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The Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has expressed confidence that the Nigeria Startup Bill will become an Act of Parliament before year end.

The Senate has already passed the Nigerian Startup Bill, 2022 and awaits assent of the president.

RELATED: Senate passes Nigeria Startup Bill

Abdullahi assured the startup community and other stakeholders that included Microsoft, MasterCard, and Norebase in Lagos recently of a speedy implementation of the bill to address the bottlenecks in the ecosystem.

He spoke as just as Bloomberg reports that global funding fo startups in Africa is surging. According to the report, funding “more than doubled to $3.14 billion in the first six months of the year, according to research firm Africa: The Big Deal. That compares with a decline ranging from 3.7% in Europe to 43% in Latin American and the Caribbean.”

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Bill  will enable environment for tech-enabled startups

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.”

The bill will provide for the creation and development of an enabling environment for technology-enabled startups in Nigeria.

The Nigeria Startup Bill is expected to address the twin challenges of low funding and absence of regulatory support. Once it becomes law, there will be a Startup Investment Seed Fund to be managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority. The Startup Investment Seed Fund is designed to provide early-stage finance for startups, as well as support technology laboratories, accelerators, incubators, and hubs.

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