More states working to adopt the Nigeria Startup Act despite its slow implementation

Last October, the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB), the brainchild of key tech players and regulators, became the law of the land. Now the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA), it has provisions for tax breaks for new startups, incentives for foreign service providers, a path to dialogue with government officials, and the Startup Investment Seed Fund for founders, among other things.

Four months after its celebrated receipt of presidential assent, the implementation of the Act appears to have kicked off on a slow note, unlike its speedy passage. The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which happens to be the Secretariat of the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship (one of the key provisions of the Act), is in charge of the process. Nigeria, Senegal, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are among the few African countries with startup acts. 

Read also: Nigeria Startup Act’s Project Manager, Victor Famubode, discusses its implementation and impact.

Slow and steady

But on the flip side, a number of states in Nigeria have kickstarted the domestication of the Act, albeit at the initial stage. Leading the pack, as expected, is Lagos which was the first to indicate interest in adopting the law. The reason isn’t far-fetched. Lagos, described as the Silicon Valley of Africa, is home to many successful tech start-ups on the continent and an attractive tech hub: five unicorns are currently headquartered in Lagos.

According to a report by Disrupt Africa, there were at least 425 startups in Lagos as of last August.

Victor Famubode, the Project Manager of the Nigeria Startup Act, recently told Technext that some states, like Lagos, have commenced plans to domesticate the law. According to a report from Nairametrics, 8 out of the 36 Nigerian states are currently in the process of adopting the Act: Kaduna, Edo, Yobe, Ekiti, Anambra, Lagos, Zamfara, and Osun, being the latest entrant.

“There is enough evidence that State governments see the benefits of adopting the provisions of the Act in their states. Osun state government, in recent days, became the latest administration to take steps at adopting the Act. It follows other states, including Kaduna, Edo, Yobe, Ekiti, Anambra, Lagos, and Zamfara, willing to adopt the Act to further the state development. Other states are expected to follow suit to avoid being expected to follow suit to avoid being left behind by founders, investors, talent, and economic prosperity,” the Nigeria Startup Act Project Team was quoted to have said in a statement.

Tech players shouldn’t rest on their oars

For one, the Nigeria Startup Act is touted as the messiah legislation many players in the tech ecosystem have billed as the long-awaited reform that the space needs. One of its core objectives is to bridge the engagement gap between startups and regulators and ensure that harmful regulations are shut down.

However, its slow implementation has caused raised eyebrows in the tech ecosystem, leaving many to wonder if the law had been swept under the carpet.

But its Project Manager, Famubode, told Technext that NITDA is leading the process, citing the recent learning trip to Tunisia — the only African country that has successfully implemented a startup act. He, however, added that the ecosystem should continue to ask questions about the progress of the Nigeria Startup Act.

For Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, on Digital Transformation, though the Act is designed to self-implement, tech players still need to ask the government critical questions about the implementation process.

“I think it is also important that the ecosystem demand answers from the government. The Startup Act is a law that can be demanded at any time. I daresay that the Nigeria Startup Act’s potential failure lies in the tech practitioners’ hands,” he said in an interview with Technext.

Read also: Oswald Osaretin Guobadia tasks players in the Nigerian tech ecosystem with political involvement.