Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), has said as part of its contributory efforts to Nigerian economic development, it will be organising a Digital Economy Conference to boost job creation for the youth.
National president/chairman of NACCIMA, Ide Udeagbala, stated this at first quarter press briefing on the state of the Nation with the theme: ‘Promoting a Vibrant Digital Economy – a Catalyst for Economic Growth in Nigeria’ in Lagos.
Udeagbala said that the conference has been scheduled to take place at the Abuja Chamber of Commerce Conference Centre on January 31, 2023 and it is going to be an annual event going forward, saying that hopefully, President Mohammed Buhari is expected to declare the Conference open.
According to him, this very crucial event and it is expected to bring together very important industry captains, high-profile professionals and personalities from within Nigeria and abroad. The minister of trade and investment as well as the minister of digital economy are also being expected with others from the diplomatic community and international organisations.
“The goal of the conference among other benefits will include; to establish potentials of the digital economy to promote job creation and create employment for our teeming youths throughout the country; and to establish digital hubs in the six geo-political zones of Nigeria that will present opportunities for our youths to dive-in into the digital technology for possible start-ups,”he said.
The NACCIMA president explained that globally, digital economy has found progressive applications and visible impact in almost every sphere of our life including virtual education, smartphone apps, collaboration platforms, banking, e-commerce among others.
He expressed grave concern on the worsening and depressing socio-economic conditions persisting in the country which have left many industrial and manufacturing concerns in comatose, some others have closed down and many more Nigerians joining the unemployment market, resulting in more Nigerians in abject poverty with the consequent social menace.
Udeagbala added that “fiscal and monetary policies are at variance with each other with unclear policy on currency depreciation, the GDP on a downward spiral year-in, year-out with inflation and exchange rates sky-high and worrisome.
“The level of insecurity in the country is not only harming economic activities but also a threat to our political structure as it might disrupt the coming 2023 general elections except urgent steps are taken to not only contain but also curb insecurity in the country.
“The above is the general overview of our socio-economic condition of our economy today. Now these persisting challenges notwithstanding, we are optimistic they can be addressed through appropriate policy mix and implementations that can lead the economy back to recovery.”
Also, the second national president of NACCIMA, Engr. Jani Ibrahim, stated that digital economy is a very important aspect of how our economy can grow, develop and give the desire growth for the benefit of the whole country.
He added that the chamber has a very good collaboration with the public sector as there are still a lot of work under the communication and digital economy, saying that this summit will open that up.
