THE Central Bank of Nigeria has disclosed that it is set to launch a N100m grant to encourage universities to drive digitalisation over the next two years.
The Deputy Governor, CBN, Mr Adebisi Shonubi, stated this during the CIO Club Africa inaugural summit themed, ‘The Role of Digitalisation in Transforming the Economy.’
According to him, there is a need to review the nation’s educational curriculum while improving productivity.
He said, “The curriculum development has to be driven by the private sector because when these students graduate, most of them will be seeking employment opportunities in the private sector.
“This is why we are having this conversation so that we will have an educational sector fit for purpose rather than an educational sector fit for numbers.”
The Chairman, Board of Trustees, CIO Club Africa, Mr Olayinka Oni, added that lack of basic infrastructure and an apparent skill gap was inhibiting the nation’s ability to tap into its digitalisation potential.
He said, “Skill is tied to curriculum and I think for us to get value from digitalisation, we need to look at our curriculum because our curriculums are outdated and not future proof.
“I think skills and infrastructure are very important to unlock the potential of digitalisation. It is important that as we are thinking of digitalisation, we should be thinking about the output in terms of productivity.”
According to the founder CIO Club Africa, Mrs Abiola Olaseinde, digitalisation has the potential to help Nigeria break from its ‘emerging economy’ label.
