About the Startup Bill
We will partner with the legislature to develop an enabling environment to turn their passions into ideas that can be supported, groomed and scaled.
His Excellency
Muhammadu Buhari
President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
Timeline
Produce First Draft
June 2021
Harmonise Existing Laws/regulation and Feed inputs to legal framework from key ecosystem leaders (MDAs, States, Networks).
Validate First Draft
July 2021
Ecosystem Leaders and representatives review the first draft as well as the Presidential Working Group composed of MDA decision makers critical to implementing components of the bill.
Town Halls
August 2021
Presidential Announcement and Town Hall meetings take place for public consultation and validation of the second draft of the bill with ecosystem stakeholders at state level in all geopolitical zones. .
Final Draft Produced
September 2021
Drafting teams take all the inputs and make revisions to feed into the final bill.
Bill Submitted
October 2021
Bill is submitted to the President who then submits Executive Bill to the National Assembly.
Summary of the Bill
Preview of the Bill
A Bill For An Act To Provide For The Creation And Development Of An Enabling Environment For Technology-Enabled Startups In Nigeria And For Related Matters.
Note: The Bill is currently undergoing review by the National Assembly (NASS) and the final version might vary. The version here is a pre-NASS draft of the bill.
News and Updates
The transformational potential of the Nigerian Startup Bill
Got ideas to contribute?
Here you can have your say on the bill, indicating challenges yet to be addressed, propose additional policy solutions or propose amendments to specific articles.
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Call:
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is leading this initiative?
The Nigeria Startup Bill project is a joint initiative by Nigeria’s tech ecosystem and the Presidency to harness the potential of our digital economy through co-created regulations. While this is our bill; it is being project managed by the Ventures Platform Foundation and supervised by the Presidential Strategic Advisory Group composed of stakeholder representatives from the tech-startup ecosystem in Nigeria.
How do we ensure all tech sectors are covered?
By jointly reviewing the drafts of the bill and giving your inputs. You can participate by clicking on here
What is the scope of this project?
We plan that this bill is submitted to the NASS by October and passed by 2021. Visit the project timeline and subscribe to the newsletter to follow the journey.
Has this been successful anywhere else?
Yes. Other African countries like Senegal and Tunisia have passed their own startup bills.
How is this different from past attempts?
We are adopting a collaborative approach to drive this cause. We have tagged this collaborative framework the Big Tent approach, which in other words, means the bill is owned by the ecosystem. The process of engagement involves all relevant stakeholders in the startup ecosystem including the government (both at regional and federal levels, as well as across the legislative, executive and judiciary arms of government to develop and submit the bill to be signed into law. This is an initiative together with #i4Policy, and, is being supported by the Innovation for Policy Foundation, an organization working to increase public policy co-creation that has experience in facilitating the co-design of startup policy and legislative frameworks in more than a dozen African countries. We are also identifying existing laws/regulations and harmonising them into this bill. We are also using the bill as an opportunity to update existing but outdated laws.
Presidential Advisory Strategic Group Members
Adaeze Sokan
Country Director, UK-Nigeria Tech Hub
Adia Sowho
CMO / MTN
Chinenye Mba-Uzuokwu
Managing Partner, GrandCentral
Colonel Felix Alaita (rtd)
SSA (Country Risk Assessment and Evaluation) to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Emmanuel Adegboye
Managing Partner, Utopia, Lagos
Ife Adebayo
SA (Innovation) to the Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Iyin Aboyeji
Founder / Future Africa
Kasim Sodangi
Head of Compliance / Smile Identity
Director / API
Kola Aina
Founder / Ventures Platform
Michael Oluwagbemi
Founding Partner, LoftyInc Capital Management
Mohammed I. Jega
Founder / Startup Arewa
Musa Ali Baba
CEO / Teasy International
Obi Asika
Founder, Iba Ajie hub, Africa Soft Power Project
Oge Modie
SSA (Strategic Communications) to The President, Federal Republic of Nigeria
Oswald Osaretin Guobadia
SSA (Digital Transformation) to The President, Federal Republic of Nigeria. Lead, Nigeria Startup Bill
Sanusi Ismaila
Founder / CoLab
Titi Akinsanmi
Policy Lead / Google West Africa
Tomiwa Aladekomo
CEO / Big Cabal Media
Victoria Manya
Executive Director & Lead Researcher / API
Victor Famubode
Project Manager, Nigeria Startup Bill
Yewande Adewusi
Group Executive Director, Commercial Tangerine Africal
