The Ministry of Communications Technology has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nokia, aimed at stimulating growth of Information Communication Technology (ICT) sector in Nigeria.
At the signing ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson stressed that government would continue to partner with the private sector and industry players to stimulate socio-economic development and bridge the digital divide in the country.
The MoU is one of several Private Partnership Project (PPP) initiatives being undertaken by the Ministry to foster innovation and development of the ICT sector in Nigeria.
Mrs. Johnson added that the Nigerian government was very much aware of the potential ICTs can have on the development of the nation and was working to ensure that it is deployed as a tool to foster inclusive development and transform Nigeria into a digitalised economy.
She said that the Ministry is very much focused on creating incubation centres that will facilitate innovation, entrepreneurship and job creation in the country.
Vice President for Nokia West Africa and Central Africa, Mr. James Rutherfoord stressed that despite the advent of GSM technology in Nigeria, a sizeable proportion of the population were yet to be connected by mobile, a development which he said impedes economic growth.
The partnership is expected to demonstrate the value of mobile enhanced services for the people of Nigeria and to support growth of indigenous innovation, resulting in solutions and services created by local application developers.
According to the Minister, “the objective of the MoU is broken into four parts. Firstly, the Ministry and Nokia will collaborate in the area of mobile enabled corporate social investment initiatives and low cost solutions that benefit Nigerian students, government and consumers.
“The second area of collaboration includes provision of support for stimulating the growth of the local application developer ecosystem and industry. Thirdly, the partnership will provide regulatory and policy support for maximising the positive impact of mobile technologies in society and fourthly, the MoU will enable the building of environmental awareness and expansion of handset recycling.
“In the area of local application development and support for emerging entrepreneurs, the collaboration is also expected to provide training and build capacities of university students and emerging mobile entrepreneurs capable of competing in local, regional and international markets and for creating locally relevant content and services.”
The Minister promised that a mobile software laboratory would be launched by Nokia in Nigeria with a dedicated growth program for local developers focusing on technical, design and business skills.
This, she said, would enable Nigerian developers and entrepreneurs develop the right skill sets and support for creating sustainable businesses around mobile software and content development.
The MOU will leverage on Nokia’s Education Delivery (NED) under corporate social investment initiatives and solutions to deliver high quality educational content to teachers and learners in remote and underserved communities in Nigeria.
The collaboration will also lead to investments in the implementation of Nokia’s Mobile Mathematics in Nigeria which empowers students to study mathematics anywhere and anytime from their mobile phones.
The MOU will also support other ICT institutions, both public and private in building an enabling environment that will foster growth, access to high quality services and devices at affordable prices in a bid to eliminate the menace of sub- standard devices that stifle the growth of the nation’s software and content industry.