By Dele Ogbodo
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Monday commenced training for Women Entrepreneurs also known as Female Founders of businesses in ICT and digital skills geared towards empowerment and closing the digital gap that exist between them and their male counterparts.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Female Founders Training (FFT) organized by the agency, at the office of the National Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Centre in Wuye, Abuja, NITDA’s Director General, Mallam Kashifu Inuwa, underscored that the overarching aim of the programme is to help the women entrepreneurs upscale their businesses, foster partnership and to close the digital divide that exist between both genders within the digital ecosystem.
Represented bythe Director, National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF), Dr. Amina Sambo, the DG urged the twelve participants who were rigorously selected from the over 7,051 applicants from the 6 geopolitical zones to take the training seriously.
The DG, said: “It’s not easy to even identify opportunities, apply for the opportunities and get selected for the opportunities and present yourself here to be part of it. I hope that you will take every single knowledge and information gained, align it, internalize it and actualize it because women are living entrepreneurs as our kids, husbands and families are our products and so women are born innovators.”
This programme, the DG stressed presents a fantastic opportunity for women in Nigeria even as he tasked them on commitment, adding…It is a really about the commitment and how well you understand the opportunities that you have, meaning that you don’t have limitation as technology will give you everything that you need to succeed from wherever background that you are coming from.
According to him, all that the participants need is activations of their brains to be able to learn new things that is required to connect them to the global space.
Inuwa, said: “From today, we have embarked on a transformative journey. In just 2 weeks our call for applications for the Female Founders Traning (FFT) resonated across the nation yielding an extraordinary response with a staggering response of 7,051 applicants pouring in from all the 36 states and FCT.
“This overwheliming interest underscores the untapped potentials and enthusiasm that exist among our women in the field of technology.
“The Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) operating as a Special Pupose Vehcle (SPV) under the umbrella of NITDA was strategically created to foster the development of indigenous content within the Nigeria digital sector.”
He said the ttraining programme aligned with the 8 pillars of the National Digital Economy and Strategy and Digital Innovation and Indigenous Content Development and Adoption as well as digital innovation and entrepreneurship.
“Today, we launch a project that stands as a testament of our commitment to advancing women in technology. The response to our call was remarkable and the participants underwent a meticulous strict selection procedure to ensure the best for the programme.
“At the end of this end rigorous process, we are proud to announce that 12 successful candidates emerged strategically chosen to represent each of the 6 geopolitical zones.
“Over the next 2 weeks our mission encompasses and showcasing innovative tech based ideas and solutions developed by Nigerian females.
“The aim to promote and support these tech based ventures founded by women and therefore contributing to the closing of gender gap within the tech ecosystem.Further our commitment extend to promoting and supporting digital job creation for female a critical step towards fostering inclusivity and equity.
“This programmes align with President Bola Tinubu Renewed Hope Agenda, firstly the investment in the digital economy to empower Nigerians with new skills and sustained jobs and secondly the drive for women empowerment to champion equity and parity across every facet of our lives.
“This initiative is not just the project it is a call to action. For every woman utilizing technology to distrupt innovation, let us come together to create a global movement that promotes exciting premier opportunities for women in the tech sector, the DG, said.
In a remark, the acting National Coordinator of the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), Mr. Yakubu Musa, said the programme is being hosted to provide support for female founders in tech businesses,
He said before now there that notion that the tech space is dominated by the male, although that is true to a certain extent explaining that he strongly believe that the females are changing the narratives especially with past programmes organized by NITDA.
Musa, said: “I want encourage those that scaled through the rigorous process of seledction and made it here today and urge them to leverage on that knowledge to widen their horizon and broaden their business scope to build successful businesses and this is also an opportunity to network, partner and collaborate.”