The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) is set to seal a partnership that will lead to channeling interventions for approximately 40 million small businesses spread across Nigeria.
This partnership, according to the duo is key based on the fact that SMEs are responsible for 50 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 70 million jobs.
“There were opportunities for collaboration between NITDA and SMEDAN as stated in the NITDA Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0) like the first pillar which is to foster Digital Literacy and cultivate talents,” said Director-General of NITDA, Mal. Kashifu Inuwa during a visit of the Director General of SMEDAN Charles Odii at NITDA’s headquarters in Abuja.
According to Inuwa, the collaboration will facilitate the penetration of digital literacy among Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) to enhance productivity, which aligns with the objective of the National Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF).
Meanwhile, the DG SMEDAN Charles Odii has said that the Agency has a couple of digital literacy programmes they had started. Thus, SMEDAN is at NITDA to have its curriculum looked at to see if it meets global standards and to be sure that it aligns with the NDLF.
Odii in terms of the Startup Act said, “We understand that NITDA is the secretariat for the Startup Act, and we want to work with you in sensitising them (SMEs), especially those of them who are startups to take advantage of this and also help to add to your database for registration.”
He added that SMEDAN has a robust SME database that it is building.