ITAN holds successful IT CEO Summit
ITAN hosted a successful gathering of CEOs of leading Information and Communication Technology firms from India and Nigeria who met on Monday 17 September 2012 to develop business partnership and relationships at the ITAN NASSCOM CEO Summit.
Indian firms were represented by the National Association of Software and Services Companies of India (NASSCOM), while the Information Technology Industry Association of Nigeria (ITAN) represented IT firms in Nigeria. The event with the theme ‘Empowering and Resuscitating Local IT Entrepreneurs via Local Content Development and Funding’, discussed issues relating to partnership relationships, credit facilities, funding, technology transfer and local content development.
According to Mrs. Florence Seriki, the ITAN President, the summit aimed to foster local and international collaboration with firms in both countries in a mutually beneficial manner. At the event which witnessed a significant number of stakeholders, Mrs. Seriki , emphasized the need to provide local ICT companies with significant private and public sector support in terms of increasing demand for local goods and services supplied, and engendering adequate partnership to promoting local content.
Local Content, International Partnerships for genuine Development
President of NASSCOM, Mr. Som Mittal, expressed satisfaction with the engagement noting the developmental similarities between Nigeria and India. He stated that Nigeria’s massive market and potentials cannot be ignored. Participants expressed the need to build business relationships that would genuinely drive local IT development, instead of the “marketing agent” role in which a local company simply markets the products of a foreign company.
On his part, one of the special guests, Director-General of the National Office for Technology Promotion and Development, NOTAP, Mr. Buba Bindir, stressed the importance of ensuring that the proposed business relationships involving Indian and Nigerian firms are conducted in line with regulatory and legal requirements.
Ms Evelyn Oputu, Managing Director, Bank Of Industry (BOI)recognizing the strategic role IT plays in developing the economy, stated that BOI would do all it can to support the business partnerships in line with its mandate provided they added value to the economy. Participants tasked her on the need to create an ICT desk at the Bank of Industry, as well as the need to increase and improve financing options for ICT firms.
Mrs. Seriki, thanked all who participated at the event. She stated that there were 30 Indian IT companies and 50 Nigerian IT companies attended the summit. According to her this is just one of the activities ITAN organizes in line with its focus of empowering IT companies in Nigeria. IT companies that desire some of the trade and other benefits available to IT companies in Nigeria are encouraged to register with ITAN.
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