Nigeria has reaffirmed its resolve to enhance its collaboration with Swedish technology company Ericsson, with Vice President Kashim Shettima assuring of a quick implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed earlier in the year, 2024. The Vice President made the comments on Monday while hosting a delegation of the Swedish technology company led by Mr Patrick Johansson, Chief Executive Officer and Senior Vice President, Market Area Europe, Middle East and Africa, during a courtesy visit at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

During the engagement, Vice President Shettima described Ericsson as a critical stakeholder in Nigeria's technology journey, recalling that the company was among the first to lay the groundwork upon which many other global-tech companies have since taken root. He thanked Ericsson for being a trusted partner in Nigeria’s development story, especially for its various initiatives such as innovation hubs, support for small and medium-sized enterprises, and to help further entrench Nigeria’s ownership of its own technology. He urged Ericsson and other foreign investors to seize the abundant market opportunity presented by Nigeria and the drive and potential of  its large youth population.

“We cherish our relationship with Sweden and your company, and I must urge you to harness our manifest destiny. We are a large nation with a tech-savvy population. We are making efforts across different fields. A good number of the unicorns that we have in Africa are Nigerian-based. The future is Nigeria,” the vice president stated.