The Federal Government(FG) is partnering with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) to establish six funds aimed at financing Nigerian startups. The initiative is expected to improve access to capital for technology entrepreneurs and encourage the development of homegrown innovations.
National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Director–General Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi disclosed the FG plan at the Global Tech Africa event in Kano, themed Connecting Africa, Accelerating Growth. He also called for increased private-sector investment, noting that investors can provide startups with funding, business expertise, equity partnerships and corporate governance support beyond government assistance.
The funding initiative forms part of broader digital economy reforms covering technology skills, infrastructure and innovation. Other priorities include expanding fibre-optic connectivity across all 774 local government areas, developing Nigeria’s sovereign cloud infrastructure and improving local participation in artificial intelligence, as Inuwa raised concerns that Africa contributes less than 2% of the data used to train AI models.
