The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, private-sector players and other stakeholders to translate the provisions of the Nigerian Startup Act (NSA) into tangible benefits for entrepreneurs and investors.
The call was made at the NSA Incentives Activation Co-Creation Session in Abuja, organised by NITDA’s subsidiary, the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI).
Speaking on behalf of the NITDA Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa, ONDI National Coordinator, Victoria Fabunmi, said the enactment of the legislation represented a historic milestone, but stressed that its ultimate success would be determined by its impact on businesses operating within Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem.
Inuwa said Nigeria must now move from policy formulation to effective implementation, noting that initiatives such as the establishment of the Startup Consultative Forum and the launch of the digital startup portal had created important structures for stakeholder engagement.
He, however, stressed that the real test of the Act was whether founders and investors could easily access the incentives, reliefs and other resources provided under the legislation.
“The establishment of the Startup Consultative Forum and its governance structures has created an important platform for sustained engagement among stakeholders. But the real test of the legislation is its impact on businesses operating within the innovation ecosystem,” he said.
According to him, government agencies, private-sector actors and other ecosystem stakeholders must work collectively to remove institutional bottlenecks and ensure that startups benefit from the opportunities created by the Act.
He noted that the participating institutions had different mandates, resources and policy instruments which, if properly coordinated, could significantly improve the operating environment for Nigerian startups.
“We want to go to the next level. We want to be able to say that the actors in our ecosystem have been able to benefit significantly from the legislation that has been passed, and it wouldn’t happen without everyone sitting in this room,” he said.
The NITDA DG urged stakeholders to shift their focus from the existence of the legislation to its practical implementation, particularly the activation of incentives designed to promote investment, innovation and enterprise growth.
He noted that implementation of the NSA cut across several sectors, including trade, finance, communications, innovation, digital economy, science and technology, among others.
According to him, bringing the relevant institutions together was necessary to identify implementation gaps, clarify responsibilities and develop practical mechanisms for delivering the incentives to their intended beneficiaries.
Inuwa also called for sustained stakeholder engagement and feedback, stressing that the success of the Act would depend largely on the ability of implementing institutions to collaborate effectively and respond to the evolving needs of the startup ecosystem.
He said recommendations from the session would contribute to ongoing efforts to strengthen the implementation framework and create an enabling environment for Nigerian startups to scale, attract investment and compete effectively in global markets.
Earlier, in a context-setting presentation titled, *“Operationalising the Incentive Provisions of the Nigerian Startup Act,”* Acting Lead, Strategy, Research and Analytics at ONDI, Elma Andah, disclosed that the Act provides more than 31 incentives across six broad categories.
She listed the categories as tax and fiscal incentives, regulatory support, funding access, exports and trade, ecosystem enablers, and training and capacity building.
Andah explained that implementing the incentives required the participation of more than 15 government institutions, making effective inter-agency coordination critical to the success of the legislation.
She said the Nigerian Startup Act, signed into law on October 19, 2022, was designed to promote innovation, improve access to funding, strengthen collaboration and position Nigeria as a leading technology and innovation-driven economy in Africa.
According to her, Nigeria’s startup ecosystem has continued to demonstrate significant potential, with more than 3,000 startups and several globally recognised technology companies operating within the ecosystem.
She added that Nigerian startups attracted about $410 million in funding in 2024 despite the challenging economic environment.
Andah identified several areas of progress under the Act, including engagements with states on adoption, the operational startup support engagement portal, improved startup labelling timelines, the Startup Consultative governance framework and the Startup Investment Seed Fund framework.
She also noted ongoing efforts to operationalise the regulatory sandbox framework.
However, Andah stressed that the interconnected nature of the incentives meant that no single institution could implement them independently.
“No single institution can deliver all these incentives alone. Implementation requires coordination across more than 15 MDAs,” she said.
Using practical scenarios, she explained that a startup seeking funding could simultaneously require access to tax incentives, while an enterprise seeking to export its products could require regulatory approvals. Similarly, investors seeking tax credits could depend on access to the startup labelling system.
She therefore challenged participating institutions to clearly establish ownership of the incentives assigned to them, strengthen inter-agency coordination, simplify access procedures and introduce effective monitoring and accountability mechanisms.
The session provided stakeholders with an opportunity to identify implementation gaps and develop practical approaches to ensure that incentives under the Startup Act become accessible to startups, investors, innovation hubs and other beneficiaries.
Stakeholders said the outcome of the session would help promote a more coordinated implementation of the NSA and strengthen its contribution to Nigeria’s innovation, investment and broader economic development objectives.
