DIPLOMAN TIMES

Abia State has used a stakeholder engagement on digital regulatory reform to review its technology development programme and discuss ways of reducing structural barriers to digital-sector investment.

Governor Alex Otti said Abia's digital transformation programme is being advanced through skills development, civil-service modernisation and regulatory reform. He made the remarks at a stakeholder engagement on the State Partnership for Regulatory Innovation in the Digital Economy initiative, supported by the United Kingdom's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

The governor said more than 2,200 young people had received training through the TechRise Skills Acquisition Programme and referred to other initiatives including ThriveAbia, Abia Digi-Upskill and the Girls-in-ICT programme. He also cited a 2024 digital transformation programme involving 500 civil servants.

The engagement focused on how the state's regulatory architecture can be strengthened to reduce structural barriers and encourage private-sector participation in the digital economy. The source describes the initiative as involving government, private-sector participants, civil society organisations and other stakeholders.

Otti also cited earlier measures including the Abia State Dig Once Policy, the Abia State Startup Law, a startup support fund, the Abia State Technological Skills Acquisition Centre and the N306 million Nkata technology-enabling business grant. These were presented by the governor as components of the state's broader technology strategy.

The immediate purpose of the stakeholder meeting was therefore to review and strengthen the policy and institutional environment around digital development. The governor said future progress should be assessed through investment, employment and the sector's contribution to the state's economy, but those outcomes were not established by the source as completed results.