The US Consul-General, Will Stevens has revealed that, trade and investment that comes to the Nigerian market from the United States(US) stood at 70 per cent compared to other western countries.
This is even as he disclosed that Nigeria is a top rank African country with high percentage of its students learning in the US tertiary institutions.
Stevens, who disclosed this at the Global Tech Summit in Lagos, said Nigeria is faced with many issues, hence the reason the US government is investing in the country.
“The people in Nigeria are creative and they need access to capital. We are ensuring that startups in Nigeria get access to capital, to enable them build their companies into a billion dollar companies, especially in the tech ecosystem.
“There are five of the nine African unicorns that are already based here in Lagos, and we expect that they will continue to grow. I believe deeply that success begets success. So we the US government, the Biden administration is deeply committed to partnering with Nigeria and tech ecosystem to continue to generate this growth,” he averred.
The US Consul-General, however called on Nigerian youths to come up with solutions to solving global problems as he believed that the right solution to Nigeria’s sustainability is right here in the country.
Permanent secretary, ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, Dr William Nwankwo Alo, has described the Global Tech Africa summit as a catalyst for rapid evolution of Africa’s economy in global technology, while alluding that access to technology is no longer a privilege but a fundamental right to all Africans.
CEO, Global Tech Africa, Dr. Inya Lawal said, the summit is focused on Trade and not aid, as Nigeria has the attention of the public, private individuals and institution due to the numbers of unicorn that has been birthed by Nigerians. While stressing that the good thing about ICT is the innovation, Lawal averred that Nigeria has a well of innovation.
He disclosed that will be training on skills acquisition for underserved communities in Jigawa, Abuja, Ibadan and Ile-ife, adding that 13,000 people will be empowered by November, 2023.
