By Emmanuel Adeleke
in a bid to strengthen partnerships for the development of Nigeria’s digital economy, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, has met with Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (Space X) as well as the World Bank and Google Corporation.
A statement issued on Sunday by NCC’s Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka, said the meetings with World Bank and Google were held on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Forum (USALF), which took place in Washington DC, United States of America, while the visit to Space X was a follow up to the events at the USALF.
According to the statement, Pantami was received at Space X by the Vice President of Business Operations, Samuel (Chad) Gibbs IV, on behalf of the Founder and CEO, Elon Musk.
Both parties were said to have discussed on how Space X can expand its presence in Nigeria, following their entry into the Nigerian market through the Starlink broadband service.
The minister also asked the Space X team to consider sourcing some of its engineers from Nigeria’s digital talent pool.
During the visitation, Pantami and his team were given a personalised tour of the Space X Rocket Manufacturing Facility, Starlink Assembly Line, and Product Development Facility. He also witnessed the live Space X rocket launch of 2 telecoms satellites into orbit.
The mnister later had a meeting with top officials of the World Bank Group, including the Practice Manager for the World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) and Digitizing Government to Person Payments (G2Px) Programmes, Vyjayanti Desai.
The World Bank team commended the .inister for his great leadership, which has led to significant development in Nigeria’s digital economy sector. The meeting also discussed how the bank can further partner with Nigeria to strengthen the digital economy ecosystem in areas such as infrastructure, skilling, cybersecurity and digital identity.
Others at the meeting were Director of Infrastructure, World Bank West African Region, Franz Drees-Gross, and World Bank’s Digital Development Practice Manager for Africa and the Middle East, Michel Rogy.
Pantami also had a meeting with the Vice President, Government Affairs, and Public Policy at Google, Karan Bhatia.
Bhatia lauded the minister for the significant progress that has been made in the digital transformation of the Nigerian economy.
He also commended him for Nigeria Startup Act, noting the potential of the legislation to serve as a catalyst for rapid development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.
The Google Vice President discussed the company’s growing focus on Africa and looks forward to expanding partnerships with Nigeria in areas such as skilling, cybersecurity, and cloud computing, among others.
The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, under Pantami’s leadership remains committed to implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in order to ensure that Nigeria’s digital economy remains a leading light, both in Africa and across the globe.
