The Executive Vice President of the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), Trixie LohMirmand, has said that the organisation is bringing global investors to Nigeria through its GITEX tech expo to explore the opportunities offered by the growing Nigerian startup ecosystem and help them secure capital.
She stated this on Tuesday during a breakfast meeting held by the Nigerian government at the ongoing GITEX Global in Dubai, where the country’s delegates shared preparations to host the GITEX Nigeria 2025.
According to LohMirmand, some Nigerian startups and founders have been coming to Dubai to meet investors but only about 24 of them could make it each year while there are over 6,000 startups in the country.
“We can only bring in 24 companies from over 6000 startups in Nigeria. This is hardly representative of the potential, the energy, the passion and the talent that is sitting in Nigeria.
“So this is the reason why GITEX is partnering with the Nigerian government, with the Ministry of Communications, Lagos State, and all the different states and commissions in Nigeria,” she said.
Largest AI market in Africa
Addressing global investors at the meeting, LohMirmand said they would need to visit Nigeria because it is the single largest AI market in Africa.
“For the startups that are in Nigeria, you will now have the opportunity to really have access to capital, to be able to benchmark and understand what the rest of the world is doing on an annual aggregated, large scale format.
“And this is very vital in the age of AI,” she said.
“We have also been asked many times, why suddenly Nigeria? Nigeria has been there since time immemorial and GITEX has been running for years, why do you choose to go to Nigeria now?
“The answer is: the time is now for Nigeria to really smash it globally as the AI powerhouse. You cannot do your large language model and your algorithms without the context of Africa, and you cannot do it without Nigeria, and this is why it is very significant for us” she said.
Nigeria is ready
The Nigerian delegates led by the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mr Kashifu Inuwa, expressed the readiness of the country to host the world at the GITEX Nigeria.
- Inuwa, who said the future of Nigeria holds greater promise, informed that President Bola Tinubu, is very keen on developing Nigeria via technology, stressing that Mr. President has mandated the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy and NITDA to enhance Nigeria’s development through technology.
- He said the ministry is working assiduously to ensure technology becomes the centre of attraction in Nigeria, stressing that ICT currently contributes over 16% ahead of Oil and Gas, which contributes about seven percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).
- Also addressing the investors, the Senate Committee Chairman on ICT, Senator Salisu Afolabi, said Nigeria is ready and would do everything possie to host the event successfully.
- Assuring investors of immense opportunities, he said 70% of Nigeria’s over 220 million people are youths, which is a larger market opportunities.
What you should know
GITEX Global, which is organised by the Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC), is regarded as the biggest tech show in the world, connecting people with industry leaders from big tech, global governments, innovative startups, expert investors, and corporate buyers.
- The startup and investment part of the event tagged Expand North Star brings together startups, investors, accelerators, and tech enthusiasts to source funding, and investment deals, and share essential industry updates.
- This year, DWTC said over 1,800 exhibiting startups and more than 1,200 investors with assets under management (AUM) exceeding $1 trillion are participating at the Expand North Star.
