Government will create an ICT enabling environment – says PM Robinah Nabbanja at 2024 National ICT Job Fair

The Prime Minister of Uganda, Rt Hon Robinah Nabbanja pledged government support towards creating an enabling environment for ICT to thrive in the country. She made the remarks while opening the two day 2024 National ICT Job Fair at the Nakawa Innovation Hub.

Nabbanja who was the guest of Honor was accompanied by the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Hon Chris Baryomunsi, Dr. Amina Zawedde the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of ICT and National Guidance and the Chinese Ambassador to Uganda H.E Zhang Lizhong. In her remarks, Dr. Zawedde said that the ministry which partnered with Huawei Technologies’ Uganda Company Limited to organize this fair aimed at equipping the youths with knowledge about Artificial Intelligence (AI), offering career guidance on skills to align with market trends as well as how to get jobs.

Hon Baryomunsi on the other hand said that Uganda is growing at a very fast rate due to the youthful population as the just concluded census revealed that 73% of the population in the nation are youths.

Therefore as the NRM government, they value young people and that’s why they are investing in them to turn them into an asset and not a burden. He hailed China for partnering with Uganda to help in developing technology in the country.

Additionally the Minister said that the ICT Ministry is charged with making sure that technology is used by everyone. He’s glad because this has almost been achieved because most sectors have already embraced technology. Furthermore, the Minister called upon other companies to emulate Huawei with ideas of equipping young people with the necessary skills for the field.

He said that companies need to come up with such events and skill the youths. The Ministry will always come in such events to give the mileage needed. He also advised the youths to take advantage of the innovation hub since it was constructed for Ugandans. According to Baryomunsi, Uganda shouldn’t be left behind in the technological advancement, this is why the government is expanding development infrastructure.

Prime Minister Nabbanja also spoke to the audience and said that the young population in the country is a blessing. Besides, Uganda is a young and vibrant nation gifted naturally. Therefore all opportunities to harness the youths should be explored.

She further said that the ICT industry is an untapped field that has the potential to create jobs and everlasting wealth. Therefore the purpose of holding such fairs is to bridge the gap between youths and companies.

Nabbanja also implored the youths to fully utilize such forums, learn and access abundant opportunities available. She acknowledged that there’s still much to do but government remains committed to addressing these challenges.

Some of the measures being undertaken include reducing the cost of internet access, increasing digital device affordability, expanding the broadband community to every corner of the country so that no one is left behind as the nation advances towards a digital community.