Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has called Africa and Europe to work together to advance and harvest the economic benefits of digital economy.

Such collaboration, he said, would at the same time prevent a counter-productive widening of the digital gap.

Osinbajo stated today on Tuesday at the Africa-Europe High-Level Forum in Vienna, Austria, which had in attendance other African and European Heads of States.

The meeting, which was organized by the European Union (EU) and African Union (AU) held in Vienna, Austria.

Osinbajo who spoke on ‘Taking cooperation to the digital age’, noted that investments in digital technology could make important contribution to growth and development by fostering productivity gains from continuous innovation.

“Given our fast-growing population in Africa, we are, of course, keen to work together to boost the job creation potential of new technologies rather than concentrating on jobs destined to disappear in the digital age.

“Faster growth, sustainable development and job creation are also vital for reducing irregular migration from Africa to Europe. In our globalized world, people can see disparities in standards of living across regions quite easily.

“This means there must be increasing openings for entrepreneurship and jobs in home countries for those who would otherwise embark on risk journeys in search of opportunities. In Nigeria we are taking urgent and practical steps to provide such opportunities for our rapidly increasing youth population.”

Prof. Osinbajo also highlighted the strides made by the Buhari’s administration in developing Nigeria’s technology sector through supporting public-private sector initiatives and the advisory group on technology and creativity.

He noted that the advisory group had been working to build an ecosystem for funding, training, infrastructure and intellectual property protection.

The Vice President added that the country’s Social Investment Programme has been leveraging on technology tools to drive it in its bid to improve the economy and lives of Nigerians.

The Vice president also thanked European countries for their support, while calling on other EU member states to partner with Nigeria and Africa to impart skills, raise resources, promote investment and provide infrastructure to build a digital economy. (NAN)

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