Nigeria is preparing to set up a $40 million fund to back early-stage technology startups, strengthening its support for entrepreneurs who have typically relied on private investors.
Semafor reported that the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Japanese government’s overseas development assistance arm, is investing half of the fund. The remainder will be matched by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), as Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, head of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), stated.
$40 Million Fund to support startups in Nigeria
The fund is part of Nigeria’s broader commitment to invest in its startup ecosystem under the 2022 Nigeria Startup Act. Abdullahi explains that NSIA, which governs Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund with assets worth more than $2 billion, will manage the $40 million fund, which is compulsory under the startup law.
The new fund will help implement the startup law. As it stands, the most significant impact of the law has been 13,000 businesses registering as startups using NITDA’s criteria. This license allows new ventures a three-year income tax exemption, while investors in such startups are entitled to tax credits on the funds they inject.
Startups in Nigeria
Nigeria has the largest number of startups in Africa, with over 3,360 in 2024, according to Statista. Between 2015 and 2022, the country raised over $2 billion, a figure that no other African country has seen during that time frame.
However, startup law and its associated investment fund were created to learn lessons from previous years and help new startups grow and produce similar successes.
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