•NITDA DG says ICT contributes to GDP more than oil, gas
Executive Vice President of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Trixie LohMirmand, has said there is a huge potential for artificial intelligence (AI) development in Nigeria.
LohMirmand, who said DWTC would be bringing global investors to Nigeria through its GITEX Nigeria from September 1 to 4, 2025 to explore the opportunities offered by the growing Nigerian startup ecosystem and help them secure capital, stressed that the country could become a large AI powerhouse for the region.
Speaking at GITEX Nigeria Breakfast meeting in Dubai, UAE at the ongoing GITEX Global yesterday, she said global investors at the meeting would need to visit Nigeria because it was the single largest AI market in Africa.
According to LohMirmand, some Nigerian startups and founders have been coming to Dubai to meet investors, but only about 24 of them could make it each year while there are over 6,000 startups in the country.
“We can only bring in 24 companies from over 6000 startups in Nigeria. This is hardly representative of the potential, the energy, the passion and the talent that is sitting in Nigeria.
“So, this is the reason why GITEX is partnering the Nigerian government, with the Ministry of Communications, Lagos State and all the different states and commissions in Nigeria.
“For the startups that are in Nigeria, you will now have the opportunity to really have access to capital, to be able to benchmark and understand what the rest of the world is doing on a yearly aggregated, large-scale format. This is very vital in the age of AI,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government delegation to the event has assured global investors of their safety and improved infrastructure as the country prepares to host the Nigerian edition next year.
The head of Nigeria’s delegation, the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullai, said Nigeria was ready and committed to hosting the world next year.
Abdullah, who said the future of Nigeria held great promise, noted that President Bola Tinubu, was very keen on developing Nigeria via technology, stressing that the President had mandated the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and NITDA to enhance Nigeria’s development through technology.
He said the ministry was working assiduously to ensure technology became the centre of attraction in Nigeria, stressing that ICT had been contributing over 16 per cent ahead of oil and gas.
According to him, Nigeria is building infrastructure to meet global demands and doing everything possible to secure the country and the citizens. In his remarks, the Senate Committee Chairman on ICT, Senator Salisu Afolabi, said GITEX was coming to Nigeria, and the country was ready.
Assuring investors of the immense opportunities, he said 70 per cent of Nigeria’s over 220 million people are youths, which is a larger market opportunity.
