Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, separately met with Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (Space X), the World Bank and Google Corporation, all in a bid to strengthen partnerships for the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.
The meetings with the World Bank and Google Corporation were held on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Forum (USALF), which took place in Washington DC, United States of America.
The meeting with Space X was stated in a release by the NCC Director of Public Affairs, Reuben Muoka. It was held at its headquarters in Hawthorne, California, as a follow up to the events at the USALF.
Professor Pantami was received at Space X by Samuel (Chad) Gibbs IV, Vice President of Business Operations, on behalf of Elon Musk, founder and CEO of Space X.
During the visit, both parties discussed how Space X can expand its presence in Nigeria, following its 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.
Pantami and his team were given a personalised tour of the SpaceX Rocket Manufacturing Facility, Starlink Assembly Line, and Product Development Facility. They also witnessed the live Space X rocket launch of two telecom satellites into orbit.
On the invitation of the World Bank Group, the minister had a meeting with top officials of the Bank, including Vyjayanti Desai, the Practice Manager for the World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) and Digitising Government to Person Payments (G2Px) Programs.
Also at the meeting were Franz Drees-Gross, Director of Infrastructure, World Bank West African Region and Michel Rogy, World Bank’s Digital Development Practice Manager for Africa and the Middle East.
The World Bank team commended the minister for his leadership, which is said 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.
Professor Pantami also had a meeting with Karan Bhatia, Vice-President, Government Affairs, and Public Policy at Google.
Mr. Bhatia was full of praise for the minister for the significant progress, he said, that has been made in the digital transformation of the Nigerian economy.
He also commended Pantami 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. He noted that it 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 Professor 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,” the release added.
