Google has officially introduced its newly appointed Director for West Africa, Mr. Olumide Balogun, to the Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa CCIE. This introduction signifies Google's assurance to maintain and strengthen the robust partnership that already exists between the two pivotal organizations. Mr. Balogun, accompanied by other Google executives, emphasized the critical nature of this familiarization visit to NITDA's Corporate Headquarters in Abuja, reiterating Google West Africa’s steadfast commitment to enhancing their collaborative efforts.

Olumide Balogun brings a wealth of experience to his new role. His impressive career trajectory includes over four years as Google's Head of Consumer Apps for Sub-Saharan Africa, a period during which he was instrumental in significantly promoting the uptake, expansion, and retention of Google's consumer services across the African continent. Before joining Google, he served as the Head of Marketing at HMD Global-West Africa, the multinational Finnish mobile phone manufacturer renowned for the iconic Nokia brand, a position he held for approximately three years. His extensive professional background also features a significant tenure as Microsoft Corporation’s Head of Marketing for West Africa, where he strategically managed marketing teams and initiatives across key West African nations, ensuring the achievement of both immediate and long-term corporate objectives. Mr. Balogun commenced his professional journey in 2006 as a Software Development Engineer at IL-Systems Limited, subsequently joining Nokia two years later as a Product Marketing Specialist. His exceptional performance led to his advancement to Senior Manager, Product Marketing for West and Central Africa, before he pursued new opportunities at Microsoft after a productive five-year tenure with Nokia.

During his visit to Abuja, Mr. Balogun highlighted Google's longstanding commitment to internet development in Africa, a commitment spanning over eight years. He recalled that in 2015, during a major developer event, Google announced a strategic shift from primarily focusing on mobile technologies to becoming an AI-first company. In line with this transition, discussions surrounding Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) conversations have garnered particular interest within Google. Furthermore, Balogun revealed that Google is currently compiling a comprehensive report detailing the influence of Artificial Intelligence in Africa, with its official unveiling slated for September at the University of Johannesburg in South Africa.

Kashifu Inuwa, the Director General of NITDA, articulated a strong belief that a reinforced partnership between Google and NITDA holds immense potential for the creation of a million digital jobs across Nigeria. Inuwa underscored NITDA's strategic positioning of Nigeria for accelerated job creation through the digital economy. He pointed out that the Nigerian Startup Act explicitly identifies initiatives such as talent development as crucial enablers for job creation, which can effectively bridge the digital gap among the nation's vibrant youthful population. The NITDA DG also acknowledged the essential roles of government in fostering a thriving ecosystem, particularly through necessary interventions in policies, regulations, and infrastructure. He elaborated that the fundamental aims of government regulations are to foster market creation, enhance accessibility of services for all citizens, safeguard consumers, improve service quality, and stimulate innovation across various sectors.

Inuwa further explained that NITDA is actively working to reshape public perception regarding the government’s approach to regulation and policy, emphasizing that the Agency adopts a co-creation methodology with the ecosystem in all its endeavors. He reiterated Nigeria's significant potential to narrow the global digital transformation gap, attributing this largely to its youthful demographic. He cited compelling statistics, noting that in 2018, enterprises that embraced digital transformation contributed 18.5% to the global GDP, a figure projected to surge to 53.3% this year, thereby accounting for more than half of the world's economic output. Additionally, he highlighted the anticipated substantial contribution of generative AI, expected to inject approximately 7 trillion US dollars into the economy in the coming years.

The successful collaboration between NITDA and the Google Developers Group (GDG) was acknowledged by Inuwa, a partnership that has already led to the invaluable training of 150,000 Nigerian youths. He detailed an ongoing initiative at the National Center for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR) in Abuja and expressed plans to expand this program to other states in cooperation with the GDG. Furthermore, Inuwa outlined plans to establish technology development zones in collaboration with universities, aiming to foster smart manufacturing capabilities within the country. Addressing the critical aspect of funding for startups, he stated, “Similarly, we are also looking at how to establish the seed investment fund to all the startups to attract investment. Last year, over 626 billion was invested but only 3.5% came to Africa and if you look at our population, we can do more than that; these are some of the ideas we need stakeholders like you to work with us.” This call to action emphasizes the need for collaborative efforts to attract greater investment to Africa's burgeoning startup ecosystem.