According to IBM, Nigeria is an important market for them. IBM’s president and CEO, Ginni Rometty,  recently visited Nigeria and announced that the company has significantly increased the focus on the country’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry.

According to Rometty, the United States-based company has concluded arrangements to establish two software incubation centers in Lagos and Calabar, by the first quarter of 2014, reports Business Day.

These center would complement the efforts of the Ministry of Communication Technology’s iDEA incubation centers and other ICT entrepreneurs. They are expecte to make Nigeria an ICT hub for software innovation.

“We have a long-term commitment to this continent and Nigeria. I have actually selected Africa and Nigeria, especially to make our focal point for growth in the next decade and we have invested both in people, skills and some of our most precious resources such as innovation and research centers to be on this continent,” said Rometty.

She added: “In fact, Nigeria is our hub for Africa. So, one of our purposes of visiting the minister is to talk about something called the innovation hub that we shall be opening in the first quarter of 2014, and it will be focused on key industries such as in banking, telecommunications, government, oil and gas solution.”