CEM REPORT, SME | Just a year after the signing of the Startup Act, the Federal Government moved to implement the bill with the creation of an engagement portal to register startups in the country.
The portal will allow the government to drive the identification and aggregation of Nigerian startups as well as facilitate discourse and consensus among Nigerian Startup ecosystem players.
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The portal is in fulfilment of the Nigeria Startup Bill which dictates that a Startup Support and Engagement Portal should be established to facilitate the issuance of the startup label and also bridge the gap between regulators and startups.
The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr Bosun Tijani, announced the launch of the portal via a post on his X handle.
“We are pleased to announce the launch of the Startup Support and Engagement Portal, startup.gov.ng, a key requirement for implementing the Nigeria Startup Act. The startup portal will drive the identification and aggregation of Nigerian startups, venture capital companies, hubs, and innovation centres to facilitate engagement and support for ecosystem players.
“The launch of the portal will allow us to initiate the process of setting up the startup consultative forums to select representatives to the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship, to facilitate discourse and consensus among Nigerian ecosystem players.
“We invite all Nigerian startup venture capital companies, hubs, and innovation centres to register at the portal startup.gov.ng and look forward to working with all industry stakeholders to ensure that we fully implement the Startup Act for the benefit of our innovation ecosystem.”
According to the Nigeria Startup Bill 2022 as signed by former President Buhari, before a company can be identified as a startup, it must obtain a certificate known as the startup label having also registered as a limited liability company that has been in existence for not more than ten years from the date of incorporation, amongst other requirements.
Companies labelled as startups according to the act will have increased access to funding such as loans and grants that will grow the startup ecosystem. Also, startups will benefit from some tax reliefs and incentives
