The West African country of Nigeria has developed a strategy to assist entrepreneurs in reaching $5 billion in annual investment rounds by 2027.
Dr. Bosun Tijani, the minister of communications, innovation, and digital economy, revealed this on Monday in a report titled "Accelerating our Collective Prosperity through Technical Efficiency: A Strategic Plan for the Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy,"
The minister emphasized that a robust digital economy requires innovation, entrepreneurship, and access to financing in the current global technological landscape. According to him, the ministry's main goal in this respect would be to promote the development and sustainability of startups, with an emphasis on those that are coming up with ground-breaking ideas for important economic sectors.
“Recognizing the critical role of patient capital in the growth of startups, we are committed to increasing the local availability of patient capital. We intend to create an environment for startups to raise the funding they require to thrive locally and promote the domiciliation of startups within our nation,” the minister disclosed.
He continued by describing the ministry's method for determining if its strategy was efficient, “Increase capital raised by Nigerian tech startups 50 percent year-on-year from ~$1bn/yr in 2022 to $5bn/yr in 2027.”
Dr. Bosun Tijani assured that the ministry will create an active sandbox environment to inspire and enable entrepreneurs and innovators to provide special solutions for industries thought to have little exposure to technology advancement.
The minister went on to add that Nigeria hopes to increase the domiciliation of local technology startups from <1 percent to 25 percent by 2027, bolstering their benefits to the Nigerian economy.
“Digital transformation and innovation are fast becoming a catalyst for economic progress,” and the “intersection of a strong digital economy and our innovative and youthful population presents us with a unique opportunity to chart a course towards prosperity, inclusion, and global relevance,” the minister relayed.
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