The Chairman of the Sector Skills Council for Information and Communications Technology, Mr Shola Oshilaja, has said that the country is at risk of losing an estimated $11bn yearly due to the widening digital skills gap in Nigeria.
He recently warned that the adoption of AI will put several human beings out of a job in the near future.
Speaking in Abuja at the 21st anniversary celebration of the Digital Bridge Institute, an agency under the Nigerian Communications Commission, Shola revealed that by 2027, about 69 percent of global companies would fasten their adoption of Artificial Intelligence, and such a move has the potential to displace 85 million jobs, while creating 97 million new ones.
He revealed that the current digital skills gap Nigeria is experiencing as the nation can go a long way towards destabilising our economy if nothing is done about it.
“In Nigeria, the digital skills gap could cost our economy an estimated $11bn annually in lost growth opportunities. The question before us is clear: how do we prepare Nigeria’s workforce not just for today’s market but for tomorrow’s?” he said.
According to him, urgent policy reforms and educational interventions are required to reposition the country’s digital economy, and he’ll advise the government to introduce coding, cybersecurity, digital marketing, and AI fundamentals in secondary schools to trigger work-based learning via compulsory internships and apprenticeships.
Shola urged the government to work on creating a National ICT Skills Framework in alignment with international standards, stating that government agencies aligning their policies to support skills development will guarantee economic growth.
Meanwhile, the President of the Digital Bridge Institute, Dr David Daser, announced that the Federal Government has wrapped up plans to train 5 million Nigerian workers in Artificial Intelligence across the public and private sectors over the next three years.
He disclosed that the initiative is already underway, and it is currently supported by President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, and the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Dr Aminu Maida.
“We have a strong foundation and durable infrastructure to build upon. The future is not just bright, it is solid. We assure our partners of our unwavering dedication to effective service delivery, as we continue to foster and sustain collaborative efforts toward making the world a better place for all,” he added.
