Federal Government of Nigeria is set to partner with the Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) to promote listings of startups on the NGX technology board.
Gatekeepers News reports that Bosun Tijani, Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, announced this initiative during a tech event in New York titled “Invest in Africa’s Future – Let’s talk about exits.”
The event is a joint initiative by the ministry, NGX, and Future Africa and is supported by Stanbic IBTC, CardinalStone Partners and Chapel Hill Denham.
Speaking at the event, Tijani said the startup listing will be in line with the objectives of the NGX technology board and he emphasised the need to diversify Nigeria’s economy, reduce dependence on oil, and boost productivity in other sectors through technology and innovation.
The government plans to create a regulatory environment for fintechs, enhance access to funding, improve digital infrastructure, facilitate the export of tech products and services, and collaborate with NGX to provide tailored listing options for startups on the technology board.
Temi Popoola, CEO of NGX, pledged the exchange’s commitment to support the minister’s agenda and President Bola Tinubu’s mandate. Popoola highlighted technology’s role as a significant enabler of the capital market and expressed NGX’s commitment to fostering innovation in the market to attract more investors and tech companies.
On his part, Olugbenga Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave, said the company is focused on the Nigeria project, as most of its investible capital has been deployed to the country since its founding.
He added that “the company would be looking at tapping opportunities created by the markets to scale and further deliver value to customers and investors”.
Bolaji Balogun, CEO of Chapel Hill Denham, expressed optimism about the opportunities for Nigerian investors in the tech sector.
