FG policies that shaped Nigeria’s tech industry in 2023

Markedly, 2023, being an election year in Nigeria ushered in a new administration that came with new policies that helped shape the country’s ICT industry in the outgone year.

While the immediate past administration had also made some key policy announcements relating to the tech industry before its exit on May 29, 2023, here are some of the key policies that shaped the industry in 2023:

In March, the Federal Government of Nigeria launched a $672 million fund to support tech and creative sectors for young entrepreneurs in the country.

The immediate past Vice President Yemi Osinbajo launched the $672 million fund under the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (i-DICE) program.

Tinubu’s administration took over the project on assumption of office and set up an implementation committee headed by Vice President Kashim Shettima.

For the project, the African Development Bank is to put in $170 million, Agence Francaise de Developpement is to contribute $116 million will, and another $70 million from Islamic Development Bank.

The government through the Bank of Industry Nigeria will release $45 million while the private sector pledged $271 million.

Under i-DICE, constraints such as access to capital, and capacity limitation of Start-ups would be effectively addressed. But according to Osinbajo, more needs to be done to scale up such programs.

There was also the suspension of the 5 per cent telecom tax. Although the Buhari administration had early in the year announced its decision to put the implementation of the 5 per cent tax on telecom services on hold, President Bola TInubu re-echoed this in July by ordering the suspension of the excise duty, thus bringing reprieve to Nigerians and the tech industry players riding on telecom services.

Similarly, in a landmark move aimed at building the country’s capacity in tech, the Federal Government in October, launched the 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) program to train 3 million Nigerians in tech skills over the next 4 years.

In the first phase of the program, 30,000 Nigerians have been selected and are currently undergoing training in different IT skills areas including Cybersecurity, Data Analysis, SEO, among several others.

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According to the Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, the program, a critical part of the Renewed Hope agenda, is aimed at building Nigeria’s technical talent backbone to power its digital economy and position Nigeria as a net talent exporter.

In June, President Bola Tinubu signed the Nigeria Data Protection Bill 2023 into law. The new law provides a legal framework for protecting and regulating personal information in the country.

Recall that the Data Protection Bill was introduced to the Senate and House of Representatives for consideration and passage on Tuesday, 4 April 2023 via a letter from former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Now an Act, the new law establishes the Nigeria Data Protection Commission and replaces the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) established by President Buhari in February 2022.

In 2023, the Nigerian government also took some bold steps in this regard, starting from the development of the National AI Strategy to the empowerment of startups focusing on AI.

In the latest of those moves, the Federal Government recently unveiled the list of 45 startups and individuals selected in its Nigeria Artificial Intelligence Research (NAIR) scheme.

Each of the 45 startups and individuals is to receive a N5 million grant from the government to develop their AI projects.

The Nigeria Startup Act was signed into law in October 2022. However, there was no concrete implementation action until November 2023 when the government launched an engagement portal to register startups in the country.