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With the president’s assent, the Nigerian Startup Bill became the Nigerian Startup Law on Wednesday (19th October).
Aimed at creating an environment that fosters innovation and welcomes new businesses, the law first defines the types of businesses that are classified as startups and then moves them towards tax breaks, fundraising and assisted licensing pathways. Introduce various incentives such as access.
And fintechs, who are mostly hampered by the sheer amount of resources companies need to obtain the necessary licenses to operate in the financial services sector, can breathe a sigh of relief.
Read more: 5 things to know about Nigeria’s startup bill
The Startup Act requires the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the country’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to “relax licensing procedures for labeled startups operating as financial technology companies.”
In addition to helping improve Nigeria’s startup scene in general, the Nigerian Startup Act will help spread innovation in the country and foster a culture of innovation in all 36 states beyond the popular clusters of Lagos and Abuja. many people want.
Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, one of the contributors to the law and the president’s senior special assistant for digital transformation, said this week that states will implement the law as part of an effort to create opportunities across the country. stated that it intends to support News, EMEA, International, MENA, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Startups, Law, Innovation,
Build a regional startup playbook
Nigeria is the latest country to drive much-needed growth in the startup sector at the policy level, but the West African country is not the first to take legislative action.
In 2018, Tunisia became the first country in the region to pass a start-up law. Four years later, over 700 Tunisian companies have received the designated startup label. Many have achieved international success, such as his InstaDeep, an enterprise AI startup.
Read more: Four years after passing Startup Law, AI proves winner in Tunisia
Senegal followed suit a year later, becoming the second African country after Tunisia to pass a dedicated start-up law in December 2019.
Work is also being done to foster startup growth on a regional scale. The African Union (AU), made up of 55 member states, has made regulatory reform and start-up support key pillars of its digital transformation strategy.
Against this backdrop, James Manyika, Google’s senior vice president of technology and society, said at the 2022 Google for Africa event earlier this month that the tech giant will partner with AU to bring more Revealed to guide the agency on how to assist in the formulation of many African countries. start-up bill.
Read more: Internet and cloud capabilities define Google’s billion dollar Africa investment
Governments of Ghana, Kenya and Mali are currently in various stages of discussing, amending and ratifying their respective startup bills, and politicians and entrepreneurs are calling for similar measures in South Africa and Ivory Coast.
Ultimately, interest in legal frameworks that foster startup formation and innovation reveals the potential that such initiatives have for African economies.
Private sector investment and related incubator and mentor schemes are also important, but legislative acts that create links between businesses and governments will have greater impact in sectors such as financial technology that are regulatory burdensome and difficult to navigate. There is a possibility.
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