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TNW Conference Extols Nigeria’s Innovative Approach in Development of Startup Act

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Nigeria’s Innovative approach in the development of the Nigeria Startup Act was celebrated by the global technology ecosystem stakeholders during the Deep Tech Roundtable, held as part of ‘The Assembly’, one of the strategic sessions of TNW.

This year’s The Next Web (TNW) Conference was held from 15th to 16th June, 2023, at the Taets Art and Event Park, Amsterdam.

Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, CCIE, the Director General/CEO, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), was in attendance as a Special Guest and participated in several roundtable sessions including ‘The Assembly’ and the Startup Genome Ecosystem Leadership Forum.

The DG who was represented by Dr Usman Gambo Abdullahi, Director, Information Technology Infrastructure Solutions, highlighted some of Nigeria’s initiatives focused on fostering the growth and development of the country’s startup ecosystem.

Inuwa informed that one key legislation co-created by ecosystem stakeholders, the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA), is an example of the country’s approach to Developmental Regulation, one of the pillars of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (NDEPS).

That the NSA project, a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech ecosystem and the Presidency driven by Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, was aimed at harnessing the potentials of Nigeria’s digital economy through co-created regulations.

That the objectives of the Act include, among others, to provide an enabling environment for the establishment, development and operation of startups in Nigeria; to provide a legal and institutional framework for the development of startups in Nigeria; to provide for the development and growth of technology-related talents; and to position Nigeria’s startup ecosystem as the leading digital technology centre in Africa, having excellent innovators with cutting edge skills and exportable capacity.

The DG further informed that the Act is made up of ten (10) parts which cuts across five (5) drivers, namely collaboration, engagement, incentives, linkages and support. That the Act intends to increase collaboration within Government and its interactions with ecosystem practitioners by the establishment of the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

That the Council will be presided over by the President as Chairman alongside representatives of the Federal Executive arm of Government, the Director General of NITDA as Secretary and representatives of the Nigeria Computer Society, the Computer Professionals Registration Council of Nigeria and the Startup Consultative Forum.

That the Council is to monitor and evaluate regulatory frameworks; formulate and implement policy guidelines, oversee the harmonisation of laws, and regulations for the development of startups in Nigeria.

That NITDA is to serve as the Secretariat of the Council with the DG to serve in a dual capacity of both the Secretary of the Council and the Head of the Secretariat.

Additionally, Inuwa highlighted the establishment of a Startup Support and Engagement Portal which is to serve as a ‘One-Stop-Shop’ for startups to register with all relevant regulatory Agencies of Government. This is aimed at saving time as well as associated costs when engaging the Agencies on individual basis.

It will also facilitate the improvement of the ease of doing business within the tech ecosystem, in line with the provisions of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC).

The NITDA Boss also highlighted the establishment of a Startup Investment Seed Fund, to be managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA).

The fund will target early-stage startups, hubs and other entities that support the startup ecosystem. That the fund is to be funded annually with a minimum of N10,000,000,000.00 (Ten Billion Naira) towards financing labelled startups and others as seed funds, grants or loans.

He also indicated that these and many other provisions of the Act present a promising future for startups in Nigeria. That Nigeria’s hope is for the Act to serve as a veritable tool towards fostering the development and sustenance of an enabling Startup ecosystem in the country.

He therefore called on stakeholders to support the Secretariat in realizing the potentials of the Act.

Stakeholders in attendance hailed Nigeria’s approach and opined that it is an excellent example of co-created regulation for others to emulate. Matt Smith, Director, Policy and Research, the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN), in his remarks, revealed that he has been following with keen interest the unprecedented developments in Nigeria’s Startup ecosystem.

That often, governments seeking to empower entrepreneurs tend find themselves developing and implementing a complex range of reforms, policies and programmes that cut across ministerial and departmental portfolios.

That without central coordination, it is easy for such reforms to stall due to limited legislative capacity, disagreements between responsible departments, or end up with duplicate or competing initiatives between departments.

That Nigeria’s innovative approach in the crafting of the Startup Act will no doubt minimize such pitfalls, offers a promising future for the country’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and is already inspiring similar startup acts around the world. He therefore said that Nigeria deserves commendation for this innovative approach.


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World Bank Maintains Nigeria’s Growth at 3.6% Amid Trade Tension

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The World Bank has retained Nigeria’s annual growth at 3.6 percent in 2025 despite heightened trade tension and uncertainty that has dragged the global economy’s GDP to its worst levels in decades.

The Washington-based lender sees Africa’s most populous nation’s GDP improving by 0.2 percent this year up from 3.4 percent recorded in 2024 with services sector being the major growth driver.

“Growth in Nigeria is forecast to strengthen to 3.6 percent in 2025 and to an average of 3.8 percent in 2026-27,” the development lender said in a report released Tuesday.

“Services activity will continue to be the main driver of growth, while the industrial sector will remain constrained by subdued crude oil production as last year’s slight rebound wanes.”

Nigeria saw its fastest growth in at least a decade last year, primarily driven by financial and telecommunication services, a recovery in the transportation sector, and a slight rebound in oil production.

That momentum is expected to continue this year amid global headwinds and escalating trade tension that cut World’s growth from 2.7 percent to 2.3 percent.

Nigeria’s macroeconomic indicators have been mildly affected by the trade faceoffs triggered by President Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs that have shocked economies and shifted dynamics of the global markets.

While Africa’s biggest oil producer suffered a declining oil prices that saw the naira fall slightly in the past months, the local currency is gaining and so is inflation easing, thanks to reforms that have put the country in a better position to weather global shocks.

According to the World Bank, the country’s bold reforms, including floating of the naira and scrapping fuel subsidy, has strengthened Nigeria’s fiscal position and led to a surge in revenues at the state level, and higher remittances from government-owned enterprises.

“Domestic reforms have helped spur investment, supporting growth in the services sector, especially in financial services and information and communication technology,” the World Bank said.

The multilateral lender sees inflation declining “gradually” this year as the monetary authorities continue to remain hawkish in a bid to rein in rising prices and ensure the naira remains at its fair value.

In response to high inflation, the central bank raised its policy rate six times last year. Although inflation has cooled somewhat in recent months, it remains elevated relative to the central bank target and pre-pandemic trends.

But the CBN continues to monitor the trends and has remained committed to its core mandate of price control.

 


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Agriculture and its Potentials for Nigeria’s Economic Diversification

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By Diana Tenebe, Chief Operating Officer, Foodstuff Store

Nigeria is a nation that is blessed with arable land and a teeming youthful population. For so long the nation has been tied to the fortunes of crude oil. Oil revenues have dominated the sustenance of economic development. The overall annual GDP growth for Nigeria in 2024 is reported at 3.40%.

The oil sector’s contribution to real GDP in Q4 2024 was 4.60%, with an annual growth rate of 5.54%. The agriculture sector contributed 24.64% to real GDP in Q4 2024, and 20.97% to aggregate nominal GDP for the full year, though its growth was more modest at 1.2% to 1.76% across different quarters. The non-oil sector, which includes agriculture, contributed a substantial 95.40% to real GDP in Q4 2024, indicating a decreasing reliance on oil as the main economic driver.

Nigeria’s economy is primarily driven by its non-oil sectors, with agriculture serving as a significant foundation, even with its ongoing productivity and security hurdles. There’s optimism that agriculture could spearhead the nation’s economic diversification in the future, especially if it’s strategically developed to generate foreign exchange and government revenue.

Agriculture was the bedrock of the Nigerian economy before the oil boom. Agriculture was the undisputed mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, contributing over 60% to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employing more than 70% of the population. Regions specialised in cashcrops like cocoa, palm oil, groundnuts, and rubber making Nigeria a significant global exporter. The revenue generated from these agricultural activities fueled infrastructural development, education and social amenities across the country. The oil boom in the 1970s led to a neglect of the agricultural sector and fostered an over-reliance on petrodollars and invariably led to the stifling of the development of a diversified economy.

Just weeks into office in July 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu declared a national emergency on food security, signaling a commitment to transforming agriculture into a modern, productive, and resilient engine of growth. Key initiatives include the immediate release of fertilizers and grains from national strategic reserves, a harmonisation of efforts between the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water Resources to enable all-season farming through expanded irrigation, and the proposed establishment of a National Commodity Board to stabilize food prices and strengthen reserves. The administration of President Bola Tinubu has embarked on significant reforms to position agriculture as an economic tool to drive diversification. The efforts are constantly challenged by the pervasive violence of bandits on Nigeria farmers.

One of the flagship programs is the Agro-Pocket Initiative under the National Agricultural Growth Scheme, targeting the cultivation of 750,000 hectares for staple crops like rice, maize, wheat, and cassava, providing targeted support and input vouchers to farmers. To cushion the effects of inflation, the administration also announced a 150-day suspension of duties and tariffs on essential food imports and facilitated the import of significant quantities of maize and wheat for small-scale processors. Furthermore, a new National Agricultural Extension Policy aims to deliver demand-driven, ICT-enabled, and market-oriented extension services, moving away from outdated methods.

The ambitious agricultural agenda faces a formidable adversary: widespread banditry and insecurity. Across various regions, particularly in the food-producing states, farmers are increasingly subjected to violent attacks, kidnappings, and extortion. These acts of violence have devastating consequences, forcing many farmers to abandon their farmlands, reducing cultivated areas, and disrupting the entire agricultural value chain. The fear of attack not only deters new investments but also jeopardizes the livelihoods of existing farmers, leading to reduced agricultural output and escalating food prices. The Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID) recently highlighted that “No Farmer, No Food: Attacks on Farmers Fuel Nigeria’s Hunger Crisis,” underscoring the direct link between insecurity and food insecurity.

The Tinubu administration acknowledges this critical challenge. The National Security Adviser (NSA), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, has reiterated the government’s commitment to returning displaced farmers to their communities and farms, emphasizing that sustainable peace cannot be achieved through kinetic responses alone. There’s a recognition that addressing the root causes of violent extremism, such as poverty and lack of opportunity, through inclusive, whole-of-government, and whole-of-society solutions, including integrated agricultural approaches, is crucial. The approval of Forest Guards is also seen as a transformative measure to enhance security for farmers.

Beyond the immediate crisis of insecurity, Nigeria’s agricultural sector still grapples with a myriad of systemic challenges. These include poor access to finance, with many farmers relying on informal lenders at exorbitant rates; high production costs, exacerbated by fuel subsidy removal; inadequate infrastructure, leading to significant post-harvest losses; and the impacts of climate change, such as erratic rainfall patterns and floods. Experts advocate for sustained investment in agricultural infrastructure, including irrigation systems, storage facilities, and rural road networks, to reduce post-harvest losses and improve market access.

Despite these hurdles, the potential for agriculture to drive Nigeria’s economic diversification remains immense. By focusing on value addition through agro-processing, leveraging modern agricultural technology (precision farming, irrigation, biotechnology, satellite imagery for yield prediction), diversifying crop production beyond traditional cash crops to include high-demand items, and investing in livestock and aquaculture, Nigeria can unlock significant economic growth. Public-private partnerships and accessible financial solutions, coupled with robust policy reforms, are vital to support smallholder farmers and attract necessary investments.

The journey beyond oil will be long and arduous, but agriculture offers Nigeria a tangible and sustainable path to economic resilience. President Tinubu’s reforms demonstrate a clear intent, but their success hinges on the government’s ability to effectively tackle the escalating violence against farmers. Without a secure environment, the seeds of diversification will struggle to take root, and the promise of a thriving agricultural sector will remain elusive. Only when farmers can work their lands in peace will agriculture truly become the robust engine Nigeria needs to diversify its economy and secure a prosperous future for its citizens.


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Nigeria Police Dismantle WhatsApp Scam Syndicate, Freeze Millions

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Nigeria Police Force has uncovered and dismantled a sophisticated cyber fraud syndicate that hijacked WhatsApp accounts belonging to high-profile Nigerians and used them to defraud their contacts.

The operation was carried out by the National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) following a complaint lodged on April 14, 2025.

According to Force Public Relations Officer ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the cyber intelligence team employed advanced digital forensics and investigative tactics to expose the syndicate’s inner workings.

Investigations revealed that the group relied on social engineering and mobile platform compromises to gain control of victims’ WhatsApp accounts.

During the course of the operation, police traced and froze illicit funds amounting to millions of naira across multiple Nigerian banks. A key suspect, Onajite Okoro, was arrested in Warri, Delta State.

He reportedly confessed to working with an accomplice known as “Chief Mallam Zaki,” whom he met through Facebook.

Okoro was found to have played a pivotal role in registering SIM cards, linking them to numerous bank accounts, and facilitating fraudulent transfers. Forensic analysis of his devices and financial records provided further evidence of his involvement in the scam.

Authorities say several other members of the syndicate are still at large, and efforts are underway to apprehend and prosecute them. Inspector-General of Police Kayode Adeolu Egbetokun reaffirmed the Force’s zero-tolerance stance on cyber and financial crimes, emphasizing the NPF’s commitment to staying ahead of emerging digital threats.

The police urged the public to strengthen their digital security by enabling multi-factor authentication, securing communication apps, and remaining cautious of unexpected messages, even from familiar contacts.

The Force reiterated its dedication to safeguarding Nigeria’s cyberspace and ensuring all cybercriminals are brought to justice.


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