‘FG should mandate crypto, betting firms to fund startups, innovations of young Nigerians’

SOUTH AFRICA-BASED Nigerian technology entrepreneur, Charles Awuzie, has said that the Federal Government should demand that Nigerian crypto and sports betting firms mandatorily set aside 10 per cent of their trading volumes to fund ideas in energy, technology, education, agriculture, among others, especially those owned by Nigerian youths.

Awuzie, CEO of Gemsbok Group and founder of the Big Brain 9ja, made this known on his Facebook page while commenting on the challenges many Nigerian entrepreneurs and startups face while seeking funds from banks and other financial institutions.

Awuzie stated that by setting aside 10 per cent of their trading volumes to fund startups, these funders ─ Nigerian crypto and sports betting firms ─ will receive tax cuts if they can provide funding and directly mentor startup entrepreneurs in critical sectors.

In light of this, he explained that the only reason American startups have a higher chance of success than other countries is because they have a massive risk capital. “This is capital set aside to gamble on new ideas and startups, which even the investors know have a less than 10 per cent chance of success. This is not money from the bank. This is massive money controlled by private investors,” he stated.

On the other hand, he lamented that the major source of funding for most Africans today is the bank, adding, “In countries like Nigeria, where government borrowing has reduced the bank’s ability to lend to private businesses, the hope of startups or ideas on paper is very low.”

He revealed that when his team was sourcing funding for Big Brain 9ja in Nigeria, his biggest shock was to hear a bank employee refer to Big Brain 9ja as “just an idea on paper.”

“I have raised funds for ‘ideas on paper’ in South Africa and other countries. I have never been told that the reason a good idea cannot be funded is because it is ‘just an idea on paper.’

“It all started with someone listening to that crazy idea on paper, gambling on it and making it a reality.

“This is why I’m proposing that the government should require that all Nigerian crypto founders, including myself; and sports betting owners including, Obi Cubana, to mandatorily set aside 10 per cent of their trading volumes to fund ideas in energy, technology, education, agriculture, etc.,” he added.

Awuzie further lamented that Nigeria’s biggest failure is copying the American democratic system without copying the American economic structure.

He revealed that uncontrolled and unpunished startup scams scare investors away from Nigerian startups, adding, “We need a judicial system that severely punishes scams to increase investor confidence.”

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