President Muhammadu Buhari
Buhari signs the Start-up Act into law
President Muhammadu Buhari has finally signed the Nigerian Startup Bill into law, providing the legal climate for the administration and regulation of play in the nation’s digital ecosystem.
Minister of Communications & Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, declared Thursday in his tweeter handle that the bill has now become the Nigeria Start-up Act.
He said the bill was initiated by his office and the Office of the Chief of Staff and went through various readings since its draft was submitted to the presidency and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) last October.
It would be recalled that the presidency had in May launched the Nigeria Startup Bill in collaboration with a group of Nigerian tech leaders and several government bodies to govern how startups and regulatory bodies operate and collaborate in the multi-billion-dollar tech ecosystem.
The FEC approved the bill it in December and the president sent it to the National Assembly in February where it was received by the Senate.
The Senate in July approved the bill and it passed the third reading at the House of Representatives.
The Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship will govern the bill. It comprises the president, the governor of Nigeria’s apex bank, representatives of the Startup Consultative Forum, the Director-General of Nigeria’s information and technology regulator and other key government and private officials.
They will oversee policy guidelines and realization of the bill’s objectives, which include fostering collaboration between startups and policymakers — and ensuring that Nigeria’s laws and regulations are clear, planned and work for the tech ecosystem.
The Nigeria Startup Bill was drafted to create a conducive environment for Nigerian startups to launch and scale their products — as well as prevent the setbacks that have ensued in the past such as the ban on two-wheeler vehicles and cryptocurrencies from occurring in the future.
Several African countries have launched similar bills over the last couple of years with the same objectives. They include Tunisia, Kenya, Senegal and Ethiopia.
According to its draft last year, the bill seeks to tackle three main challenges for Nigerian startups: lack of an enabling environment, unclear regulatory framework and inadequate local content support.
Other content of the Nigeria Startup Bill includes pushing for protection and incentives, like tax breaks, incentives to attract foreign capital and access to an exclusive list of public and private-led local funding opportunities including a N10 billion fund from the federal government.
