Nigeria’s growth path dependent on digitisation, Cisco GM

 With the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) countries failing to reach an agreement on oil production levels, it will become more and more crucial for oil-reliant countries to digitise their economies, says Olakunle Oloruntimehin, General Manager of Cisco in Nigeria.

 Oloruntimehin  was commenting off the back of the OPEC ministerial meeting  held recently,said:“If Nigeria is to remain the largest economy on the Continent, it will have to move to other modes of revenue generation and a viable one at this stage, is country digitisation,” he adds. “Country digitisation is the connection of everything that makes a country function optimally. Connecting people, companies, devices, appliances, and homes by using digital technology to allow us to function optimally, smarter and more cost-effective.”

Nigeria is very accepting of country digitisation.

He maintained that Cisco’s interactions show that multiple stakeholders in Nigeria are accepting the idea of diversifying Nigeria’s economy through country digitisation, in fact, the Government has already started initiating projects that could see the country leapfrog into digitisation, he said

“Cisco is working with the office of His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo the Vice President of Nigeria, to establish eight innovation hubs in Nigeria all sharing Cisco’s innovative digital and collaborative technology. The innovation hubs will be spread across, Lagos, Abuja and six other geographical regions in the country. In addition, Cisco will be providing training support services at the innovation hubs through its flagship Networking Academy programme.”

The Cisco Networking Academy is an IT skills and career building programme for learning institutions and individuals worldwide. More than 5.5 million people have been trained by Cisco’s Networking Academy globally since its inception in 1999.