The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy of Nigeria, Isa Pantami, met with global technology firms in the United States in a bid to strengthen partnerships for the development of the nation’s digital economy.
According to a statement from Director, Public Affairs, Nigerian Communications Commission, Reuben Muoka, the meetings with the World Bank and Google were held on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Forum, which took place in Washington DC, while the visit to Space X was a follow up to the event.
The statement revealed that Pantami was received at Space X by the Vice President of Business Operations, Samuel Gibbs IV, on behalf of its Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk. It stated that the during the visit, both parties discussed how Space X could expand its presence in Nigeria, following its entry into the country’s market through the Starlink broadband service.
It said, “The minister also asked the Space X team to consider sourcing some of its engineers from Nigeria’s digital talent pool.”
Explaining the World Bank’s meeting, the statement disclosed that the bank discussed how it can further partner with Nigeria to strengthen its digital economy ecosystem in areas such as infrastructure, skilling, cybersecurity, and digital identity.
It added, “On the invitation of the World Bank Group, the minister had a meeting with top officials of the Bank, including the Practice Manager for the World Bank’s Identification for Development and Digitising Government to Person Payments Programmes, Vyjayanti Desai.
“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.”
It further stated that Prof Pantami also had a meeting with Karan Bhatia, Vice-President, Government Affairs, and Public Policy at Google.