The Nigerian Govt Says it will Train 1 million Software Developers in 18 Months

According to the Federal Government of Nigeria, 1 million software engineers would be trained in Nigeria over the next 18 months. The government is requesting the assistance of significant players from several economic sectors in order to meet this goal, stating that it cannot accomplish it alone.

This information was provided by Prof. Isa Ali Pantami, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, during his lecture delivered at a one-day online workshop themed "Role of Software Testing in Nigeria's Digital Economy" that was organized by the Nigeria Software Testing Qualification Board (NGSTQB).

According to the Minister, the necessity for a safe system and the growing integration of technology into every aspect of human existence make it essential to train and certify as many Nigerian software developers as possible.

The software engineering and computer programming groups would need to visit a certified tester to ensure they meet the required quality assurance; all the fundamental bugs-free; and the vulnerability testing before they are able to sell their software. The administration intends to license some of the service providers, the Minister stated while requesting the NGSTQB's cooperation.

The Federal Government said last week that it would train one million Nigerians in the development of various applications (apps) over the course of the following 18 months.

The integration of technology solutions remains an essential tool in the United Nations' (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aims to improve the quality of life all around the world, according to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the agency responsible for overseeing the initiative.

Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of NITDA, who made this announcement in Lagos over the weekend, made it clear that the initiative would be carried out in collaboration with pertinent ecosystem players with the intention of making Nigeria the hub of digital talent on the continent. 

“As an Agency working towards the Digital transformation agenda of this present administration as contained in the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), we have initiated the Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Support (TIES) Scheme that will encourage more innovation-driven startup ventures to be formed, with an emphasis on indigenous technologies,” Inuwa said.

He emphasized that the country's technological innovation has been hastened by the ongoing implementation of NITDA's Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan 2021–2024, which was created to exploit the endless possibilities of the information technology sector.

The DG stated that the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) was created to build groups of IT competent and internationally competitive workforce as part of its contribution to the full integration of the Digital Transformation Policy. This was done to make sure that the people are equipped with technological advancement.

The NITDA chief executive encouraged youths to be innovative-driven so they could benefit fully from government programs, noting that the organization had forged many collaborations to secure funds to support startups worth N300 million and had also funded businesses.