Facebook announced the opening of a second African office in, Lagos state, Nigeria. The decision the Facebook team made was of interest to the Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), who also reassured the citizens about the objectives of the Buhari administration in certainty to take the countries technology sector and digital economy to the next level, to match the technology requirement of this generation.
Based on the conversation between the vice president of Nigeria, Prof, Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), and Sir Nick Clegg (the Facebook Vice President on Global Affairs and Communications, who was also the former UK Deputy Prime Minister, both parties agreed on building a strong pillar for the country’s digital economy, the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP).
Representing the Facebook team were Nick Clegg, and other Facebook officials such as Ebele Okobi whom is the Head of Facebook Public Policy, Africa. On behalf of Facebook, they informed the Vice President of Nigeria Prof. Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) about the plan to station the second Facebook office in Lagos, Nigeria. With the objectives of developing Africa with internet infrastructure. The commencement of building the office is meant to start by the end of the year 2020 and should be fully operational before the end of the first half of 2021.
The delegation of the Federal Government of Nigerian delegation led by the Vice President of Nigeria Prof. Yemi Osinbajo once visited Silicon Valley as at 2018. Nigerian start-ups in the tech industry got a chance to pitch their products and services. One of the problems that was discussed in the meeting held in 2018 was that Facebook having a big user base in Nigeria is supposed to have an office building in Lagos and not just an officer stationed in the country.
In adherence to the initial meeting held in 2018, the Vice President of Nigeria Prof. Yemi Osinbajo said that roughly $377m was raised to fund the technology sector in Nigeria. He also included some facts in his recent interview on Friday where he stated that the objectives of the Nigerian government is to focus on the delivery of the diverse socio-economic aspects of national life, which includes e-commerce, education, social investments platforms down to the activities in the governmental Ministry, Departments, and Agencies (MDA).
Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo explained further that the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan (NESP) is the response of the Federal Government to the economic recession brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. He also said that the Buhari administration is bent on focusing its resources to stabilize and expand the digital sector in Nigeria.
The Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo stressed the need for financial investment in the digital economy in order to achieve a higher broadband penetration rate in Nigeria. He also stated that the Federal Government is teaming up with private sector to help finance, establish and expand the use of e-learning, e-commerce, and other areas to boost digital technology growth in Nigeria.
