LAGOS, Sept 18 – Nigeria has set a 180-day deadline to fully launch its Digital Free Zones initiative, as the government seeks to encourage technology companies and their intellectual property to remain domiciled in the country while accessing international capital and markets.
President Bola Tinubu directed the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumoke Oduwole, to work with the Presidential Steering Committee on Digital Free Zones and the Itana Innovation project to develop a roadmap for implementation. The Presidency announced the directive in a statement issued by Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.
The initiative is intended to provide Nigerian and other African technology and service companies with a platform to establish, finance and scale operations from Nigeria while serving customers in international markets.
“For too long, some of our most promising young entrepreneurs have felt compelled to establish their companies and intellectual property abroad to access global capital and markets. I do not accept that this must remain the case,” Tinubu said.
“I want the next generation of African technology, finance, and service companies to be built, headquartered and scaled to the world from Nigerian soil.”
The government is positioning the initiative around retaining a greater share of the economic value generated by Nigeria’s technology workforce. This includes employment, investment, intellectual property and demand for professional services.
The Presidential Steering Committee, established by Tinubu as part of an overhaul of Nigeria’s free-zone framework, is expected to coordinate reforms across areas including regulation, taxation, banking, immigration, arbitration and the digitisation of government processes.
Itana has already received a licence from the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and has been described by the Presidency as Nigeria’s first Digital Free Zone. The project is designed to provide an operating base for digital and service businesses targeting both Nigerian and international markets.
At the centre of the initiative is the $500 million Itana Innovation project in Alaro City, Lagos. Backed by the Africa Finance Corporation, the project is expected to combine an innovation campus with access to capital, ecosystem services and a policy environment designed to support African technology companies.
The government said the model is intended to allow startups to scale while retaining more of the economic value they generate within Africa.
Tinubu also framed the initiative around expanding opportunities for Nigerians to participate in the global digital economy without relocating abroad.
“I want a young Nigerian in Kano, Enugu, Warri, Minna, Maiduguri, or Ibadan to be able to work for a global company without leaving home,” he said.
The President said the government also wants Nigerian founders to be able to raise capital internationally without having to move their companies or intellectual property to foreign jurisdictions.
“When these businesses grow here, they employ Nigerians, use Nigerian professional services and retain more of the value they create in our economy,” Tinubu said.
The initiative comes as Nigeria seeks to expand its role in Africa’s digital economy and benefit from the growth of digitally enabled trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“Nigeria has the talent, enterprise and ambition to build companies that can compete anywhere in the world. Our responsibility as a government is to ensure that Nigerians do not have to leave Nigeria or rely on other jurisdictions to realise that potential,” Tinubu said.
He added: “This is what our Renewed Hope commitment to a digital economy looks like in practice, and this is how we transform reform into opportunities.”
The 180-day implementation target now puts the focus on translating the Digital Free Zones framework into an operational system capable of addressing the regulatory, financial and administrative constraints that can influence where African technology companies choose to establish their headquarters and intellectual property.
