The National Assembly, on Monday, transmitted the Start-up Bill to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent having passed through all required legislative processes.
President Buhari via a letter dated February 21, 2022, forwarded the bill to the National Assembly pursuant to Sections 58(2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
The Start-up Bill, 2021 will provide for the creation and development of enabling environment for technology-enabled start-ups in Nigeria.
According to the Senior Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare, the bill seeks to position Nigeria’s ecosystem, as the leading technology centre in Africa, having excellent innovators with cutting-edge skills and exportable capacity.
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Clause 31(1) of the bill proposed 35% tax holiday for eligible Employees of Start-Ups in Nigeria for a period of two years from the day of engagement.
The Bill also seeks to create a Start-Up Investment Seed Fund to be managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority.
The Fund is to provide a labelled Start-Up with finance, provide early-stage finance for a labelled Start-Up and provide relief to technology laboratories, accelerators, incubators and hubs.
Leading the debate on its general principles, Hon. Monguno said: “Technology innovation as well as start-ups to give them enabling environment for them to protect and also to protect huge investments that come both from the public and private sectors to that sector.
“About $1.4 billion has been invested in the start-up sector. And such huge amount of investment needs an environment well regulated by law. An environment that is not at the whims and caprice of the Executive arm of government. Whereby one person can wake up one day and issue directives. It brings about instability and therefore discourages investment.”
In his contribution, Hon Uzoma Nkem-Abonta affirmed that Nigeria needs an enabling environment for technological advancement, however, expressed concerns over the high cost of governance.
He said: “Yes we need to have enabling environment, no country can grow without technology. We need to have technological growth, which includes good schools, centres. But on general note, my fear is the cost of governance, cost of running the place. Enabling environment is the business of the government, the bill seeks a commission that will steer this process, enabling environment appears somehow vague, not certain. There are a lot of science institutions, if we start one, there will be multiplicity, it will be so much we become confused.”
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NASS transmits start-up bill to President Buhari for assent
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