By Jacob Kubeka –
Nigeria and the Republic of Korea are working closely to improve e-governance in Nigeria’s and Cameroon’s public services, according to a statement released on Friday by a Korean international cooperation agency.
A workshop in Abuja on Thursday with representatives from both countries, according to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), provided an outlet for the sharing of experiences and the way forward.
The event is part of measures to develop e-governance in both nations, and is financed by the Korean government through its grant and aid agency, KOICA.
Electronic governance or e-governance is the application of Information Technology (IT) for delivering government services, exchange of information, communication transactions, integration of various stand-alone systems from government to citizens (G2C).
It also refers to applying the same technology to deliver government services on the basis of government-to-business (G2B), government-to-government (G2G), government-to-employees (G2E) and back-office processes and interactions within the entire government framework.
The workshop served as a knowledge exchange programme organised as part of scheduled activities to foster knowledge and experience-sharing on e-governance development between Nigeria and Cameroon.
Speaking at the event, Nigeria’s Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, highlighted KOICA’s contributions to the development and implementation of e-governance in Nigeria.
Represented by Mr Bitrus Nabasu, Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Pantami added that it was notable to have the Cameroonian delegation visit Nigeria on the e-governance knowledge exchange programme.
He said the programme provided Nigeria the rare opportunity to share its e-governance development experience with other countries within sub-Saharan Africa.
In his remarks at the event, the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria, Kim Young-Chae, commended KOICA for facilitating the programme, noting that it would further strengthen e-governance capacity building and development cooperation programmes between Korea and its partner countries.
Delivering a Keynote address, Joseph Le, Cameroon’s Minister of Public Service and Administrative Reform, lauded the collaborative efforts and support provided by the participating e-government stakeholders in Nigeria.
Le, who was represented by Tabod Jacqueline Mejang, Inspector General of the ministry and Head of Cameroon’s e-government delegation, said that the knowledge and experiences shared would boost his country’s eGovernment development initiatives.
Speaking, KOICA’s Nigeria Country Director, Mr Woochan Chang, said the workshop stemmed from the recently established e-government project agreement between the governments of Korea and Cameroon.
He said the agreement had a project design similar to the first phase of Nigeria’s e-governance project which KOICA supported from 2013 to 2019.
NAN reports that the workshop also had in attendance National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Galaxy Back Bone (GBB), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), eGovernment Training Centre (ETC), Public Service Institute of Nigeria (PSIN), among others.
NAN