Nigeria’s commercial capital, Lagos said it will domesticate Nigeria’s Startup Bill (NSB). Lagos is the second Nigerian state, after Kaduna to make this consideration.
Tunbosun Alake, the Special Adviser on Innovation & Technology to Lagos state’s Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu stated this during the Co-Create 2022 Tech Expo in Lagos. “Currently, we are also trying to domesticate the Nigeria startup bill for Lagos state because going by the federal system we operate in Nigeria; each state is jurisdiction on its own. And for state actors to be able to implement some of the provisions of the law, they themselves have to domesticate,” Alake said.
Described as “Africa’s startup capital”, Lagos is home to several emerging startups and all the Nigerian unicorns. The Startup Ecosystem of Lagos is ranked at number 81 globally and shows a positive momentum increasing 41 spots since 2021, according to StartupBlink. Recently, Nancy Wolff, the General Manager at Techstars said that “Lagos has built a successful startup ecosystem that merits more global exposure, investments and resources, [with] extraordinary potential.”
The Bill which was approved by the Federal Executive Council last December is currently awaiting the consideration of the lawmakers at the National Assembly. NSB seeks to create a conducive environment for Nigerian startups to flourish. The three major challenges that the bill is looking to tackle are regulatory uncertainties, lack of an enabling business environment, and limited local content.
“Nigeria is also broadly a tough place to do business, both for established companies and startups. By creating transparency in rulemaking, taxes, and fees and by encouraging the development of essential infrastructure, the bill will attempt to make Nigeria an easier place to start and grow a business,” Tomiwa Aladekomo, a member of the Presidential Advisory Strategic Group and the CEO, Big Cabal Media told Benjamindada.com
NBS will also offer protection and incentives, like tax breaks and access to an exclusive list of private and public-led funding opportunities, for indigenous founders and it will create conditions that will attract local and foreign investors to the Nigerian startup community.
In April, a coalition of some Nigerian youth groups rallied at the National Assembly complex in Abuja to demand the swift passage of the Nigeria Startup Bill. “the bill is too important… for the National Assembly to delay its passage. So far, several members of the National Assembly have been supportive of the bill but we are here to put pressure on them to make sure the bill is passed as soon as possible,” Tracy Okoro, the leader of the groups told newsmen.
The group also met with Senator Yakubu Oseni, Chairman of the Senate Committee on ICT and Cybercrime, to lobby him to rally his colleagues to see to the speedy passage of the bill —which has scaled second reading at the House of Representatives.
