The Federal Minister of Communiations, Innovation and digital economy, Honourable Minister, Dr. Bosun Tijani has travelled to Wales and Sweden where he engaged with private and public sector officials to identify areas of collaboration and investment opportunities in Nigeria’s fast-growing technology ecosystem.
Dr. Tijani, who arrived in Sweden on May 2, 2024 on the invitation of the Swedish government, took part in a series of meetings to explore investment partnerships with both government and private sector players with a focus on innovation, connectivity, research and digital technologies.
While in Sweden, the Honourable Minister attended a roundtable meeting with Team Sweden at the country’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs where he was received on arrival by the State Secretary for Trade, Håkan Jevrell. He was later hosted to a luncheon by Johan Forssell, Swedish Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, who formally welcomed the Honourable Minister to Sweden and highlighted Nigeria’s strategic importance to his country, especially in the area of technology startup and innovation.
In his address at the luncheon, Dr. Tijani expressed his appreciation to Mr. Forsell and Amb. Annika Hahn-Englund, Sweden’s Ambassador to Nigeria, for the invitation and warm reception, while highlighting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s key economic reforms and initiatives geared at transforming infrastructure in Nigeria, including the $2 billion fibre fund for connectivity which would be a backbone for our digital economy.
One of the highlights of the Honourable Minister’s visit was a whistle-stop at the global headquarters of the Swedish telecoms giant, Ericsson where he was taken on a tour of the Imagine Studio to see their ongoing investment in future technology solutions including 6G technology prototypes while also highlighting the growing demand for semiconductors in the sector.
While speaking on his visit, Dr. Tijani said: “In the last 8 months, we have placed a lot of emphasis on 4 of the 5 pillars in our Ministry’s Strategic Blueprint and these have laid the foundation for us to activate initiatives under our Trade pillar. On the invitation of Sweden’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Annika Hahn-Englund, I have spent the last few days in Stockholm, together with key officials of my Ministry, in a series of constructive discussions with Swedish government officials and private sector to deepen our already strong relationship as their second largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Sweden is home to the second largest concentration of unicorns in the world and boasts a strong heritage of innovation, so there is a lot of opportunity for collaboration and support for our initiatives as we work to accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy,” he added.
“On the invitation of Sweden’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Annika Hahn-Englund, I have spent the last few days in Stockholm, together with key officials of my Ministry, in a series of constructive discussions with Swedish government officials and private sector to deepen our already strong relationship as their second largest trading partner in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
While in Sweden, Dr. Tijani met with representatives of several key investment organisations including Business Sweden, Swedish Export Credit Corporation, Swedfund, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), Swedish Institute, IST, The Park, Norskken House, Sweden Post and Telecom Agency (PTS), Binogi, Vinnova, Epicenter, and others.
Prior to his arrival in the Nordic nation, the Honourable Minister was at Swansea University in Wales, United Kingdom, where he undertook a tour of the Clean Lab, a multi-million pound lab set up with the support of the UK government and other key players to promote practical training of technical talent specifically in the semiconductor industry.
There, he engaged with leaders of the SEMI Talent Forum, a forum that connects the microelectronics industry with government, academia, and STEM students, to identify opportunities for talent development and job creation in the semiconductor industry as articulated in his Strategic Blueprint document.
The Honourable Minister was accompanied on his trip by senior officials of the Ministry and Agency Heads including Engr. Faruk Yusuf Yabo, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry; Dr. Aminu Maida, Executive Vice Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC); and Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).