Buhari inaugurates National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship says Pantami

By Egena Sunday Ode

PresidentMuhammadu

Buhari

has inaugurated a 14-member National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NCDIE).

The establismnet of council is a requirement of the Nigeria Startup Act, 2022 (NSA, 2022), which was signed into law in December 2022.

The inauguration held shortly before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Council Chambers, State House, Abuja.

The NCDIE, which is chaired by the president has 13 other members including the President as Chairman, Vice President as Vice Chairman, Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, who shall preside over the council in the absence of the chairman and vice chairman.

Other members are ministers of Finance, Budget and National Planning, industry, Trade and investments, Science, Technology and Innovation, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, four representatives of the startups consultative forum and one representative of the Nigerian Computer Society, one representative of the Computer Registration Council of Nigeria and the Director General of the Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) as secretary of the council.

The council is charged with the responsibility of promoting the development of the country’s digital economy and providing a supportive environment for entrepreneurs to thrive.

It will also oversee the implementation of the Nigeria Startup Act 2022, which aims to stimulate the growth of innovative startups and small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

In his opening remarks, President Buhari highlighted the importance of the NCDIE in driving economic growth and job creation as well as consolidate on the gains recorded in the sector under his administration.

He said the Act provides incentives for startups such as tax breaks, access to funding, ease of doing business, intellectual property protection and participation in public procurement.

The President noted that the Act became law after approval by the federal executive council on 15 December 2021 and presidential assent 19 October 2022.

He commended the efforts of Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, and the Chief of Staff for the achievement.

He noted the remarkable growth of startups worldwide of over $400 billion of venture funding in 2022.

He said this was fueled by the demand for digital services, as people worldwide turned to technology to stay connected, work remotely and access essentials goods and services, largely, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Buhari further noted that in Africa, the startups ecosystem has been growing at a remarkable space. He observed that Africa startups grew to $5.4 billion in funding.

“Nigeria has been at the forefront of this growth with Nigeria start up rising from over $400 billion between 2019 and 2022.

He noted that Nigeria’s startups still face significant challenges, such as access to funding, support infrastructure and security payment.

“These remain major barriers to the growth of the ecosystem particularly for early stage startups.

The provisions of the Nigerian Startups Act 2022, present an important step towards addressing these challenges and promoting the growth and inclusive startups ecosystem in Nigeria.

“Furthermore, the implementation of the Act, led to consolidation and further development of the gains recorded in the digital economy.”

He described the inaugurated council as a critical government structure in the implementation of the Act, which will ensure government agencies, entrepreneurs, investors and support organizations collaborate in the startups ecosystem to achieve goals of promoting the growth and sustainable startups ecosystem.

He reiterated his earlier directive to the secretariat to commence the immediate development of the implementation plan, one of which is the development of the startup portal which will serve as platform that will drive the implementation of the the Nigerian Startups Act 2022 in collaboration with all stakeholders.

He urged all council members to support the secretariat in implementing the provision of the Act.

The council is to meet in May 2023, to make further progress on the implementation of the Act.

Pantami, earlier in his opening remark, said the inauguration of the council will support the administration to consolidate the gains and achievements recorded so far in the digital economy sector.

He recalled that the administration has set three unprecedented records with regards to ICT contribution to the GDP. He noted that in the first quarter of 2020, ICT alone without digital services, contributed 14.07 percent to the nation’s GDP and in the second quarter of 2021, ICT alone without digital services contributed 17.92 percent, while in the second quarter of 2022, the sector also contributed 18.44 percent to the nation’s GDP, describing the feat unprecedented.

He said: “Year in year out, this administration has been setting a new world record when it comes to ICT contribution to the GDP.”

Pantami said, a recent evaluation conducted by OSGF, FCDO and KPMG, indicated that the current administration under President Buhari, has increased revenue generation in the ICT sector from $51 billion in 2019 to $408 billion in 2022, an increase of 594 percent.

“This is commendable and I believe this will consolidate the achievements and the gains we have recorded so far.”

The minister also recalled that engagement Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) to provide broadband access across Nigeria, last year December resulted in a partnership agreement being signed.

According to him, “today in Nigeria, we can safely say with our landmass of 590 kilometers approximately, you will get access to Star-links services in every part of this country.

“Furthermore, in Africa, as at February 2023, we had seven unicorns companies. Unicorn is a company with a valuation of over $1 billion. We have seven unicorn companies in Africa from 53 countries, four of those unicorns originated from Nigeria. All these four unicorns from Nigeria attained this position during this administration. The first was in 2019, the second , third and fourth attained thus position in 2021.

“If computed, 57.14 percent of African unicorns originated from Nigeria, while the market value of seven of them combined as at February 2023, was $11.45 billion and the four from Nigeria contributed $7.4 billion of the total amount. So percentage wise, we can safely say, 55.21 percent unicorns originated from Nigeria with a contribution of 65.21 percent to the entire unicorns of Africa. This is a clear indication and a success story of the contribution of this administration.

“I want to congratulate you, Mr President and this administration on this giant stride and I believe this council to be inaugurated that brought together, government officials, academics, industry players among others will go along way in consolidating the achievements we have recorded so far.”