In 2021, African startups raised over $4 billion across 355 funding deals, that is (almost three times what was raised in previous years) and the Nigerian fintech sector reportedly accounted for 63% of the funding raised. Additionally, out of the 10 unicorns coming out of Africa, 7 are Nigerian – Jumia, Flutterwave, Andela, Chipper Cash, Airtel Africa, Opay and Interswitch. The above statistics show that Nigeria is carving a niche for itself in the African and global digital economy. Arguably, the gains experienced by Nigerian startups have to a large extent been despite the legal and regulatory regime rather than because of it. The consensus within the Nigerian startup ecosystem is that government’s regulation of this space should seek to foster stability and provide an enabling environment for innovation amongst its large youth population.

In the tech space, various policies and white papers have emanated from the government on how to move the information and communications technology (ICT) sector and digital economy forward and achieve desired gains, but effective implementation has been slow in certain key areas including those related to ensuring a stable and cohesive legal framework for this sector, providing access to finance, providing support and the right incentives for both investors and budding businesses and ensuring an effective infrastructure and support ecosystem…