In a joint press release signed by both organisations’ media heads, the National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC) and the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) have announced a groundbreaking partnership aimed at integrating Nigeria’s cultural and creative industries (CCI) with the country’s burgeoning digital and innovation ecosystems.
The Director-General of NCAC, Mr. Obi Asika, and his team met with the Director-General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, alongside his senior leadership team, at NITDA headquarters in Abuja to establish a collaborative framework. This strategic alliance seeks to harness the strengths of both agencies to drive growth, innovation, and digital transformation across Nigeria’s creative and cultural sectors.
According to the press release signed by Dennis Olofu of National Council for Arts and Culture and Hadiza Umar of National Information Technology Development Agency respectively, the key focus areas of the partnership, among others are, Expansion of NCAC’s ICE programme; Development of specialized digital platforms; Piloting of BuyNigeria.ng.
On NCAC’s flagship programme, ICE (Innovate, Create, Empower), which is designed to upskill participants in the cultural and creative industries the partnership envisages that with NITDA’s support, ICE will expand to 1,000 locations nationwide, targeting the training of 2 million Nigerians by 2027. NITDA will provide training facilities and digital labs to enhance the programme’s impact.
While NCAC, in collaboration with private sector partners, is currently developing digital platforms for cultural inventory, fan engagement, influencer marketing, subscription video-on-demand (SVOD), e-commerce, and capacity building, NITDA will provide support through local distribution networks and cloud services to strengthen these platforms.
In the area of infrastructure development
NCAC formally requested NITDA’s assistance in equipping its headquarters and zonal offices with computers, tablets, consumables, digital labs, and podcast studios to achieve full digital transformation.
The two organisations also agreed to collaborate to ensure success of their major events.
To this end, NCAC will mobilise its creative and cultural communities to participate in NITDA’s initiatives, including the highly anticipated GITEX Nigeria 2025.
Both agencies also agreed to pilot BuyNigeria.ng, an e-commerce platform designed to bring Nigerian markets online. The initial phase will focus on markets in Kano, Lagos, Aba, and Abuja, fostering greater visibility and accessibility for traders and artisans while aligning with NCAC’s vision of enhancing productivity in the cultural and creative sectors.
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Also, NCAC’s Nigeria’s Got Talent platform will integrate NITDA’s digital literacy programs and gamified learning systems, creating opportunities for creatives to thrive in a digitally empowered environment.
A joint committee comprising directors from both NCAC and NITDA has been established to drive the partnership and ensure seamless implementation of shared initiatives.
This partnership marks a significant step toward integrating Nigeria’s cultural heritage with cutting-edge digital innovation, unlocking limitless potential for the nation’s creative and digital economies.