By John Ikani
Nigeria’s Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy has signed a new project agreement worth $13m with The Republic of Korea.
The agreement, which was signed in Abuja, is aimed to further boost the eGovernment expansion in Nigeria, particularly increased access in the enrolment of the National Identification Number (NIN).
Confirming the development, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) Office in Nigeria in a statement, said the new project agreement is for the implementation of the ‘Project for Building Foundations Towards Digital Governance in Nigeria’ from 2020 to 2026.
It said, “The project which is fully funded by the Korean Government through grant aid, is expected to enhance capacity for the further execution of key initiatives of the National eGovernment Master Plan, improve competencies for eGovernment service delivery through capacity building programmes, expand the delivery of government digital services through the activation of the Government Service Portal, www.services.gov.ng, and create increased access for NIN enrolment through the establishment of additional NIN enrolment centres.”
Speaking during the event, Isa Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, noted that KOICA’s aid disbursement for e-government remained the highest in Nigeria.
Pantami commended the Korean government for its numerous support to advance Nigeria’s e governance, noting that the first phase of the project, which lapsed in 2019, was very successful as it established an e-governance training centre.
According to him, since completion of the centre, over 1,000 government officials had been trained there with KOICA also sponsoring Nigerians to study digital governance in Korea.
The Federal Government in July, extended the deadline for NIN linkage to SIM data to October 31, 2021.
