President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has directed the Federal Government to accelerate the implementation of Nigeria’s Digital Free Zones initiative, with the aim of attracting global investment, creating jobs and enabling Nigerian technology companies to compete internationally without relocating their businesses or intellectual property abroad.
In a statement, Special Adviser to the President Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga said the President gave the directive as his administration intensifies efforts to modernise Nigeria’s free zone framework and position the country to capture a larger share of the expanding global digital economy.
Tinubu directed the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, in her capacity as Vice-Chairman and Implementation Coordinator of the Presidential Steering Committee on Digital Free Zones, to work with the Itana Innovation project and other stakeholders to develop a roadmap for the full launch of the initiative within 180 days.
According to the President, the initiative is designed to enable Nigerian technology and service companies to access international capital and markets while keeping jobs, investment, professional services and intellectual property within Nigeria.
“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 said the government wanted more economic value generated by Nigerian talent to remain within the country through employment, investment, professional services, intellectual property and the expansion of indigenous businesses.
Tinubu noted that many promising Nigerian entrepreneurs have historically been compelled to incorporate their companies and hold intellectual property abroad in order to access global capital and 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,” he 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 initiative is already taking shape through Itana, Nigeria’s first Digital Free Zone, which has been licensed by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA) to provide a platform for global and pan-African digital and service businesses to establish and operate from Nigeria.
The $500 million Itana Innovation project in Alaro City, Lagos, is backed by the Africa Finance Corporation. The project is expected to combine an enabling policy environment with an innovation campus, access to capital and ecosystem services aimed at supporting African startups to scale while retaining more of the value they create on the continent.
Tinubu stressed that the initiative was not limited to establishing technology parks, but was intended to create a broader ecosystem capable of supporting companies from incorporation and financing to international expansion.
“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.
The President also highlighted the potential of the initiative to expand remote employment opportunities for Nigerians, particularly young professionals in technology and other service sectors.
“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,” Tinubu said.
He added that the growth of digital businesses in Nigeria would generate demand for Nigerian engineers, developers, designers, lawyers, accountants and other professional service providers.
The Presidential Steering Committee is expected to address regulatory, taxation, banking, immigration and arbitration issues, alongside the digitisation of government processes within Nigeria’s free zone system.
Tinubu said the Digital Free Zones initiative would also strengthen Nigeria’s capacity to benefit from the rapid 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.
“This is what our Renewed Hope commitment to a digital economy looks like in practice, and this is how we transform reform into opportunities. “We made a promise to Nigerians. We are keeping it.”
