The Deputy Assistant Secretary of the United States, Bureau of African Affairs, Joy Basu, has advised the Nigerian government to look beyond Lagos and be intentional about developing tech talents across the 36 states of the federation.
Basu, who stated this during her visit to the Vibranium Valley Tech City in Lagos said most innovation and venture capital investments are concentrated in the state, while talents are spread across the country.
According to her, for the country to fully harness its huge potential in terms of talents, all states must have the same level of developed talents and innovators as Lagos.
Accelerating talent development
Noting that Nigeria has talents spread across the country that are yet to be developed because innovation hubs are concentrated in Lagos, Basu said:
- “While we as the US government are willing to partner with Nigeria to develop her talent, I believe that there is a role for governments at the federal and sub-national level. We are all trying to solve the same problem, which is creating jobs, products, and services that meet the needs of the communities in Nigeria, across Africa and the world. We need to do that at a bigger and faster rate given the bigger challenges that we face.”
- “We are proud of the developments in Lagos, but if we think that is the only sign of talent in Nigeria, we are short-sighted. We need to solve these problems outside of Lagos.”
She described Nigeria’s young population as an asset to Africa and the world at large and expressed the confidence when the talents are developed, it would be beneficial to the US as well.
Basu explained that such young assets should not be left unrefined, stressing that opportunities should be created for them to thrive for economic growth and development.
She noted that the U.S. government recognizes the immense potential of Nigeria’s young population and would continue to provide support through investment, partnership, and training.
Building talents
Speaking earlier, the Chief Executive Officer of Venture Garden Group, Bunmi Akinyemiju, highlighted some of the achievements of the Vibranium Valley Tech City in building tech talents and innovators in Nigeria.
According to him, Tech City had so far groomed 1,500 talents and built about 22 companies from scratch. He added that Vibranium Valley Tech City had invested in about 65 companies through its venture capital arm.
Akinyemiju said he believed that the growth of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and that of Africa had to do with building bridges with America.
He said this was why the Tech City has been partnering with the U.S. Consulate to drive some of its goals of building talents.
