The senior special assistant on digital transformation to President Muhammadu Buhari, Mr Oswald Osaretin Guobadia has called for the adoption of Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) by state governments.
Speaking at the Google for Startups Black Founders Programme which was held at the Landmark Event Center, Victoria Island Lagos, with the Theme: “Building Together” organised by Google for Africa, Guobadia highlighted the need for NSB to be adopted across the State Houses of Assembly in the 36 states of the federation.
“Our main focus lately has been on achieving 100 per cent NSB adoption by the 36 States Houses of Assembly, as well as effective implementation by all stakeholders, executive governors, members and actors in the business startups ecosystem, in ensuring that they are engaged in adopting the NSB in their respective domains. This is important because the bill gives every state in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the opportunity to build a thriving startup ecosystem through its targeted provisions, “Guobadia said.
While speaking he applauded the efforts of Google for Africa for their immense support of the Nigeria Start up bill, Guobadia noted that their commitments so far, is clear evidence that they understood what is required to develop a sustainable healthy ecosystem in Nigeria and were willing to put forward resources to support that process.
Guobadia, who was impressed by the level of impact that the Google for Startups Black Founders Programme Initiative has had on startups in the ecosystem, said in 2021, there were 50 startups that were provided with $3 million in cash as seed funding.
“It’s not far-fetched to say that initiatives like this are essential in bridging the fundraising gap in Africa’s tech ecosystem,” Guobadia said adding that, “Even though 77 per cent of black-led startups generate revenue and create an average of 5.4 jobs each with almost 50 per cent taken up by women. This can be due to a myriad of reasons ranging from racial bias, wealth disparity and even heightened risk aversion, but one thing I’m certain of is that it’s definitely not because black founders can’t run profitable startups.
“With the current increased growth and impact of the tech ecosystem, founders need investment from both foreign and local investors in order to close this fundraising gap. This is why the Nigeria Startup Bill initiative is inspired by Google’s effort to increase the amount of funding that goes into the ecosystem. The Nigeria Startup Bill project is a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech startup ecosystem and the Presidency to harness the potential of our digital economy through co-created regulations. The bill will ensure that Nigeria’s laws and regulations are clear, planned and work for the tech ecosystem. This, we believe, will contribute to the creation of an enabling environment for growth, attraction and protection of investment in tech startups.
“Few out of many benefits, the NSB ensures that startups receive funding needed for their startups to grow. One of these provisions is the Startup Investment Seed Fund, to be managed by the NSIA, which aims to provide pre-seed and seed investments to early-stage labelled startups. There is an opportunity for organizations like google and programs like this to partner to increase the pool, ” he said.
Speaking further, Guobadia emphasised on the need for more collaboration between government and private sector.
“It is important to note that the growth of startups is not only tied to access to funding but a host of other resources and provisions. Policy and Regulation are make-or-break factors that determine the success of startups in any ecosystem.
When the laws guiding a sector are not clear, it will not only stifle the rate of innovation and impact in that particular sector but will also reduce the amount of investments that go to that sector.
“There are very lucrative markets in Africa that are largely untapped, but due to harsh regulations and geo-political risk, investors are scared of betting their money on these sectors. The tech industry remains one of these sectors. Even though we see large funding amounts reported by various African-focused tech publications, it is really only a drop in the ocean when compared to funding raised in other developed countries. Take for instance, a comparison between Silicon Valley and Africa. I believe nearly all, if not all of us here know a thing or two about Silicon Valley, which is basically a region in North California. Silicon Valley received a total of $621 billion in 2021 alone; now, let’s compare that with the African continent, which obviously has the largest number of black founders. Africa received a total of $1.8 billion in funding in 2021. In comparison, this is not even up to 1 per cent of funding received in a region located in a state versus a whole continent. I guess by now you understand my point when I say that we have only achieved a drop in an ocean. This is not to discourage us but to let us know that we need to put in the work to ensure the collective growth of the ecosystem. By “we” I mean the government, private organisations, international actors and other stakeholders, ” Guobadia added.
