In America, Pantami Speaks With Space X, World Bank, Google To Strengthen Nigeria’s Digital Economy

By Angeline Mgbele, Bureau Chief, Northern Nigeria

Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, had meetings at Space Exploration Technologies Corporation (Space X) headquarters in Hawthorne, California, USA as well as a meeting at the World Bank Headquarters and another meeting with Google Corporation in a bid to strengthen partnerships for the development of Nigeria’s digital economy.

This heads-up was provided in a press statement inked by the Director of Public Affairs(DPA) at NCC, Reuben Muoka.

As per the statement, the meetings with the World Bank and Google were held on the sidelines of the US-Africa Leaders’ Forum (USALF), which took place in Washington DC, while the visit to Space X was a follow up to the events at the USALF.

Professor Pantami was received at Space X by the Vice President of Business Operations, Samuel (Chad) Gibbs IV on behalf of Founder and CEO of Space X, Elon Musk. At the visit, both parties discussed how Space X can expand its presence in Nigeria, following their entry into the Nigerian market through the Starlink broadband service. 

Pantami also asked the Space X team to consider sourcing some of its engineers from Nigeria’s digital talent pool.  During the visit, he  and his team were given a personalised tour of the SpaceX Rocket Manufacturing Facility, Starlink Assembly Line, and Product Development Facility.  He also witnessed the live Space X rocket launch of 2 telecom satellites into orbit.

On the invitation of the World Bank Group, the Minister Pantami had a meeting with top officials of the Bank, including the Practice Manager for the World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) and Digitizing Government to Person Payments (G2Px) Programmes, Vyjayanti Desai.  Also at the meeting were  Director of Infrastructure, World Bank West African Region Franz Drees-Gross and World Bank’s Digital Development Practice Manager for Africa and the Middle East, Michel Rogy,.  The World Bank team commended the Minister for his great leadership, which has led to significant development in Nigeria’s digital economy sector. The meeting also discussed how the Bank can further partner with Nigeria to strengthen the digital economy ecosystem in areas such as infrastructure, skilling, cybersecurity, and digital identity.

Professor Pantami also had a meeting with Vice-President, Government Affairs, and Public Policy at Google, Karan Bhatia.  Mr. Bhatia was full of praise for Pantami for the significant progress that has been made in the digital transformation of the Nigerian economy.

He also commended the Minister for Nigeria Startup Act, noting the potential of the legislation to serve as a catalyst for rapid development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nigeria and other parts of Africa.  The Google Vice-President discussed the company’s growing focus on Africa and looked forward to expanding partnerships with Nigeria in areas such as skilling, cybersecurity, and cloud computing, among others.

The Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, under Professor Pantami’s leadership, remains committed to implementing the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) in order to ensure that Nigeria’s digital economy remains a leading light, both in Africa and across the globe.