The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), as one of the major drivers of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NEDPS) towards achieving its 95% digital literacy target by 2030, has declared its readiness to partner with MasterCard and other multinational corporations.
The Agency will engage with Mastercard to hold a Cyber Security and Data Protection training workshop with representatives from the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) to benefit millions of Nigerian youths.
According to the DG, Inuwa Kashifu Abdullahi, who received the MasterCard team in his office: “to ignite digital innovation activities in the country, relevant partnerships would be necessary as the Federal Government is not relenting in its effort of creating an enabling environment to attract local and foreign investors that would ultimately accelerate the growth of the sector and the nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP).” While listing the services of the agency’s virtual academy to millions of Nigerian youths as a digital learning and certification platform, the NITDA boss promised to also collaborate with multinational corporations to fast track the creation of some of the digital services Nigerians need, to provide the required talents globally. Nigeria is poised to become one of the next frontiers for digital skills because of its quotient in the youth population.
While the DG expressed his displeasure over the shortage of talents around the globe and Nigeria being negatively impacted, he reiterated the agency’s commitment to training and collaborating with other agencies to change the Nigerian narrative.
Also speaking at the event was Ebihijie Momoh, Country Manager and Area Head for Mastercard, West Africa, accompanied by George Owuor, Director of Public Policy for Mastercard, Sub-Saharan Africa. He discussed the data protection and cybersecurity workshop being planned for May 2022 in collaboration with NITDA. Momoh said the training and workshop would help upskill the country’s data protection and cybersecurity talents.
On his part, Owuor stated that the corporation is ready to support NITDA in achieving its mandate, especially as it relates to the Agency’s Digital Literacy (Capacity Building) embedded in the Seven Pillars of the Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP- 2021-2024).
According to Owuor, the planned workshop would benefit the NDPB and the spectrum of the digital
value chain.
Culled from – https://switchngr.com/data-protection-cyber-security-nitda-mastercard