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President Bola Tinubu has directed the Federal Government to move Nigeria’s Digital Free Zones initiative from policy development to full implementation, setting a 180-day deadline for the roadmap and launch of the programme.
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The initiative is designed to enable Nigerian technology, finance and service companies to raise international capital, protect their intellectual property and serve global markets from Nigeria instead of incorporating or relocating their businesses abroad.
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The Presidency said the programme will also seek to create more opportunities for Nigerians to work remotely for global companies while expanding demand for local engineers, developers, designers, lawyers, accountants and other professionals.
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The first major project under the initiative is Itana, a digital free zone in Lagos already licensed by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA), with the Africa Finance Corporation backing the project as part of efforts to develop Africa’s digital economy.
September 18, (THEWILL) – President Bola Tinubu has ordered the Federal Government to accelerate the implementation of Nigeria’s Digital Free Zones initiative, with a 180-day deadline for developing a roadmap aimed at attracting global investment, creating jobs and enabling Nigerian technology companies to operate internationally from the country.
Under the initiative, the government plans to create an enabling environment for Nigerian technology, finance and service businesses to raise capital from international markets while retaining their companies, intellectual property and economic value in Nigeria.
Tinubu gave the directive to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, who is Vice-Chairman and Implementation Coordinator of the Presidential Steering Committee on Digital Free Zones.
The President also directed the committee to work with the Itana Innovation project to develop the roadmap for the full launch of the initiative within 180 days.
According to a statement issued on Thursday by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President said the initiative was intended to address the long-standing challenge of Nigerian entrepreneurs incorporating their companies and holding intellectual property in foreign jurisdictions to gain access to international capital and markets.
“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.
The President said the government wanted a greater share of the economic value generated by Nigerian talent to remain within the country through employment, investment, professional services, intellectual property and the expansion of locally owned businesses.
“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. 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.
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The initiative is expected to extend beyond the establishment of physical technology parks by creating a regulatory and business environment capable of supporting digital enterprises operating across borders.
Tinubu said the objective was to allow Nigerian professionals to participate in the global digital economy without necessarily relocating abroad.
“We want African companies to be incorporated in Nigeria, financed here and governed from here, while serving markets across Africa and the world,” he said.
He specifically cited the potential for young Nigerians in different parts of the country to work for global companies without leaving their communities.
“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, and I want our founders to raise capital globally while their companies and intellectual property remain in Nigeria,” the President said.
He added that the growth of such companies would generate demand for Nigerian professional services and help retain more economic value domestically.
“When these businesses grow here, they employ Nigerians, use Nigerian professional services and retain more of the value they create in our economy,” he said.
The initiative is already being implemented through Itana, described by the Presidency as Nigeria’s first Digital Free Zone.
NEPZA’s current list of operational zones identifies Itana Free Zone Management Company in Lagos as a 2023-designated free zone specialising in digital technology and services-based and virtual activities.
The Africa Finance Corporation has also partnered with Itana on the development of what it described as Africa’s first digital economic zone, to be hosted within Alaro City in the Lekki Free Zone.
AFC said the zone is intended to enable global and pan-African technology, finance and service-oriented businesses to operate across Africa.
Africa Finance Corporation
The Presidency said the $500 million Itana Innovation project at Alaro City, Lagos, backed by the Africa Finance Corporation, would combine policy support, an innovation campus, access to capital and ecosystem services aimed at helping African startups scale while retaining more of the value they create on the continent.
The project therefore forms a practical component of the Federal Government’s broader plan to modernise the country’s free-zone framework for the digital economy.
Nigeria’s free-zone system predates the current digital economy and was established principally to encourage export-oriented activities and investment.
NEPZA says its mandate covers the establishment, licensing and regulation of free zones and that the scheme now includes zones operating across sectors including ICT, manufacturing, logistics, oil and gas and tourism.
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