S/Korea pledges to boost Nigeria’s economy through e-governance

 

 

The South Korean government through the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has pledged to enhance e-governance in Nigeria with the view to boosting the nation’s digital economy.

 

KOICA Country Director, Mr Sungil Son, made the pledge on Wednesday in Abuja during a one-day Government Services Portal (GSP) stakeholders engagement workshop.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organized by Galaxy Backbone in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy.

 

According to Sungil, KOICA is partnering the Federal Government to develop a comprehensive services portal, designed to be a one-stop shop for citizens to access a wide-range of digital services.

 

“This portal aims to streamline service delivery, enhance transparency, and improve the overall user experience for citizens interacting with government agencies.

 

“To ensure the success and effective implementation of this initiative, it is critical to involve all relevant stakeholders in the development process,” he said.

 

Sungil noted that the workshop marked another milestone in the development of the GSP of which all Nigerian MDAs were the major drivers.

 

He said that KOICA was proceeding into a crucial phase for service integration for all GSP candidate services.

 

“At KOICA, we view the GSP as a key example of digital governance in action. As such, I am delighted that our partner, Galaxy Backbone has been able to put this workshop together.

 

“As we aim for the full activation of the GSP in the first half of 2025, I look forward to seeing how service integration targets can be achieved.

 

“KOICA remains open to collaborating with Galaxy and the candidate MDAs to ensure the GSP delivers digital services to citizens and businesses in a way that is convenient, accessible, and reliably anchored in global best practices,” he said.

 

Prof. Muhammed Abubakar, Managing Director and CEO of Galaxy Backbone, expressed gratitude to the South Korean government through KOICA for their contributions to Nigeria’s e-governance development.

 

He also said that the GSP served as a one-stop shop for Nigerian citizens to access a wide-range of government digital services through its API Integration Service with candidate MDAs.

 

“GSP as a Use Case for Government Data Exchange (GDX) platform is designed to enable seamless information sharing between government agencies, businesses, and individuals.

 

“It is one of the core components of the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI),” he said.

 

Prof. Youngchae Song, Digital Governance Expert from Sangmyung University gave an overview of the project since its inception in 2020, saying it would be completed in 2026.

 

Mr Mohammed Jammal, the CEO of ThreeMPlus and also GSP‘s developer, allayed security concerns for the system, saying that robust security measures were in place to protect sensitive data and ensure its integrity.

 

He said that one of the key features of GSP was its permission-based access control, which mandates that any editing or data input must receive approval from an administrator at the backend.

 

“This architecture significantly mitigates the risk of unauthorised access and potential data breaches.

 

“By requiring admin permission for modifications, the portal establishes a clear chain of accountability and oversight, ensuring that only authorised personnel can make changes to critical information.

 

“This layer of security helps to safeguard against internal threats and human errors that could compromise the integrity of the data,”Jammal said.

 

Faruk Yabo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, said the Federal Government was committed to integrating these services to improve accessibility and transparency.