Nigeria Invests $1 Billion for ICT Innovation Hubs

The Federal Government is providing $1 billion, to develop ICT Innovation hubs around the country. This move is to encourage the generation of more local content and to enable the local software developers get closer access to the facilities necessary to build applications, websites, etc. Two centers will be unveiled in a few days, in Yaba, Lagos and Tinapa, Calabar. The Minister for Communications Technology, Omobola Johnson, said concerning the move; “The focus of the ministry between now and 2015 is to drive local content and skills development to create employment and sustain the industry. We also want to increase the contributions of the ICT industry to Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP). To achieve this objective, we would focus on software, mobile apps development, ICT entrepreneurship, and innovation.” Given the huge financial opportunity in the technology sector, the Government hopes to grow revenue from software sales in Nigeria.