The Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa, CCIE, represented by the National Coordinator, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), Ms Victoria Fabunmi, delivering the opening remarks at the Nigerian Startup Act (NSA) Incentives Activation Co-Creation Workshop in Abuja.
The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called for a unified, cross-sector effort across government ministries, departments, and agencies to translate the provisions of the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA) into measurable economic benefits for local innovators and investors. Speaking at the NSA Incentives Activation Co-Creation Session in Abuja, organized by NITDA’s subsidiary, the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), the agency emphasized that while passing the Act was a historic milestone, its real success will be judged by its tangible impact on everyday tech ventures.
Delivering remarks on behalf of NITDA Director-General Kashifu Inuwa, ONDI National Coordinator Victoria Fabunmi stated that Nigeria must decisively transition from policy design to operational delivery. Inuwa noted that although early governance milestones—such as establishing the Startup Consultative Forum and deploying the digital startup portal—created vital platforms for engagement, the ultimate benchmark remains whether founders can seamlessly access statutory reliefs, funding, and resources without institutional friction.
The Director-General urged ecosystem actors to dismantle bureaucratic bottlenecks and harmonize their distinct mandates, resources, and policy instruments across trade, finance, science, technology, and the digital economy. Emphasizing that meaningful progress requires collective execution, Inuwa called on stakeholders to move beyond celebrating the existence of the legislation and focus on operationalizing the specific incentives designed to accelerate enterprise growth and global competitiveness.
Providing technical context in a presentation titled “Operationalising the Incentive Provisions of the Nigerian Startup Act,” Ms. Elma Andah, Acting Lead for Strategy, Research, and Analytics at ONDI, revealed that the Act outlines over 31 distinct incentives spanning six key categories: tax and fiscal reliefs, regulatory support, funding access, exports and trade, ecosystem enablers, and capacity building. She stressed that executing these measures requires direct synchronization across more than 15 government institutions, making robust inter-agency synergy indispensable.
Highlighting the ecosystem’s resilience, Andah noted that Nigeria is home to over 3,000 startups and several globally recognized tech firms, securing approximately $410 million in funding in 2024 despite macroeconomic headwinds. She pointed to vital progress already made under the law, including subnational state adoption engagements, streamlined startup labelling timelines, the Startup Investment Seed Fund framework, and ongoing initiatives to fully activate regulatory sandboxes.
To illustrate the interdependence of these policies, Andah explained that a startup securing investment may simultaneously require fiscal tax incentives, while an expanding firm looking to export tech solutions depends on swift, multi-agency regulatory approvals. Consequently, she challenged participating institutions to take clear ownership of their assigned incentives, simplify application workflows, and institute robust monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
The session concluded with an actionable framework to close operational gaps, ensuring that startups, investors, and innovation hubs can fully access statutory benefits. By institutionalizing continuous inter-agency alignment and stakeholder feedback, NITDA aims to de-risk the operating environment, attract sustainable investment inflows, and cement Nigeria’s position as Africa’s premier technology and innovation hub.
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