President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Presidential Steering Committee on Digital Free Zones to develop a roadmap for the full implementation of Nigeria’s Digital Free Zones initiative within 180 days.
The directive is aimed at attracting more global investment, creating jobs for Nigerians and enabling technology and service companies to build and scale their businesses from Nigeria, according to a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, on Thursday.
The President directed the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, who serves as Vice-Chairman and Implementation Coordinator of the Presidential Steering Committee on Digital Free Zones, to work with the Itana Innovation project and other members of the committee on the implementation roadmap.
The Presidency said the initiative is designed to modernise Nigeria’s free zone framework to meet the needs of the digital economy and make it easier for Nigerian technology and service companies to access global capital and international markets without relocating their businesses and intellectual property abroad.
“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 was quoted as saying.
According to the statement, the initiative is also expected to expand employment opportunities for young Nigerians working for global companies from within the country while strengthening the domestic ecosystem of engineers, developers, designers, lawyers, accountants and other professionals serving digital businesses.
Tinubu said the government’s objective was to retain more of the economic value generated by Nigerian talent through jobs, investment, professional services, intellectual property and the growth of locally based businesses.
The President said the initiative would address a situation in which some Nigerian entrepreneurs establish companies and hold intellectual property abroad in order to access international capital and markets.
“I want the next generation of African technology, finance and service companies to be built, headquartered and scaled to the world from Nigerian soil,” he said.
The Presidency said the initiative is already taking shape, with Itana described as Nigeria’s first Digital Free Zone. It said the zone has been licensed by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) and provides a platform for global and pan-African digital and service businesses to establish and operate from Nigeria.
The statement also said the Africa Finance Corporation is backing the $500 million Itana Innovation project at Alaro City, Lagos. According to the Presidency, the project will combine an enabling policy environment with an innovation campus, access to capital and ecosystem services intended to help African startups scale while retaining more of the value they generate on the continent.
Tinubu said the government’s ambition goes beyond the development of technology parks, stressing the need for companies to be incorporated, financed and governed from Nigeria while serving markets across Africa and the wider world.
He also said the initiative could enable Nigerians in cities including Kano, Enugu, Warri, Minna, Maiduguri and Ibadan to work for global companies without relocating abroad.
The Presidential Steering Committee is expected to continue work on regulatory, taxation, banking, immigration and arbitration issues, as well as the digitisation of government processes within Nigeria’s free zones.
Tinubu further linked the initiative to the expansion of Africa’s digital economy and digitally enabled trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“Nigeria has the talent and the market to reshape Africa’s place in the global technology and digital economy value chain,” the President said.
