The Federal Government has said it is working on a bill – the Nigeria Startup Bill (NSB)- that will aid digital economy in the country. The government explained that the Bill is a set of rules and incentives that will help create an enabling environment for tech-enabled businesses.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Digital Transformation, Oswald Guobadia, disclosed these at a hackathon challenge organised by Financial Services Innovators (FSI) in collaboration with the Nigerian Association of Computing Students (NACOS) for select students in the six geo-political zones.
He said: “It puts guidelines in place to help facilitate funding through a number of different ways.
“There are funds available to staffers and small businesses but the bill will help to give a pathway for you to go to access it.
“The bill will serve as one – stop – shop. It is basically a startup management system where all startups would be registered and from that platform you will be able to access all the information as relates to the startup as long as you qualify for it.”
Executive Director, Financial Services Innovators (FSI), Aituaz Kola-Oladejo, said the summit would help to raise leaders and create a culture of innovation, among which will help to reduce the level of unemployment in Nigeria.
She said: “The summit is for young people who are interested in building a career in technology, and also who are interested in becoming entrepreneurs.
“This program is the maiden edition to help them on their path, provide guidance that is required, and also to help them commercialise their solutions and innovations.
“FSI is a platform to social infrastructure that attempts and aids young people who don’t have a voice but have ideas. We are in a mission to discover talents in the Nigerian tech ecosystem, and especially in tertiary institutions because that’s where the idea starts from.
“We want to help them to refine and provide that level of guidance, give them access to a network of mentors, and at the end of the day commercialise it.”
– The Nation