Buzz in Nigeria’s Tech Ecosystem as Tinubu Nominates Bosun Tijani as

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Nigerian tech ecosystem has been buzzing as President Bola Tinubu nominates one among its shining stalwarts, Mr Bosun Tijani, for ministerial appointment.

President Tinubu, by way of his chief of employees, Femi Gbajabiamila, submitted a supplementary ministerial checklist comprising 19 people, together with Mr Tijani, co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation HUB (CcHub), a number one tech and innovation hub on the continent with operations in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda.

This has created constructive reactions throughout the ecosystem, many who’ve lauded the choice as a constructive for the budding sector, some of the essential sectors to the nation’s economic system.

Nigeria’s Info and Communications Expertise (ICT) sector contributed 17.47 per cent to the nation’s Actual Gross Home Product (GDP) within the first quarter of 2023, in response to the most recent statistics launched by the Nationwide Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

In keeping with the NBS report, this quantities to about N3.1 trillion of the whole N17.75 trillion of the nation’s actual GDP within the quarter. It is a notable enhance within the ICT sector’s GDP contribution, surpassing the figures for the primary quarter of 2022, which stood at N2.86 trillion.

Among the many numerous actions encompassed by the ICT sector, telecommunications emerged as the first driver of development. The telecommunications sub-sector contributed 14.13 per cent to the GDP in actual phrases, main the best way with a development charge of 10.32 per cent 12 months on 12 months through the quarter underneath assessment. The broadcasting sub-sector adopted, contributing 1.98 per cent to the general GDP in actual phrases.

Though nobody is aware of which portfolio Mr Tijani might be given, speculations say it is going to be between the Minister of Communication and Digital Financial system and the Minister of Science, Expertise, and Innovation.

Expectations are that this might be a change from the norm to a place which have been manned by people who find themselves not energetic gamers within the sector.

Mr Tijani bagged a diploma in Laptop Science and B.Sc. in Economics from the College of Jos between 1996 and 2002. In 2003, he joined the Lagos Enterprise College, Accenture and Junior Achievement for an MBA Course, Enterprise in Administration.

Between 2006 and 2007, he went to Warwick Enterprise College for an MSc in Info Methods and Administration. Mr Tijani additionally did an govt programme in Innovation for Financial Growth on the Harvard Kennedy College. He additionally holds a doctorate diploma in Innovation and Financial Growth from the College of Leicester.

In December 2010, Mr Tijani co-founded CcHUB with Femi Longe. The hub is described as “Nigeria’s first open dwelling lab and pre-incubation house designed to be a multi-functional, multi-purpose house”.

CcHub was the place Mr Tijani hosted Meta founder and CEO, Mr Mark Zuckerberg, in 2016, a go to he initiated. This was Mr Zuckerberg’s first time in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.