The Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isah Ali Pantami says the Start – Up bill which has received Presidential nod would be a One- Stop -Shop that will address most of the challenges being faced by the Tech Start- Up ecosystem in the country.
He made the remark in Lagos at a Breakfast Interactive Session with Nigeria’s Digital Innovation Ecosystem.
The break fast session brought the industry regulators face to face with tech start ups as they voiced out their challenges and suggestions on how best they could be resolved, including the need to make partnership with government seamless, creating a one stop shop for tech start ups to resolve their regulatory issues, cost of data , lack of access to funds, multiple regulations and taxations, interrogations from the Economic and financial Crimes Commission, EFCC as well as the police.
For the Managing Director Rack Center, Mr Tunde Coker ease of doing business should be made more effective in Digital economy pointing out the need to digitally change the negative perception about Nigeria and market Nigeria to the world.
He stressed the need for nation branding which attracts investors from the global market.
A Tech Start up Mr Isaac Ojo said data should be made very affordable for Nigerians to be able to access what start ups are doing.
He lamented that best brains are migrating and suggested an open competitive deals that will start -ups to go into partnerships with government seamlessly.
Responding Professor Pantami who said the Federal government was very passionate about supporting enterpreneurs pointed out that there are teams tracking every bit of government all the seventeen policies on ICT/digital economy to ensure implementation.
The Minister noted that it was important to set structure in place for implementation of the policies because when policies are made wthout implementation it becomes a wasted idea.
Professor Pantami said the objective of the breakfast session was to identify the challenges being faced by the start ups and how best to resolve them.
Professor Pantami who added that the start up bill which has received presidential approval would be a one- stop- shop that would address most of the challenges raised by the tech start ups added that his office also wades into regulatory issues that are not within their purview to ensure enabling environment for the tech start ups.
Earlier in a remark , the Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, Mallam Inuwa Kachifu Abdulahi regretted that there are so many government funds and incentives that are not known by the start ups , and emphasized on the need to have a data base of all the start ups.
Mallam Inuwa Kachifu Abdulahi emphasized on the need for synergy pointing out that innovation does not work in isolation hence the need to come together in an innovative ecosystem.
He said NITDA has embarked on a lot of innovative projects to support start ups ranging from Tech innovation support skills for training and incubation which the agency started last year and want to go universities and set up centers and have been talking with Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN on building centers in each state.
NITDA is also developing a frame work on digital literacy that would create a platform where people can learn from the comfort of their homes.
The Executive vice Chairman of NCC , Professor Umar Garba Danbatta said the commission said the NCC encourage start ups in so many ways.
By patronizing and supporting them.
High point of the event with the theme “Fostering An Enabling Environment For Start- Up Growth” was official visit of some tech companies by the Minister of Communications and Figital Economy with his team.
