E-Business
Twitter Ban: Nigeria’s Once Booming Tech Community Now in Shock
The government’s sudden ban of Twitter could jeopardise one of the country’s most promising industries, according to Mail & Guardian.
Africa’s biggest startup story in 2020 was the acquisition, by US company Stripe, of Paystack — an electronic payments processor that was founded in Lagos in 2015.
Valued at about $200-million, it was a landmark deal for Nigeria’s booming tech community.
A hunt for more Paystacks has ensued among local and international investors. They are worried about missing out.
With broadband penetration rising from less than 20% five years ago to more than 40% since May 2020, Nigeria’s information and communications technology sector is the fastest growing in the country, rising 6.31% in the first quarter of 2021.
The importance of this sector is only increasing, given the negative economic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Africa’s largest economy, and the pressing need to diversify away from oil revenues.
Such metrics, including the fact that 81% of Nigerian adults own cellphones, encourage investors to part with even more unprecedented million-dollar checks, like the $10-million raised by digital bank Kuda at seed stage last November.
The appetite and tolerance for tech enterprise in Africa’s most-populous country has never been so high.
But this burst of energy and innovation is facing a familiar foe: the Nigerian government.
Last week, the federal government banned Twitter — one of the biggest social-media platforms in the world. The ban came after Twitter deleted a tweet issued from President Muhammadu Buhari’s account, saying that it amounted to a threat of violence. Businesses and media organisations in Nigeria have been instructed to delete their Twitter accounts, and ordinary citizens risk arrest for using the app.
The Twitter ban comes just six months after another major shock to the local tech industry, when the Central Bank of Nigeria ordered banks to stop enabling cryptocurrency transactions.
Suddenly, Nigeria is losing its appeal for tech investors.
“The truth is that regulatory risk has been the chief concern for us investors for a while,” Tokunboh Ishmael, a former board chair at the Africa Venture Capital Association, told The Continent.
Through Alitheia Capital, an investment firm, she has helped to fund Nigerian startups, including Paga, MAX and Lidya. In each case, “regulatory risk has factored high in our risk matrix”.
For Nigerian startups, this means that they need to offer investors a higher return on their investment than in more stable markets, Ishmael said.
Tayo Oviosu, who founded Paga in 2009, says a handful of investors have mentioned regulatory risk as their reason for not investing in the mobile-payments company, but such occasions have been rare in the past.
“That said, all investors consider the macroeconomic situation of any country they invest in, particularly if investing in a regulated sector.”
Operating costs
The Twitter ban will not only make it hard for Nigerian tech companies to raise money; for some of them, it will also make it difficult to operate. With its estimated two million users in Nigeria, Twitter is an important platform for businesses.
Eloho Omame, founding chief executive of Endeavor Nigeria and co-founder of a new firm aiming to fund female-focused startups with $25 000 seed money, said Twitter has been “essential as a touchpoint” with the founders and startups it serves.
Her firm, FirstCheck Africa, is essentially a startup in need of a platform to tell its story and gain traction with the women who could found Africa’s next big thing. “A not-insignificant part of our investment pipeline relies on outreach on Twitter and a lot of our hiring is done via Twitter. The ban has disrupted all of that. None of the alternatives are as efficient.”
Twitter has become a customer-service-management platform for new startups looking to be lean and nimble. Part of the success of Piggyvest, a popular savings app, is that it went from zero to 450 users in a year with next to nothing spent on marketing, relying on Twitter for customer acquisition.
With the ban, startups have pushed notifications explaining that Twitter support is now deactivated.
An email from Fairmoney, a digital bank, offered a phone number, an email and a Facebook page as alternative customer-service channels. Risevest, a stock-trading app, included Instagram among its alternatives. Henry Mascot, founder of Curacel — which provides fraud-detection technology for insurance companies — says the company has had to hire a new team outside Nigeria to manage its Twitter feed. That means more spending.
Staying hopeful
Mascot says it’s too early to know how bad the effect of the ban will be. His investors, who helped Curacel raise $450 000 this March, are in for the long run, but he is concerned about the message to the broader ecosystem of investors.
Oviosu, the Paga chief executive, is optimistic and says investors will observe the Twitter ban as an isolated issue and won’t be deterred from the market. Victor Basta, managing partner of Magister Advisors, which has advised on multimillion-dollar deals in Africa, sees the negatives of a social-media ban but doesn’t expect spillovers to fundraising work. “We have multiple deals ongoing with Nigerian companies and we see no backlash from this step.”
But in the present, founders and investors agree that a continued pattern of arbitrary regulatory changes is sending the wrong signal to people considering Nigerian startups as a destination for their capital.
“A government that’s consistently hostile to technology sends a message that its economy is less credible as a destination for important future-focused investments of time and money,” Omame says. “We’re competing for talent and capital with ecosystems all over the world and we’re even further on the back foot.”
Uche Chigbo, coordinating director of Operations, National Identity Management Commission, (NIMC), has said the newly enacted NIMC Act strengthens data protection and privacy, expands identity coverage to include everyone in Nigeria and Nigerians in the diaspora, and provides the legal framework for a secure and trusted digital identity ecosystem.
She said the new law replaces the 2007 NIMC Act, which had become outdated due to rapid technological advancements, evolving cybersecurity threats, the growth of the digital economy, and the enactment of the Nigeria Data Protection Act.
According to her, the updated legislation better positions the Commission to deliver Nigeria’s digital identity agenda and improve access to government and private sector services.
“The Act itself has taken in a whole lot of things to make sure that NIMC is well-positioned to be able to deliver on the identity agenda and program of Nigeria. The area of universal coverage was expanded within the Act so that NIMC can enroll everybody that is within the soil of Nigeria—male, female, children, whether they are IDPs or orphans or whatever it is, and even Nigerians in diaspora.
“There is quite a lot within the Act that over the few days and weeks, even with my Director-General’s courtesy visit, we are trying to sensitize and educate the general public, and also bring awareness to this new Act so that people will know what are the rights that exist within it, what are the obligations, what are the stronger enforcement and penalties that has also been expanded within the Act, and then what are also the regulatory autonomy that has been given to NIMC to make sure that they drive the digital identity ecosystem in Nigeria,” she explained.
“There’s a lot of provisions and changes with the new Act. Um, the NIMC 2007 Act has been operating for close to 19 years now. So, we can see that, um, you can actually say it’s almost obsolete. And then with a lot of technological advancements in the world now, with the enactment of the Nigeria Data Protection Act, and then with also a lot of evolving security challenges, cybersecurity challenges, as well as the ever-growing digital economy, it became very necessary that a comprehensive review of the NIMC Act should be done.
So, that 2007 Act has been repealed and a new NIMC 2026 Act is in place,” she explained.
Chigbo clarified that the National Identification Number (NIN) is Nigeria’s unique identifier and the only valid means of identification for accessing government services.
She added that it enables secure identity verification and improves access to services.
“NIN has been designated as the unique identifier in Nigeria and then by the government of Nigeria establishing it as the only valid means of identification for assessing government services. So, NIN, it’s positioned to be a valuable tool for empowering citizens and legal residents to facilitate access to service delivery in Nigeria. And it’s also a tool for people to be able to prove their identity as they go about their daily businesses,” she said.
Speaking on identity harmonisation across government agencies, Chigbo said NIMC is integrating identity databases to enable Nigerians to access services seamlessly using the National Identification Number (NIN), while other agencies continue to issue functional identities for specific purposes.
“There’s a distinction between a foundational identity and a functional identity. NIMC provides the foundational identity, which answers the question, ‘Who are you?’ Are you a Nigerian or a legal resident? Who are you? That’s what NIMC is providing. All these other agencies that you have mentioned, they provide functional ID, which is an ID that relies on the foundational ID, where they have established who you are and then they are now trying to answer the question, ‘Are you now eligible to have these services? Are you now eligible to benefit from this transaction or scheme?’ So, those are two different distinctions.”
However, Chigbo said NIMC’s mandate is to harmonise and integrate identity systems across government, with the amended Act designating the Commission as the sole repository for biometric data.
“However, NIMC mandate is to make sure that we harmonize and integrate with all these agencies so that you’re one and the same person in any of the databases or registries that you have. The Act that has been expanded and amended also positions NIMC as the only repository for biometric data capture so that we can have effective identity management and coordination in Nigeria.
“So, that harmonization is already happening, the integration is already happening,” she stated.
She also disclosed that NIMC has introduced an online modification portal that allows Nigerians to begin the process of correcting or updating their personal information from the comfort of their homes or offices.
“But also, NIMC we have a modification portal that enables you to sit in the comfort of your home or office to be able to start the process of correction or updates of your data. We already have a self-service modification portal that allows you to make corrections,” she disclosed.
On the cost of obtaining a NIN, Chigbo clarified that enrolment and issuance of the National Identification Number are free.
She, however, noted that some other identity-related services attract approved fees, which are published on the NIMC website and paid electronically through the government Remita platform.
“Enrollment for the issuance of the National Identification Number, NIN, is free. There are other services, identity services that NIMC provide. Those ones have their charges, and those fees and charges are publicized on the NIMC website so that people can see what those charges are. And NIMC does not collect cash. Our transactions and the charges are paid electronically through the government Remita platform,” she said.
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has retained Nigeria’s economic growth forecast at 4.1 per cent for 2026, while warning that rising prices of essential goods could worsen poverty and food insecurity in the country.
IMF
The IMF made the projection in its July 2026 World Economic Outlook (WEO) Update, released on Wednesday.
According to the report, Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2026 and improve to 4.3 per cent in 2027, with both forecasts unchanged from the Fund’s April outlook.
The IMF also maintained its growth projections for sub-Saharan Africa at 4.3 per cent in 2026 and 4.5 per cent in 2027.
The Fund said Nigeria’s economic outlook continued to benefit from improved macroeconomic stability and favourable terms of trade but cautioned that the rising cost of essential commodities remained a major concern.
“Nigeria is supported by improved macroeconomic stability and favourable terms-of-trade effects, though higher prices for essentials are expected to further aggravate poverty and food insecurity,” the report stated.
The IMF noted that economic performance across sub-Saharan Africa would remain uneven, reflecting differences in policy implementation, reform progress and countries’ exposure to external shocks.
It added that oil-importing and non-resource-intensive economies would likely face increased pressure from rising food and energy prices, while some larger economies continued to benefit from earlier macroeconomic reforms.
Globally, the IMF revised its 2026 growth forecast downward to 3.0 per cent from the 3.1 per cent projected in April but raised its 2027 forecast to 3.4 per cent.
According to the Fund, the downgrade for 2026 reflects the impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, although stronger demand driven by advances in artificial intelligence and technology adoption has helped cushion some of the adverse effects.
Despite the resilience of the global economy, the IMF warned that risks remained tilted to the downside.
It identified renewed trade tensions, geopolitical conflicts and tighter global financial conditions as key threats to economic growth.
The Fund urged governments to rebuild fiscal buffers through credible fiscal consolidation, improved revenue mobilisation, stronger tax administration, efficient public spending and increased investment in infrastructure, skills development and targeted social protection programmes.
It also advised commodity-exporting countries to avoid excessive public spending during periods of high commodity prices.
“Economies benefiting from commodity windfalls and the upturn in the global technology cycle should avoid procyclical spending and save or redeploy gains within a credible medium-term fiscal framework anchored in debt sustainability,” the report stated.
The IMF further called on policymakers to accelerate structural reforms aimed at boosting productivity, strengthening labour markets, expanding digital and physical infrastructure, promoting predictable trade policies and enhancing international cooperation to support sustainable economic growth.
Nigeria’s data protection industry has grown into a N16.3 billion ecosystem within three years of formal regulation, according to the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
Olufemi Ibitayo, head of Finance Management and Control, NDPC, announced the milestone at the Regional Data Governance Exchange in Nairobi, Kenya, where he represented Dr Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner and chief executive officer, NDPC.
Presenting Nigeria’s progress, Ibitayo said the country’s strong regulatory framework and the establishment of an independent data protection authority have strengthened confidence in the digital economy and enhanced Nigeria’s reputation as a destination for foreign investment.
The Regional Data Governance Exchange, organised by the Data Governance in Africa Initiative and hosted by the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner in Nairobi, brought together African data protection authorities to strengthen institutional capacity, deepen collaboration and promote peer learning on data governance. Photo: NDPC
He said the Commission’s “Compliance First, Not Punishment” approach encourages organisations to meet their obligations through dialogue and voluntary compliance, while ensuring effective regulatory oversight.
Ibitayo added that the NDPC is developing regulatory technology solutions, a regulatory sandbox and a data privacy innovation laboratory to further strengthen Nigeria’s data governance ecosystem and support future growth.
United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL)
The ongoing UNCITRAL session has brought together delegates from Nigeria, Australia, China, Ghana, France, the United States and other member states to develop harmonised legal frameworks aimed at facilitating secure, trusted and efficient cross-border digital commerce. Photo: NDPC
Meanwhile, Olatunji reaffirmed Nigeria’s commitment to global data governance during a meeting with Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Jimoh Ibrahim.
He made the remark on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), where Nigeria is participating alongside delegates from several member states to advance harmonised legal frameworks for secure and trusted cross-border digital commerce.
The NDPC boss highlighted the Commission’s achievements since its establishment, noting that strategic institutional reforms have positioned Nigeria as a leading voice in the global data protection ecosystem.
He said the country’s data protection framework has continued to earn international recognition, adding that the Commission remains committed to promoting trusted data governance as a driver of digital transformation, economic growth, innovation and sustainable development in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
During the meeting, Ambassador Ibrahim commended the Commission’s progress since the enactment of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 and called for the establishment of a comprehensive national data bank to support evidence-based policymaking, research and national development.
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