The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), is set to train 100 women across Nigeria on digital literacy and digital jobs, which will ultimately bridge the digital divide and promote digital inclusion.
The federal government agency, saddled with the responsibility of IT development and regulation in the country, said the training would address gender imbalance in ICT, where statistics have shown that women’s participation in ICT is less than 24 percent.
“We in NITDA are determined to bridge the gap through special training programmes for women in addition to the usual ICT capacity development activities of which both men and women are given equal opportunities,” a statement signed by Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Director General of NITDA said.
The training is part of the Agency’s continuous efforts aimed at supporting the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) of the administration of President MuhammaduBuhari, which has three broad objectives – restoring growth, investing in the Nigerian people, and building a globally competitive economy.
The first batch of the programme is scheduled to hold in the North West region and is aimed to train 100 women, create 300 hundred direct jobs and over 1000 indirect jobs.
The four week training program focuses on key ICT skill areas including entrepreneurship development, business management, ICT and communication. The programme is fully funded and participants will be provided with first class accommodation, feeding and healthcare services for the duration of the training. In addition,each participant will also receive customised laptop computer system, stipend and other tools to aid their future pursuits.