Nigeria to set up silicon valley: official, XINHUA

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ABUJA, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government has worked out to invest 600 million US dollars to establish the Abuja Technology Village modeled after the United States Silicon Valley, Nigerian Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Malam Nasir

Briefing journalists after the routine Federal Executive Council meeting in the capital Abuja, el-Rufai said the hi-tech village would cover an area of 650 hectares near Lugbe on Airport Road.

He said that the government would provide a seed fund amounting to 5 billion naira (about 38 million dollars) for the provision of infrastructure in the village.

He said the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology had been on the project since 2001, adding that the support of Nigerian scientists based abroad had been secured for their expertise.

The minister said the village would be "a base for the provision of information, communication and technology services to foreign companies willing to outsource their info tech services."

He said that the village would create job opportunities for some 40,000 information technology (IT) experts.

He also said that the government had concluded plans for the African Institute of Technology to be located in Abuja for the training of youths in computer and IT.

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