E-Business
Improving the Startup Environment with Nigerian Startup Act
By Lere Ojedokun
On October 19, 2022, the Nigerian technology and innovation space, and in particular the tech-enabled startup ecosystem received a major boost when President Muhammadu Buhari signed the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB) into law.
With the presidential assent, the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA 2022) came into effect, principal objective of which is to further grow the country’s ICT sector which, according to the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, contributes 40 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually, with 18.42 per cent already recorded in 2022 alone.
He added that the new act – a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech startup ecosystem and the Presidency, was aimed at harnessing the potential of Nigeria’s digital economy through co-created regulations, and to emplace well-laid laws and regulations that work for all stakeholders in the tech ecosystem.
Pantami also said the act provides the legal and strategic framework for innovators to make their contributions to the country, stating that out of the seven unicorns in Africa, five are from Nigeria, and that the market value of each unicorn is worth US$1billion.
In a nutshell, the intention of the Nigerian Startup Act 2022 includes recognition of legally incorporated tech startups 10 years downward, whose activities support the creation and incubation of innovations and tech solutions.
It further seeks to provide an enabling environment for the establishment, development, and operation of startups; provide for the development and growth of technology-related talent; and position Nigeria’s startup ecosystem as the leading digital technology centre in Africa.
To achieve the intended objectives, the act makes provisions for the establishment of a startup seed fund; tax incentives for startup businesses, new employees and angel investors, accelerators, and venture capitalists; training and capacity building support; as well as facilitating smooth working relationships between startups and relevant government agencies.
Startups under the Nigerian Startup Act 2022 are defined as any company in existence for not more than 10 years, with its objectives being the creation, innovation, production, development, or adoption of a unique digital technology innovative product, service, or process.
This definition connotes that the Act will apply to tech-enabled startups, that is, companies like Alerzo, Kuda, Bamboo, etc that leverage innovations and technological advancements to solve operational issues or improve customer experience.
The new act, indeed, is a huge step towards addressing the yearnings of players and stakeholders for a more enabling operating environment. This is more so, because, despite the huge socio-economic potential and benefits that digital innovations, products and services can offer Nigeria’s economic recovery and growth, the space is fraught with certain challenges.
For instance, McKinsey & Company in a report, Harnessing Nigeria’s Fintech Potential (September 2020), stated that Nigeria is home to over 200 fintech standalone companies offering fintech solutions, plus fintech solutions offered by banks and mobile network operators. The report added that the Nigerian fintechs raised more than US$600 million in funding between 2014 and 2019.
Quartz Africa, however, lamented the high failure rate of Nigerian startups. It said 61 per cent startup failure rate was recorded from 2010-2018 due to various factors including poor infrastructure such as roads, inefficient electric power, inconsistent government policies, regulatory bottlenecks, over-saturation of startups in select locations, dearth of talent, high operating cost, funding challenges, etcetera.
It is gratifying also that tech-backed B2C and B2B e-commerce startups like Alerzo (AlerzoShop), TradeDepot, Omnibiz, Njalo etcetera are also among the principal beneficiaries of the new act. As an important driver of the digital economy, they also face similar challenges of policy inconsistency, lack of access to funding, exclusion from official foreign exchange window, high lending rate by commercial banks, high operating cost, poor supporting infrastructure, overlap in regulation by government agencies, multiple taxations and insecurity, amongst others.
The new act offers the much-sought political will towards addressing the challenges of tech startups. It is also an acknowledgement of the significance of tech-enabled startup businesses as enablers of national socio-economic growth which e-commerce platforms are a part of.
Despite the challenges in the emerging B2B e-commerce ecosystem, the resilience of the segment as a significant contributor to the manufacturing and distribution value chain is never in doubt. Over the past years, operators have consistently invested in ICT infrastructure and human capital to impact the entire value chain – manufacturers, distributors and retailers – by enabling Factory-to-Retail distribution for consumer goods companies.
Nigeria’s informal retail market is estimated to worth US$100 billion, yet faces peculiar challenges including limited inventory, lack of access to finance for expansion, unregulated and clustered market, distance to market or supply source and high transportation cost, all of which increase cost of operation.
Alerzo is prominent among the tech-enabled e-commerce platforms that are empowering informal retailers in the sub-urban and rural areas with faster distribution of consumer goods using first-party relationship platforms, enabling manufacturers and top-tier primary suppliers to clear their inventory faster, while it absorbs the burden of last-mile supply and delivery to the retailers. The new Act could enable it to do more when the cost of doing business is low.
During COVID-19 and post-pandemic, Alerzo helped to bridge the demand-supply shortfalls by leveraging its ecosystem of digital solutions and logistics platforms to empower informal retailers to access a wide assortment of consumer products with ease and faster from FMCG companies such as Flour Mills, Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, PZ Cussons and Dangote at zero delivery cost to the retailers.
More angel investors, accelerators and venture capitalists partnering with B2B e-commerce platforms like Alerzo and others in critical areas such as logistics and warehousing services would mean more goods will pass through the supply chains faster to the consumers.
Businesses will reduce their operating cost and increase profitability; more jobs will be created, economic wealth will be distributed to more people; quality of life will improve, while the economy will be significantly impacted.
The act, by offering incentives, provides a buffer for startup businesses like Alerzo to achieve stability or withstand macroeconomic headwinds. Incentives like pioneer status for tech businesses aged zero to 10 years in critical industries like technology and agriculture and possible tax holiday, up to between three and five years, are highly commendable.
Also allowing startups to employ entry level talent with no more than three-years of post-graduation experience and offering income tax relief up to five per cent of profit generated, and Personal Income Tax relief of 35 per cent for two years for such employees can help them attract the right talents.
By enabling angel investors, accelerators, and venture capitalists to enjoy tax credits, up to 30 per cent of their investment in a startup, can attract more investors into the segment.
The future of tech startups in Nigeria is bright, no doubt. McKinsey & Company, in the report cited earlier, revealed that Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem attracted US$122 million, representing 25 percent of US$491.6 million total funds raised by African tech startups in 2019 alone, coming second to Kenya which attracted US$149 million.
It noted further that Nigerian startups retained US$1.37 billion of Africa’s US$4 billion funding in 2021, showing that Nigeria has the highest volume of startups in Africa. Quartz Africa further affirmed Nigeria as hosting the most startups in
Thus, Nigeria Startup Act 2022 can be a stimulus to accelerate the growth of Nigeria’s tech startups to an enviable height in the not-too-far foreseeable future.
Ojedokun, a policy analyst and development advocate, contributes this piece from Lagos.
Federal Government has unveiled plans to establish a National Cybersecurity Coordination Council, signaling a shift toward a more unified, intelligence-driven approach to defending the country’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
Conceived as a non-statutory, multi-stakeholder body, the proposed Council will enhance coordination, enable trusted information sharing, and guide government strategy on cybersecurity, risk management, and national response amid increasingly complex cyber threats.
The initiative, championed by Bosun Tijani, minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, is designed to bring together government institutions, private sector players and technical experts into a single collaborative platform to strengthen the country’s cyber resilience.
Tijani noted that this initiative comes in response to a wave of recent cyber incidents that have disrupted operations across key private institutions and public sector.
In recent times, Nigeria’s financial system has faced mounting cyber pressure, reflecting global trends as cybercrime is projected to cost the world over $10.5 trillion annually, according to Cybersecurity Ventures.
Analysts say these attacks are increasingly coordinated and sophisticated, prompting the government to recognise that fragmented, institution-specific approaches can no longer manage systemic cyber risks effectively.
Under the new framework, the government aims to promote a “collective defence” model, an approach widely adopted in advanced digital economies where threat intelligence is shared in real time across institutions.
The Council is expected to include chief information security officers, cybersecurity associations, the Nigerian Computer Society, global technology providers, researchers, law enforcement agencies and civil society groups, ensuring a broad-based and technically grounded response architecture.
Key priorities will include developing national threat intelligence-sharing systems, harmonised cyber defence protocols, and coordinated incident response, while strengthening capacity to close Nigeria’s cybersecurity talent gap.
Oracle, US-based technology giant, has initiated a sweeping round of layoffs affecting thousands of employees globally, with India among the worst-hit regions, according to multiple reports.
The job cuts, which began on March 31, are part of a broader restructuring exercise that could impact between 20,000 and 30,000 employees worldwide, making it one of the largest workforce reductions in the company’s history.
While the exact number remains unconfirmed, multiple reports suggest that around 12,000 employees in India have been affected,
Employees across several geographies, including India, the United States, Canada, and Mexico, reported receiving termination emails early in the morning, informing them that their roles had been eliminated with immediate effect.
“Today is your last working day,” the email stated, citing “organisational change” as the reason for the decision. Access to company systems, including email and internal platforms, was revoked shortly thereafter.
The communication, according to Business Insider, described the move as part of a broader “reduction in force and other terminations,” and said affected employees would be eligible for severance benefits subject to company policy.
The email also instructed employees to share personal contact details to receive separation documents.
In India, impacted employees have reportedly been offered severance packages that include 15 days’ salary for each completed year of service, notice period pay, leave encashment, gratuity where applicable, and an additional two-month salary top-up in cases of voluntary separation.
The layoffs are linked to Oracle’s strategic shift towards artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud infrastructure.
The company has announced plans to invest approximately USD 50 billion in AI infrastructure and has reportedly raised an equivalent amount in debt to fund its expansion.
In a recent regulatory filing, Oracle said it expects restructuring costs for fiscal 2026 to reach up to USD 2.1 billion, largely driven by severance payouts and related expenses.
The move comes as Oracle looks to strengthen its position against global cloud competitors such as Amazon and Alphabet.
Uncertainty continues to loom over employees, with reports indicating that another round of layoffs could follow in the coming weeks. Employees who were affected described the layoffs as abrupt, with little prior indication.
Some former staff members have taken to social media to share their experiences.
Tricia S Marsh, a former Senior Principal at Oracle, said the layoffs marked the end of an important chapter in her career while urging affected colleagues to remain hopeful.
As of May 2025, Oracle had around 162,000 full-time employees globally.
Kaspersky Global Research & Analysis Team (GReAT) has uncovered an active malicious campaign distributing a previously undocumented RAT with a very broad feature set. Beyond the standard remote access trojan functionality, it combines stealer, keylogger, clipper, and spyware capabilities.
Cybercriminals are selling it to third parties as MaaS (malware-as-a-service) promoting it on YouTube and Telegram, increasing the likelihood of its use across a wider range of actors, including less-skilled operators.
Due to its stealer functionality, the malware can collect a wide range of data about its victim: it gathers system information, extracts credentials for Steam, Discord and Telegram, and also harvests data from web browsers. It also poses a threat to cryptocurrency users, as it includes a browser-based clipper that replaces crypto wallet addresses.
Beyond data theft, CrystalX RAT is capable of full-scale surveillance, with the ability to take screenshots, record audio from the microphone, and capture video from both the webcam and the victim’s screen.
Particularly notable is the CrystalX RAT “playful” Prankware feature set, which is actively promoted by the developers. These capabilities allow operators to visibly interfere with the victim’s system by shaking the mouse cursor, setting wallpapers on the victim’s screen, changing screen orientation, hiding desktop icons, forcing system shut downs, and even delivering real-time pop-up notifications and messages to the victim.
While seemingly trivial, these features introduce a disruptive and psychological dimension to the attack, making the attack both visible and distressing for the victim.
Kaspersky reports attacks targeting users in Russia, but the trojan has the potential to spread to other countries due to its sales and distribution model.
“Such a diverse feature set effectively enables a 360-degree compromise of the victim and a complete loss of privacy. Beyond gaining access to account credentials, the stolen data could potentially be used for blackmail.
“At the moment, the initial infection vector is not precisely known, but it is already affecting dozens of victims. Our telemetry is already detecting new versions of the implants, indicating that this malware is still actively developed and maintained.
“We expect the number of victims to grow significantly and its geographic spread to expand in the near future,” says Leonid Bezvershenko, senior security researcher at Kaspersky GReAT.
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