Microsoft challenges Nigeria to use technology to address unemployment

Global tech giant, Microsoft, has challenged Nigeria to take advantage of technology to address the endemic problem of unemployment in the country.

Public Sector Government Leader, Microsoft Middle East and Africa, Salwa Smaoui, threw the challenge in an interview with our correspondent on the sidelines of a summit with government official titled ‘Re-imagining the future of Nigeria.’

Smaoui said instead of seeing emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence as a challenge, Nigeria could take advantage of such technologies and position its youthful population to be relevant in the emerging global knowledge economy.

 She listed cybersecurity as one of the areas where Nigeria could help to fill the gaps existing in the global pool of experts.

 According to the Microsoft egghead, a gap of 3.5 million people currently exist in cybersecurity and Nigeria can possibly exploit the opportunity through training and positioning of its youthful population to take advantage of the global skills gap in the field.

 Smaoui said that Nigeria could also be part of the forthcoming Fourth Industrial Revolution by repositioning its universities to train products that could take up opportunities that were available all over the world.

 She identified the management of energy as another area that technology could help Nigeria to reposition its economy, adding that through adequate deployment of technology, Nigeria can introduce transparency in the management of its oil and gas resources.

Smaoui said, “Digital transformation can enable a lot of Nigerians. When we talk about energy and oil; how can technology drive transparency? How can technology drive better management of subsidies to the oil companies? How can we diversify the economy so that it doesn’t stay on oil and gas?”

 She added, “Sixty five per cent of the population – they are going to school today – will work on jobs that we don’t even know. How do we prepare for that? How do we make sure that we are preparing a smart nation that will not only serve Nigeria but also serve the world?

The Microsoft leader also listed tax collection as another area that technology could help Nigeria to improve its economy. She said Nigeria could borrow a leaf from Zimbabwe which she said had leveraged the power of technology to transform its tax collection process.

She also advocated the use of cloud resources as a viable alternative to investing in data centres, adding that hybrid cloud could help any nation to safeguard its sensitive data resources.

Speaking at the event, Director- General of the National Information Technology Development Agency, Dr Isah Ibrahim, said that the Federal Government had recorded some successes in the deployment of technology to solve local challenges.

He said that the unflinching commitment of the government to stamping out the menace of corruption led to the implementation of Treasury Single Account driven essentially by information technology.