Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian tech ecosystem has been buzzing as President Bola Tinubu nominates one of its shining stalwarts, Mr Bosun Tijani, for ministerial appointment.
President Tinubu, through his chief of staff, Femi Gbajabiamila, submitted a supplementary ministerial list comprising 19 individuals, including Mr Tijani, co-founder and CEO of Co-Creation HUB (CcHub), a leading tech and innovation hub on the continent with operations in Nigeria, Kenya and Rwanda.
This has created positive reactions across the ecosystem, many who have lauded the decision as a positive for the budding sector, one of the most crucial sectors to the nation’s economy.
Nigeria’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector contributed 17.47 per cent to the country’s Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the first quarter of 2023, according to the latest statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
According to the NBS report, this amounts to about N3.1 trillion of the total N17.75 trillion of the country’s real GDP in the quarter. This is a notable increase in the ICT sector’s GDP contribution, surpassing the figures for the first quarter of 2022, which stood at N2.86 trillion.
Among the various activities encompassed by the ICT sector, telecommunications emerged as the primary driver of growth. The telecommunications sub-sector contributed 14.13 per cent to the GDP in real terms, leading the way with a growth rate of 10.32 per cent year on year during the quarter under review. The broadcasting sub-sector followed, contributing 1.98 per cent to the overall GDP in real terms.
Although no one knows which portfolio Mr Tijani will be given, speculations say it will be between the Minister of Communication and Digital Economy and the Minister of Science, Technology, and Innovation.
Expectations are that this will be a change from the norm to a position which have been manned by people who are not active players in the sector.
Mr Tijani bagged a diploma in Computer Science and B.Sc. in Economics from the University of Jos between 1996 and 2002. In 2003, he joined the Lagos Business School, Accenture and Junior Achievement for an MBA Course, Venture in Management.
Between 2006 and 2007, he went to Warwick Business School for an MSc in Information Systems and Management. Mr Tijani also did an executive programme in Innovation for Economic Development at the Harvard Kennedy School. He also holds a doctorate degree in Innovation and Economic Development from the University of Leicester.
In December 2010, Mr Tijani co-founded CcHUB with Femi Longe. The hub is described as “Nigeria’s first open living lab and pre-incubation space designed to be a multi-functional, multi-purpose space”.
CcHub was where Mr Tijani hosted Meta founder and CEO, Mr Mark Zuckerberg, in 2016, a visit he initiated. This was Mr Zuckerberg’s first time in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.
