digital skills, working with
google and other local training institutions we
have surpassed the target, training more than
one million Nigerians in different basic digital
skills in the last 24 months.
“We scale up our support to the private sector in
the technology space and recently we created
technology and industry advisory group. The
group brings together young private companies
and relevant government agencies like NNPC
and Bank of Industry to stimulate growth in
technonolgy and creative industries of our
economy . The federal government has given
out $2m dollar to 29 start ups across the
country. Some of these initiatives have helped
the country rise in world banks ease of doing
business index” he claimed.