Abstract
This article critically examined the provisions of the Nigerian Start-up Act 2022, discussed why the Act is important and highlighted the potentials the Act offers the startup ecosystem, and the nation in general. The Act aims to provide a legal and institutional framework for the development of startups in Nigeria by providing an enabling environment for the establishment, development, and operation of startups in Nigeria, providing for the development and growth of technology-related talent, and positioning Nigeria’s startup ecosystem as the leading digital technology centre in Africa, having excellent innovators with cutting edge skills and exportable capacity. The Nigerian technology and innovation space in general, and its startup ecosystem in particular, has been gaining momentum and recording impressive growth in recent times. For instance, Nigerian startups retained USD1.37 billion of Africa’s USD4 billion funding in 2021 and reports show that Nigeria has the highest volume of startups in Africa. Unfortunately, Nigerian startups have a high failure rate with a whopping 61 percent startup failure rate recorded from 20110-2018; these failures have been attributed to various factors including aggressive government policies, regulatory bottlenecks, over-saturation of startups in selected locations, talent dearth, high cost of doing business, funding challenges, etc. Consequently, it is evident that steps must be taken to maintain/spur the development of the ecosystem and reduce the failure rate of tech-enabled businesses. Startup Acts have proven themselves to be a veritable tool towards achieving the goals set out above. The Act is a product of an impressive startup ecosystem, stakeholder engagement and regulatory foresight.
Keywords: Nigerian Start-Up Act, Legal Industry.