Osun, 11 Other States Show Interest In Domesticating Startup Act

 

Yusuf Oketola

THE State of Osun and 11 other states have indicated interest to domesticate the Startup Act in accordance with the Federal Government policy to drive growth for the country’s tech and eco-system.

Oyo, Ekiti, Lagos, Kaduna, Kwara, Anambra, Imo, Niger, Nassarawa, Rivers and Zamfara are the 11 other states that have also shown interest in domesticating the Act.

This was disclosed by Ms. Tracy Okoro, the Domestication and Adoption Lead at the Nigeria Startup Act secretariat, on Monday. 

In a 2022 report by TechHive and Ikigai, the Nigeria Startup Act ranked best among other four African startup legislations, Senegal, Tunisia, Ethiopia and Kenya with relation to their scope, label and governance, incentives and enforcement.

However, analysts said that the implementation of the Act in the country has been slow since the presidential assent. 

According to Okoro,  “the whole country has been plunged into an election season, stakeholders want to understand who is in power and what their ambition and goals for the tech ecosystem will be like.

“Hopefully, now that we are almost done with the election cycle, we will start seeing actions towards the implementation of the act.”

Okoro further stated that the creation of the Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which is the core part of the Act was underway. 

“The council is responsible for the formulation and provision of general policy guidelines for the realization of the objectives of the Act and also gives overall direction for the harmonisation of laws and regulations that affect a startup.

“For instance, Osun state has cancelled right-of-way fees, allowing telecom companies and internet providers to lay fibre optic cables for free, as part of its digital economy policy, this follows the state’s decision to localise the startup Act.

“The Act is programmed to ensure that new startup promoters and entrepreneurs secure desired mentoring and financing. The law, once domesticated will enhance the goals of both the (state’s) ICT and the Tech Innovation policy.”

“Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, disclosed on Monday during the flag-off of a multi-billion Naira digital economy project in the South Western state, to be financed by investors”, she said.