Johnson, ComTech Minister Commends IBM as Coy Pledges to Establish Centre

Mrs. Omobola Johnson, minister of Communication Technology, has commended International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) for its renewed focus and commitment to partnering with the federal government to develop the ICT industry in Nigeria.

Johnson stated this during a working visit of Ms Virginia ‘Ginni’ Rometty, chairman, president/CEO of the International Business Machines (IBM) to the ministry in Abuja.

During the working visit, Rometty announced that IBM would establish an innovation centre in Nigeria by the first quarter of 2014 and fund major ICT research projects, complementing the efforts of the ministry of Communication Technology’s  iDEA incubation centres and other ICT entrepreneurs to make Nigeria an ICT hub for software innovation. 

As part of IBMs renewed focus and commitment to Africa and Nigeria in particular, Rometty also announced that IBM will be leveraging its extensive ICT curriculum to partner to train thousands of young Nigerians and fund ICT research projects in Nigeria on ICT skills and prepare them to solve major IT issues and challenges and would in the short to medium term be establishing an Innovation Centre in Nigeria that would complement existing centres in South Africa and Kenya.

In her remarks, Rometty emphasised that  ‘’IBM is committed to Nigeria’s ICT development agenda and is poised to partner with the Communications Technology sector on various initiatives and programmes that will impact positively on the economy as IBM continues to invest in key focus areas of technology development in Nigeria, and Africa’’

Johnson, commended IBM for their renewed focus and commitment to Nigeria after a long history of operations in Nigeria.

She commented that IBMs investment in an innovation centre, research funding and training and development of local skills was a welcome response to the Ministry’s continued call for multi-national IT companies to partner with the Ministry to develop a local ICT industry that can take advantage of the tremendous opportunities in the ICT sector.

She expressed confidence that other multi-nationals would follow the bold steps of IBM and commit to a mutually beneficial partnership arrangements that reflected the volumes of business they were doing in the country.