Vice President Kashim Shettima has declared that the President Bola Tinubu administration is building digital “highways and bridges” to carry Nigerian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across national borders and into the heart of the African market.
Speaking at the State House, Abuja, during the inauguration of the Oversight Committee for Nigeria’s hosting of the 4th African Union (AU) MSME Forum, the Vice President highlighted the government’s efforts to digitally empower small businesses and prepare them for the expanding opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to him, while over 83 per cent of employment in Africa lies in the informal economy, the continent is not short on ideas and digital innovation that offer an unprecedented window to compete with the rest of the world.
Listing some of the administration’s policies and programmes in this direction, the Vice President recalled that Nigeria chaired and spearheaded the AfCFTA Negotiating Forum, and has aligned its investment, digital trade, and competition policies with the agreement, noting that it is for this reason that Nigeria also established a Technology Export and Digital Trade Desk to support the nation’s entrepreneurs in exporting services and digital goods across Africa.