The federal government says its partnership with Google is set to transform Nigeria into a global technology hub.

Inuwa Kashifu, the director-general of the National Information  Technology  Developmental Agency, said this in a TV interview aired on Thursday.

Mr Kashifu said the partnership was focused on infrastructure development, scaling of citizens, AI innovation, cloud adoption and investment framework.

He said the partnership aimed to create an ecosystem to power Nigeria’s digital transformation.

Mr Kashifu also highlighted the importance of data centres in driving the digital economy and the need to domicile sensitive data both for the government and the private sector.

He said that no data centre relied on grid electricity globally.

“Data centres go off-grid. They go green because they also need carbon credit. We are looking at that as part of the framework,’’ he said.

The NITDA chief said there was a need to upskill Nigeria’s workforce to take advantage of the opportunities presented by the partnership.

According to him, there is a need to embed digital skills in the country’s education sector from primary school to tertiary institutions.

Mr Kashifu said the partnership with Awari Technologies was not part of the conversation with Google.

He added that it was under a special purpose vehicle focused on developing a large language model in Nigeria, which would help to promote language and culture.

President Bola Tinubu had met with Google CEO Sundar Pichai in Paris to forge strategic partnerships to enhance the country’s digital transformation journey. 

(NAN)