VENTURES AFRICA – Nigeria’s Ministry of Communication Technology has inducted the inaugural batch of teams for its ‘Techlaunchpad initiative’ aimed at nurturing excellent software-driven minds to provide support solutions, needed for the growth of the country’s industries.
Last year, the Ministry collaborated with industries stakeholders to introduce a new initiative tagged Techlaunchpad initiative. The enterprise was set up to help groom promising software entrepreneurs that will develop industry solutions and services to support different sectors of the economy.
According to the ministry, the stakeholders to have supported the enterprise included group of oil companies and banks such as Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total, Shell, First Bank, Access Bank, Accenture, Digital Jewel and others.
The Minister of Communication Technology, Mrs. Omobola Johnson, while receiving the teams in Lagos recently, expressed faith that the collaboration with the futuristic thinking partners in launching the initiative will help drive the software development industry globally.
“The Techlaunchpad initiative will help Nigerian software enterprises develop enterprise class solutions for our industries and ultimately Africa and the world.” Mrs Johnson said.
The teams were handed over for a 1 year training at the Lagos incubation centre, starting on the 1st of July.
The Minister however assured that the exercise would be continual; stating that by 2015, subsequent training at the centre would cover other sectors of the economy, citing plans to cover 30 businesses that would create jobs and wealth in the country.
Techlauchpad will also seek to create specialized markets for the local software developers.
Commenting on the induction, the chairman of the selection committee, Mr Kyari Buka – also the Chief Executive Officer of Central Securities Clearing System (CSCS) – added that the incubation programme would not only focus on mentoring and skills acquisition, but would also include funding through the provision of a venture capital fund-base of $15 million (from both government and private investors).
This first phase of this programme will seek to bring on board both new and existing software developers (company or individuals) that have concrete software solutions to support the Banking and Oil and Gas industries.
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