The Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has reaffirmed the agency’s unwavering commitment to collaborating and empowering women to bridge the digital gender gap in Nigeria.
Inuwa expressed this during a meeting with a delegation from TECHWOMEN, led by Ms. Binta Mustapha, at the agency’s corporate headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.
While noting the role of promoting digital inclusion among women from diverse backgrounds in national development, Inuwa said empowering women aligns with one of NITDA’s core pillars “Fostering Digital Literacy and Cultivating Talent” as outlined in the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2.0.
Recognising the increasing global demand for a workforce proficient in both basic digital literacy and advanced technological skills, the NITDA boss highlighted ongoing efforts to develop a National Digital Gender Inclusion Strategy aimed at addressing the historical dominance of men in previously launched initiatives.
He added that there is need for a minimum of 40 per cent women representation across all NITDA initiatives to create a conducive environment for women to thrive in the technology sector.
Inuwa further shared NITDA’s commitment to supporting women, citing collaborative efforts with the World Bank to provide digital literacy training for women.
He also mentioned initiatives such as the 3 Million Technical Talent programme, emphasising the importance of women’s participation and the agency’s partnerships with global tech giants like Google, Microsoft, Coursera, and others to build talent and enhance access to digital job opportunities.
He said, “The idea is to build talent and get access to jobs. We are working with different partners both local and international on how this can be propagated and even incorporate it in our mentor curriculum.’’
The Director General emphasized the broader goal of these initiatives – building talent and facilitating job access.
He said there were ongoing partnerships with both local and international organizations to propagate these efforts and integrate them into mentorship curricula.
Earlier in her remarks, Ms. Binta Mustapha stated that their organisation mentor women in various fields to provide them with the knowledge and ideas they need to make positive contributions to the growth of the nation.
“The opportunities given to women has aid in bridging the gender gap, providing them with the platform to showcase their talents and innovative ideas towards solution findings bringing about ideas and knowledge sharing.
More women participation is needed in the tech world so as to contribute their own quota to the growth of the nation through job creations and attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),” she added.
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