Emerging Technologies: Nigeria To Partner With Africa Creative Market

Title: Forging a Technological Renaissance:

Nigeria Joins Forces with Africa Creative Market Unveiling a visionary partnership, the Nigerian Government is poised to collaborate hand in hand with the Africa Creative Market, embarking on a transformative journey to identify and nurture the budding talents of the nation's creative youth through the prism of emerging technologies. This groundbreaking initiative, a fusion of artistry and innovation, stands poised to elevate Nigeria to the vanguard of technologically-fueled commerce across the African continent. Kashifu Inuwa, the insightful Director General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), unveiled this alliance with resounding conviction at the grand stage of the Africa Creative Market (ACM) event. Aptly themed "The Importance of Tech in the Creative Industry," this event cast its spotlight upon the dynamic intersection of technology and creativity, right in the heart of Lagos in Nigeria's southwest. In his compelling address, Inuwa emphasized that the dawn of emerging technologies is unfurling a paradigm shift, reshaping the very fabric of content production, distribution, and consumption. Amid this technological surge, one constant remains: content creators continue to stand at the core, the driving force behind every innovation. With resolute assurance, Inuwa echoed the Nigerian Government's unwavering commitment to championing the cause of indigenous content creat.

“We are partnering with ACM after this Summit to train you on Metaverse, Artificial intelligence, Blockchain and many more. We are identifying people that need the training and we will get the best trainers in the world to come and train the trainers.” The NITDA Boss challenged African creatives to be part of the crop of people who will create Metaverse, as the days of playing the catch-up game by Africa are over. “ The creation of Metaverse will help achieve three things. It will ensure ownership and protect copyright. It will also create a source of income for you and will take you to the global stage.

“ Inuwa maintained. Emphasizing the value emerging technologies come with, Inuwa encouraged the young people to position themselves toward creating value from them. “There is a lot of research saying that Metaverse will add between five to thirteen trillion US dollars to the global GDP by 2030. So how are you positioning yourself to capture value from this? That’s why we are here today and that’s why the government is partnering with you to help build talents and support the course of building the Metaverse because it is going to be basically driven by creativity,“ Inuwa said.

He encouraged them to harness the internet in telling their indigenous stories to the rest of the world while capturing the needed value. “According to research, the creativity market or the creative economy is valued at almost six trillion US dollars but Africa is perhaps capturing only 1.4 percent of that value; today in the world African music is one of the best, if you want people to dance, you’d have to play the African music, so why are we not capturing value from it?. It is because we don’t own the platforms. So, the only way we can capture the needed value is to be creating and being part of those platforms and allowing African characters to be seen on the platforms,” he added. Centered around a visionary voyage, the 2022 ACM program embarked on an odyssey to equip and embolden the youthful spirits of tomorrow with the dynamic prowess of creative technologies. This immersive journey unfolded across diverse realms, casting its nurturing embrace upon animation, games, and the exhilarating expanses of the metaverse.