Deputy Speaker of the Home of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has indicated the readiness of the parliament to associate with the Worldwide Commerce Centre (ITC), to spice up the digital economic system of probably the most populous African nation.
He additionally gave hints of the institution of meals processing centres throughout the 5 states of the South-East by way of Peace In South-East Challenge (PISE-P).
Kalu made the disclosures over the weekend whereas taking part in host to a delegation from ITC on the Nationwide Meeting advanced in Abuja.
He acknowledged the immense contributions of the Middle to the financial growth of Nigeria and your complete West African area, saying, “your work is really commendable”.
The Deputy Speaker particularly talked about the continued initiatives of the organisation in Nigeria and West Africa, which embody the EU-funded WACOMP program; the GIZ-funded ECOWAS Agricultural Commerce (EAT) program; which has helped to spice up Nigeria’s agricultural commerce capability and for improved intra-regional agricultural commerce, in addition to financial resilience and meals safety; and the upcoming nationwide growth of IDEAS in 2025, which he believed, will present invaluable technical help to the agri-food e-commerce ecosystem throughout the nation.
The Deputy Speaker additionally advised the delegation in regards to the present partnership between PISE-P and the Nigerian Communications Satellite tv for pc (NigComSat) in constructing neighborhood digital hubs throughout some components of the South-East area.
“We specific our eager curiosity in collaborating with the ITC to leverage this initiative that we’re at the moment constructing with NigComSat to make use of the
neighborhood digital hubs for native onboarding and coaching within the IDEAS
program’s digitization and e-commerce facets.
“By utilising the digital hubs
established by way of the PISE-P and NigComSat partnership, we are able to
present focused coaching and assist to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). This collaboration will empower native companies to
thrive within the digital economic system and improve their competitiveness on a
international scale,” Kalu stated.
He, nonetheless, expressed fear that the insecurity within the South-East area has had a devastating affect on companies and incomes, stressing that, specializing in schooling, agriculture, and
infrastructure growth have been non-kinetic measures essential for restoring peace and stimulating
growth in South-East area.
“As we look ahead to the nationwide growth of the IDEAS program in
2025, we specific a powerful curiosity within the ITC collaborating with PISE-P as a key associate. PISE-P’s work in addressing socio-economic challenges and
selling peace and growth aligns completely with the targets of the
IDEAS program. Collectively, we are able to create a extra resilient and inclusive
digital economic system, significantly in areas dealing with important challenges.
“It’s important to bridge the digital divide to make sure that all Nigerians have
entry to the alternatives introduced by the digital economic system. The disparity
in digital entry between city and rural areas have to be addressed to foster inclusive progress.
“We consider that by way of the mixed efforts of the ITC, PISE-P, and the Home of Representatives, we are able to implement efficient methods to offer digital entry and literacy to underserved communities, guaranteeing nobody is left behind on this digital transformation journey,” Kalu added.
Talking earlier, the ITC delegation led by Ms Natasha Aniekwu stated the company collectively owned by the world commerce group and UN, intention is to advertise commerce, particularly throughout growing economies.
Commending the Deputy Speaker on his a number of interventions to empower native companies, she knowledgeable him of their program centered on making E-commerce extra accessible and helpful for SMEs significantly in deprived areas and the company’s curiosity to associate together with his workplace.
Aniekwu stated, “We’re an company collectively owned by the world commerce group and UN, we’re based mostly in Geneva Switzerland and our main intention actually is to advertise commerce, particularly throughout growing economies, because of this We work rather a lot in Africa, in Asia and within the Center East. In Nigeria, we’ve got a challenge workplace, at the moment located throughout the ECOWAS fee. Our main motive for coming is to talk to you a couple of Nigeria centered program. We ran a pilot of this program for six months utilizing Imo state as a pilot location, we obtained numerous assist from the ministry of commerce. The key focus of IDEAs is to make E-commerce extra accessible and helpful for SMEs or enterprise communities significantly in deprived areas or susceptible areas.”
