GOVERNANCE | POLICY
…sometimes policymaking isn’t done when the policy is made; often, it’s just getting started.
— Santi Ruiz in How to Actually Implement a Policy
The Nigeria Startup Act (NSA) received Presidential assent on October 19, 2022. This year would make it two years since this happened. But, efforts towards the establishment of the act date back to 2021.
The Nigeria Startup Bill, which was drafted between June and September 2021 by over 30 tech leaders finally got the presidential assent on Wednesday, the 19th of October
The success of a policy is only as good as its implementation. The NSA is almost two years old. With a new minister in charge, evaluating its implementation is necessary.
What is the Status of the Act?
The 10-part act has four focus areas; capital, infrastructure, talent, and regulations. Part II of the NSA establishes the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The council is expected to develop the act’s implementation framework; review policies of MDAs that may impact startups, develop and implement guidelines for the creation of innovation parks and hubs, support universities and research institutes via grants in science, technology and innovation, and approve the programs of its secretariat — NITDA.
Six months after the NSA’s passing, the Presidency inaugurated the council in April 2023. This came a month after inaugurating an implementation committee. This committee posed a problem in the final days of Prof. Pantami’s leadership as he attempted to absorb this committee into the council. This was not without pushback from the Startup Consultative Forum.
The core Secretariat that played a vital role in deploying the NSA has moved to the Consultative Forum
In the act, NITDA — the council’s secretariat — is expected to ensure the implementation of the National Digital Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Startup Policy (NDIESP), appoint a coordinator for the startup portal, establish the startup portal, and set up the Startup Consultative Forum.
In the act, NITDA — the secretariat — will implement the National Digital Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Startup Policy (NDIESP), establish the portal, appoint a portal coordinator, and create the Startup Consultative Forum. The startup portal is live, but the coordinator's appointment could not be verified.
The NDIESP draft has a 2021–2023 roadmap and is partly aligned with the content of the NSA. Yet, it lacks clear implementation targets and is not listed as a priority policy in the strategy document. In a sense, it is an expired policy. But, unlike milk, expired policies can be redrafted and updated.
Government and relevant stakeholders will concession Government Infrastructure to private entrepreneurs to be converted into innovation and incubation parks to strengthen the innovation ecosystem
— Page 6 of the NDIESP
The Startup Support and Engagement Portal — commonly called the Startup Portal — is an implementation priority as only labelled startups can leverage the act’s benefits. Labelling is done by applying via the portal launched in November 2023. The minister stated that the portal’s launch would aid in setting up the consultative forum, but it’s unclear if the existing forum was dissolved or improperly set up
NITDA reported in April 2024 that “12,948 startups, 912 VCs, 1,735 angel investors, and 925 accelerators, incubators, and hubs” had registered on the portal, and it was now open for labelling. It is hard to tell if the portal was already open for labelling in November or if only registration was available.
A startup labelling committee was established in July 2024 to evaluate startups against the act’s criteria. Clearly, labelling has not started. The labelling committee and the implementation committee are not mentioned in the act.
Will a new committee be inaugurated when another part of the act is to be implemented?
The act creates the Startup Investment Seed Fund (SISF), naming the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as the fund manager. The act stipulates that at least ₦10 billion be allocated to the fund annually and the council is supposed to approve the sources for the funding of the SISF. Technology and innovation is a thematic investment area for the NSIA and it provides cash/equity funding for startups via its Prize for Innovation. However, the SISF does not exist with the NSIA.
State Adoption of the Act
Before the NSA was assented to, states across Nigeria began engagements to adopt the act in their states. Lagos was one of the first states to show interest, which is unsurprising as the state is the largest cluster of tech startups. Today, only Kaduna and Rivers states have adopted the Nigeria Startup Act, while Lagos is still working on its “innovation bill”.
Despite the efforts by the members of the state adoption team of the Nigeria Startup Act Project to drive the domestication of the act, it is evident that states are not keen on domesticating the act. Since the federal government has not been hasty with its implementation of the NSA, it is hard to make a convincing case for state adoption.
The minister unveiled the National Digital Economy and e-Governance bill in the first week of July 2024. The bill comes at a time when the federal government plans to digitize 80% of government operations by 2025. However, this target is not mentioned in the minister’s strategy document or announcements. The plan to take this bill around the country for public engagement presents an opportunity to canvass for states to domesticate the NSA.
Domestication of the act in the states and the implementation of the act jointly form the second part of the act’s actualization. The minister is slacking on both. He has met with some state technology commissioners, but none of their states have adopted the act. The act’s domestication is not reported as part of these meetings, unlike agritech, Project 774 LG Connectivity and the 3MTT program.
The success of the NSA rests on the effectiveness of the council and its secretariat. The minister’s weekly reviews since August 2023 show that the council has not met since he took charge. If they did meet, he did not share.
The minister’s apathy towards the NSA will require twisting into pretzels to downplay. It doesn’t feature in media interviews unlike AI and the 3MTT program. In May 2024 when the ministry shared videos on its initiatives in the first year of the administration, you can guess what was not mentioned.
An act focusing on his “constituency” in the techosystem deserves better attention. A search through the minister’s Twitter (X) handle has the first mention of the NSA being post-appointment. It raises questions about his support for the act while it was a bill. The only plausible explanation is that he deleted all tweets related to the NSA while it was a bill and after assent. Weird.
In the strategy document, there are two initiatives without an established benchmark for its metrics under the policy pillar; the blockchain policy and the startup act. If after nearly a year in office, benchmarks for the metrics are yet to be communicated with the public, it is safe to assume that these benchmarks will not materialize and that the bold 100% access to incentives and procurement opportunities are vanity metrics.
Reviewing the contents of the NSA, the chosen metrics seem inadequate compared to the act’s objectives, indicating a potential mismatch. The term “incentives” is vague and open to interpretation— from tax incentives and grants that are in the act to cloud subsidies and preferential treatment in public procurement that are not. The NSA is not concerned with increasing access to procurement opportunities as seen in the act here. The selection of this metric suggests that the minister and his team do not fully grasp the act’s intended objectives.
So, has Minister Tijani abandoned the Startup Act?
Policy Is Wobbly
While this article was initially designed to assess the entire policy pillar in the minister’s policy document, the NSA required more attention. Future articles will cover the policy initiatives in Telecommunications & Infrastructure and AI and overlapping pillars in these areas. This leaves us with the blockchain policy, the digital economy bill, the data strategy and the digital literacy framework. The Digital Economy Bill has passed its first reading and is on track to meet the “enactment by 2024” metric.
The National Blockchain Policy came to life on May 3, 2023 — months before Minister Tijani’s appointment. The policy has 3 focus areas; blockchain adoption, innovation, and talent development. The ministry’s talent accelerator program — 3MTT — does not include blockchain skills, contradicting the blockchain policy. The availability of qualified trainers in the subsector is questionable, which might explain its omission from the program. The sequel to the strategy document had over 40 technical skills listed — only 12 are part of the present cohorts of the 3MTT program (see page 7 of the Implementing Public Sector Projects for Collective Prosperity document).
The Policy aims to grow domestic talent in Blockchain solutions development, foster innovation, and catalyse the adoption and use of Blockchain Technology
— Policy Direction for National Blockchain Policy
In July 2023, NITDA reconstituted the committee tasked with implementing the strategy. Paystack and Flutterwave serve on the committee, chaired by Chiemezie Chuta, who is not a strange name in blockchain circles. Oddly, Zone (formerly AppZone) — a blockchain-enabled company—is not on the committee. There is no indication that the minister and the committee have interacted since taking office. NITDA leads the blockchain efforts but this does not explain the nonexistent interaction.
The metrics selected to measure the blockchain policy in the strategy document are:
- Increase in the number of startups using Blockchain technology
- Increase the total number and scope of Government blockchain projects
Not only do these metrics lack benchmarks, but they need to be more specific. The choice of blockchain use by startups, as opposed to a sector-agnostic stance, as the selected metric is a bad call. The blockchain policy’s expected outcomes are not aligned with the metrics selected, specifically regarding adoption (see page 26 of the policy). However, an increase in public-sector blockchain projects aligns with it. The policy implementation committee’s input in setting these metrics is doubtful.
The Data Policy (NDS) and Digital Literacy Framework (NDLF) are not new policies. The strategy document has 2026 and 2027 as the benchmarks for their metrics, which are:
- Provide leadership and implementation of a roadmap for the digitisation of at least 60% of relevant government data by the end of 2026 (NDS)
- Deliver an open data platform that provides access to digitised, anonymized federal government or federal government-regulated data by the end of 2026 (NDS)
- 70% digital literacy for youths and adults by 2027 (NDLF)
- Target 40% women participation across all training initiatives (NDLF)
It may be fair to cut the minister some slack on these two policy initiatives as they have extended implementation periods. The data policy’s first metric would require the digital economy bill’s enactment to be effective. Oddly, the NDS does not have this metric in its vague objectives (see page 18 of the policy).
The second metric needs a broader public-sector collaboration. It is likely to have a high coefficient in the PSPCI. In the data strategy, the open data platform had March 2023 as its completion target, with a three-month development period. The selection of an unrealistic deadline is questionable.
The minister will need to issue a new data strategy/policy as the existing one is outdated (see pages 33–44 of the policy).
When the strategy document is placed under the lens of the NDLF, we run into a bump. Unlike the blockchain policy, the NDLF — published in July 2023 — has a detailed implementation plan. The first metric in the strategy document is 70% literacy by 2027 vs 60% by 2025 in the NDLF above. The 60% target is from the Nigeria National Broadband Plan (NNBP).
By setting a 70% target for 2027, the minister is bypassing the existing target of 2025. In a TV interview, the minister stated that the goal is to achieve 90% digital literacy by 2030. The National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) 2020–2030 sets a 95% target for 2030.
The ministry should evaluate its progress toward the 2025 target, as it may have fallen short. However, if the current digital literacy rate is not known, it is hard to tell if the target is achievable. Leading to the question; how do you measure digital literacy? (See pages 15–19 of the policy).
The target of 40% women participation in training initiatives lacks specificity, as it doesn’t provide a timeframe for achieving this goal. The NDLF aims to develop digital literacy modules, curricula, and awareness initiatives by December 2024. These fall under the first three of the five strategic initiatives below:
- Ensure that students at all levels of education are digitally literate before graduation
- Ensure that workers at national and subnational levels are digitally literate for effective management of the nation’s digital economy
- Ensure that unemployed citizens are digitally literate for effective participation in society
- Pass an Executive Bill (Digital Literacy Bill) at the National Assembly
- Create budget lines for the actualisation of activities listed out in strategies 1–4
If we assume that the participation target covers strategies two and three, the target date is December 2030 (see pages 21–23 of the policy).
Examining the five initiatives reveals that the NDLF, led by NITDA, requires substantial input from other MDAs. The executive bill is projected to be done by December 2024 and was not listed in the strategy doc. The outlined outcome of the bill (the NDLF lists each entity as a separate bill) is the establishment of entities — a Digital Literacy Institute, a Digital Literacy Council, a Digital Literacy Management Office, and a Digital Literacy Fund (DLF). Best to keep this one in the drafts.
The strategy document mentions a Public Sector Project Complexity Index (PSPCI) to guide how it prioritizes projects. However, it fails to label the projects themselves, making it unclear how they will be prioritized. This means it is not possible to classify the Data Policy, for example, as a high-risk or medium-risk undertaking. If you have never seen the strategy document, you can find it here.
The strategy document does not include Nigeria’s Cloud Computing Policy. It is a 2019 policy that should be reviewed biannually. This means there should have been a review in 2021 and 2023. If this has happened and an updated policy issued, there is no trace of it online. In light of recent developments in Nigeria’s data centre market, it may be important to give this policy a second look. Besides, AI cannot happen without the cloud.
There is a National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS) that is not in the strategy document. This is not related to the NDIESP mentioned earlier or the Digital Economy Bill. It is not clear why this is so, seeing as digital economy is in the name of the ministry. But, it is possible that the NDEPS does not have measurable targets that are a priority at this time.
Assessing the policy pillar is challenging. Unimplemented policies can’t be celebrated, and a year is insufficient to thoroughly evaluate policy effectiveness. However, it can indicate the likelihood of achieving policy projections.
While researching this article, a fascinating discovery is the number of technology-related policies Nigeria has domiciled at NITDA. You can knock yourself out here.
…sometimes policymaking isn’t done when the policy is made; often, it’s just getting started.
— Santi Ruiz in How to Actually Implement a Policy
This article marks the beginning of a series examining Bosun Tijani’s tenure as Nigeria’s Minister of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy over the past year.
Disclosure: I volunteered on the Nigeria Startup Act Project from 2022–2023
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