As Nigeria moves to harness the potential of its digital economy through co-created regulations and provide enabling environment for growth, attraction and protection of investment in the sector, the director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, has said, the recently passed Nigeria Startup Bill by National Assembly will help institutionalise legal frameworks that will enhance the growth of startups easily, quickly and conveniently in the country.
Inuwa, who stated this while delivering a keynote address at the Google Black Founders Fund in Africa 2022 Launch Event, in Abuja, noted that part of the challenge being faced by startups especially in Africa is legal backing.
According to him, starting and growing businesses in Africa used to be a big challenge, but with such Bill in place, it will be easier to start a business.
Speaking on the importance of the event, Inuwa said, the gathering is an opportunity for startups to get funding and start a business it is coming with other incentives like the training Google offers which can be accessed via their Cloud.
While affirming government’s commitment to the growth of digital economy in Nigeria, Inuwa said, “We believe our own responsibility is to come up with policies that can enable a level playing field, and the government has been doing a lot in this area, starting with expanding the mandate of our ministry to cover digital economy, and the ongoing implementation of National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a digital Nigeria, which outlined its strategic pillars that are key to the ecosystem.
“We are currently working on a project called ‘Talent Gap Assessment,’ because we believe talent is the people side of technology. In Africa, we cannot compete with the rest of the world in terms of hardware and any technology infrastructure, but when it comes to talent, we have a competitive edge over the rest of the world.”
Advising the startups to have it in mind that technology is making things easier, Inuwa noted that, customers’ demand is changing rapidly, so they should envisage how human lives will be tomorrow and come up with innovative products that will be sellable in the future market
On his part, government affairs and policy manager, Google Nigeria, Mr Adewolu Adene, applauded the Nigerian government for the support it provides on easy system, and contributing to their data in terms of physical incentives and the registration process of Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
