TECHDIGEST –  National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and MassChallenge have announced the three IT Startups as winners of a competition, of the Bridge to MassChallenge, B2MC-Nigeria 2021-22 Programme.

The winners were selected from 30 startups shortlisted in the competition held in December 2021, from the B2MC, Nigeria.

Announcing the winners, Hajia Hadiza Umar, Director, Public Affairs of NITDA said, the winners were Negs Empire, Dozzy Agricultural Enterprise and Maximus Recycling Solutions.

Techdigest gathered that MassChallenge, is a global network for innovators who are working to solve massive challenges to connects startups, experts, corporations and communities to grow and transform businesses and economies.

According to Hadiza, NITDA and Mass challenge, in the last five months, have worked to catalyze entrepreneurial activities and execute innovative ideas in Nigeria.

‘’The engagement is to strengthen the Nigerian innovation ecosystem by providing exposure and access to global business networks, funding opportunities, and extensive knowledge.

‘’It is to give Nigerian founders equal opportunities for their startup ventures to compete globally,’’ she said.

Hadiza said that most of the stakeholders in the network were government agencies, universities, venture capitalists, angel investors, media, among others
She said Negs Empire, an agritech venture, was selected for using the bee-keeping method to improve food security.

The director also said that Dozzy, an agritech venture, focused on closing the market gap between the fish consumed and fish produced in the fish value chain, through sustainable fish seed productivity and processing.
She said Maximus Recycling Solutions, an envitech venture, helped many to gain financial value for their waste.

BY kabir Abdulsalam

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TECHDIGEST – Bridge to MassChallenge Nigeria (B2MC Nigeria), a NITDA-sponsored national startup competition that identifies and accelerates the most high-impact startups across Nigeria, announced the 30 startups that will participate in an intensive, virtual boot camp between 24th of January and 18th of February 2022.

B2MC Nigeria is a collaborative programme between the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and MassChallenge, a global network for innovators, headquartered in the United States of America.

The participating startups will have access to tailored mentoring and coaching offered by NITDA and MassChallenge mentors, curated curriculum based on startups’ needs focusing on global best practices around innovation and entrepreneurship, and access to the MassChallenge global network.

The top 30 startups were selected after a rigorous online selection process evaluated by both local Nigerian innovation experts as well as experts representing the global MassChallenge community.

The boot camp will culminate in a pitch-competition that will determine the top 10 startups that will get access to curated support and connectivity into an existing MassChallenge innovation hub like Boston, MA, through a second boot camp.

“Startups play a significant role in the economic growth of every nation, by spurring innovation, injecting competition as well creating jobs. Nigeria’s burgeoning population offers innovative startups an opportunity to access a significantly vast market through developing and implementing viable solutions that are tailored at solving identified micro and macro-economic national challenges. The B2MC program will help facilitate the diversification of the economy and transforming every aspect of modern life to attain our key objectives of improving and expanding the economy, in line with the Nigeria Digital Economy Policy and Strategy for a Digital Nigeria (2020-2030) and NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (2021-2024)”, said Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, NITDA’s director general/CEO.

With this collaboration, NITDA and MassChallenge are actively pursuing their commitment to support entrepreneurs from underrepresented regions and across geopolitical zones to create more equitable distribution of and access to key resources for the growth of these startups.

The Bridge to MassChallenge Nigeria selection drive is industry agnostic, thus a wide range of applications were received from the agricultural, Info-Tech, transport, finance industries to name a few.

Applications from the six geopolitical regions were captured to provide an equitable playing field for our startups that will be supported, both within Nigeria and internationally.

“The launch of the first boot camp of the Bridge to MassChallenge Nigeria 2021 program is designed to scout for the best of Nigerian technologies to help them sustain and grow within the Nigerian ecosystem and beyond. We’re excited to see the diverse representation of industries ranging from agriculture to Health Tech among the top 30 startups and to be able to work alongside NITDA to support the success of these businesses”, said Siobhan Dullea, CEO, MassChallenge.

Below is the complete list of the startups selected to participate in the B2MC Nigeria boot camp:

Agromate Nigeria: AgroMate is a youth-led agricultural development organization that leverages technology to improve the agricultural sector.

Aadana Smart Storage System: Aadana is a Solar Powered Smart Storage System which is smart. It can control/regulate the internal condition of the system.

Agbero: Agbero helps pre-book public inter-state travel vehicles in order to reduce waiting time and helps track real-time location for security’s sake.

Alaajo: Alaajo help users achieve their financial goals through savings automation, access to spot credit and simplified mortgage finance.

Avas Technologies Limited: AVAS Tech addresses prevalent identity verification problems across sub-saharan Africa using customized to environment biometric solutions.

Bridgingspace: An online platform that helps people with anxiety and depression get easy access to online counselling, support groups & self-care.

Bulkieshare: BulkieShare is a Platform that makes it easy and convenient for users to jointly purchase items DIRECT from farmers and manufacturers and then share accordingly.

Cartrep: Cartrep uses AI technology to connect last mile logistics companies with their customers within and outside their geographical coverage.

Cyber Security Challenge Nigeria Initiative: Cyber Security Challenge Nigeria Initiative focuses on identifying Nigeria’s next generation of cyber security professionals, connecting Nigeria’s best and brightest to the cyber security industry, creating an enabling platform for skill acquisition, youth empowerment and local content development in the area of information and cybersecurity towards national and economic development of Nigeria.

Daydone: An Agric eCommerce platform that brings farm produce and experience (using data) to the doorstep and fingertip of every consumer.

Dozzy Agricultural Enterprise: Dozzy Agricultural Enterprise is an integrated fish farm focused on closing the gap between market demand and supply of fish food

Edig-Ken Ventures: Hydroponics fodder production is when animal feed is grown without soil using little water and seed. Our solution is to provide sufficient, all-season availability and highly nutritional feed called fodder for livestock farmers to purchase for their animals.

Elcornel Business Enterprise: Elcornel Farm is dedicated to the use of high quality, modern and efficient food technology to meet demand for organic and quality food.

Eteicon: Eteicon uses recycled wastepaper to produce very hygienic and affordable toilet tissue for low-income families.
Evet Inc: Evet is a cloud-based platform that connects farmers to on demand agronomy advisory support, veterinary extension service and farm inputs.

Fuelintellisense Nigeria Limited: FuelIntellisense is a fuel management system that helps facilitates fuel inventory management and provides authorization for fuel dispensing.

Ghats Technology Innovative: I recently graduated from college with a HND in electronics & Telecommunications. I run a small engineering firm Ghats Technology Innovative

High Soles Farm Tours: By leveraging technology, we directly connect farmers with consumers that care about purchasing fresh produce at a lower cost.

Hydronamics: Hydronamics wishes to help bring clean running water to every home in developing countries, using prepaid water delivery services.

Maximus Recycling Solutions: provides households a chance to generate value from their waste and provide a reliable supply of raw material to the local recycling industry.

Moon Innovations: Moon Innovations is building generation of smart system for smart housing across Africa.

Mysolarbid Limited: MySolarBid helps homes and businesses save up to 70% on their monthly electricity costs through access to clean energy solutions.

Negs Empire: Negs Empire is a product and service based Agrictech company, majored in beekeeping, honey packaging and Farm management with probiotics.

Northflx Nigeria Limited: Northflix is a video streaming platform that targets Africans and those in diaspora with local contents that connect them with their culture.

Roborep: The RoboRep platform helps Genuine Medical Companies find Doctors, Hospitals and Pharmacies to sell their Medical products to.

Solio Leathers: Solio Leathers is a computer software integrated footwear manufacturing company with mission to drive footwear market in Nigeria and Africa.

Spacehunt Inc20:Spacehunt is a mobile app that creates a virtual immersive experience for properties/space renters and buyers.

Specxs Care Limited: We are a licensed healthcare company that is leveraging technology to increase access to healthcare using digital technology.

Sublime Squares: Sublime Squares developed an IoT based smart waste-bin solution to optimize the entire waste management process.

The Footwear Academy: The Footwear Academy is a hub that provides holistic solutions around footwear manufacturing and connects African shoemakers to the world.

MassChallenge is the global network for innovators. Headquartered in the United States with seven locations worldwide, MassChallenge equips bold entrepreneurs to disrupt the status quo and to create meaningful change.

Since launching in 2009, more than 2,900 MassChallenge alumni have raised $8.6B in funding, generated $3.6B in revenue, and created more than 186,000 total jobs.

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TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA) has sealed a partnership deal with MassChallenge to help entrepreneurs in Nigeria grow their brands and initiatives locally while having easy access to the global ecosystem.

This access to global ecosystem, according to NITDA will offer more support to the enterprenuers and ultimately, create jobs and wealth for Nigeria.

Speaking during a virtual meeting with the MassChallenge Global Partnership Manager, Kevin O Reilly to seal the partnership, NITDA Director General, Mal. Kashifu Inuwa, noted that the partnership is part of efforts of the Agency in implementing the promotion of indigenous content, a strategic pillar of the Agency’s Strategic Road Map and Action Plan 2021-2024.

Mal. Inuwa, who was represented at the meeting by the acting National Coordinator, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovations, Mr Yakubu Musa believes that MassChallenge Nigeria will help create and further promote a vibrant start up ecosystem, which can create lasting solutions to some of the economic challenges being faced currently.

“Innovation is a prominent way of creating prosperity for all and lifting countries out of poverty,” he assured.

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TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), in its efforts to ensure that Nigeria benefits maximally from the global digital economy, draws the attention of Information Technology sector stakeholders and the general public on its commencement of the process of repealing and re-enacting the NITDA Act, 2007.

The need to repeal the existing Act became necessary with the launch of the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (NDEPS), which effectively replaced the Nigerian National IT Policy, 2000.

You may recall that the vision of the National IT Policy was to make Nigeria an IT capable country by 2005. We can all attest that Nigeria has gone beyond the vision of using IT but aiming to become the digital economy capital of Africa.

Furthermore, since the enactment of the NITDA Act 2007, NITDA has operated as the catalytic Government Agency for developing and regulating the Information Technology sector.
However, in light of recent advancements in Information Technology and the shift in the global economy paradigm, the NDEPS was envisioned to “transform Nigeria into a leading digital economy, providing quality life and digital economies for all”.

This current reality has necessitated the reimagination for the establishment of NITDA. It is a known fact that digital technologies have created new forms of economic activities that have been beneficial to the global economy.

However, these digital technologies comes with their promises and perils such as cybercrimes, privacy invasion and other social problems. This necessitates the need to proactively manage their adoption through the development of a stakeholder-led robust regulatory architecture to enable Nigeria to maximise the benefits of such technologies and mitigate the negative consequences.

Therefore, the need for a more agile and practical approach to regulations, standards-setting, and guidelines development for the country, with a focus on digital and emerging technologies, cannot be overemphasised.
Based on the foregoing, we identified the need to update NITDA’s legal framework for regulating and developing a digital economy for Nigeria. The Agency’s current establishment law is outdated. It cannot meet the needs and requirements for supporting a digital economy as well as effectively protect the rights and interests of stakeholders in the digital world.
The review of the NITDA Act 2007 aims to address contemporary digital issues, revamp Nigeria’s economy, build trust and protect the rights and interests of players in the ecosystem.

Furthermore, the review of the NITDA Act 2007 would serve as an enabler for the growth and development of Nigeria’s digital economy. Some of the highlights of the repeal include the following, amongst others, creating a framework for:

a.     promoting the startup ecosystem;
b.     promoting indigenous products and services through standardisation;
c.     collaborating with the requisite public and private sector partners to carry out activities that will assist in electronic waste disposal;
d.     fostering collaboration to facilitate the implementation of robust cybersecurity measures aimed at building trust in Nigeria’s digital economy;
e.     facilitating capacity building through the digital literacy and skills initiative;
f.      entrenching stakeholder participation in developing regulations through the rule-making process; and
g.     promoting the safe use of digital technologies, including social media, for the attainment of national objectives.

The IT sector and general public will attest to the fact that NITDA has recorded unprecedented achievements in the past few years despite the limitations of the current establishment law. Some of these include:
a.     facilitating the substantial contribution of the ICT sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), contributing 17.92% in the second quarter of 2021, catalysing job creation and igniting innovative activities in the tech ecosystem;
b.     the implementation of the IT Project Clearance initiative that supported the Federal Government’s fight against corruption. This has resulted in over 22.45 Billion Naira saving and has significantly increased local content consumptions by over 300% in 4 years. NITDA currently registered 1573 indigenous companies to enforce local content through IT Clearance;
c.     the introduction and implementation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), subsidiary legislation enshrined to ensure data protection and privacy of Nigerian citizens. The NDPR is the first of its kind in Africa, serving as a source of reference for other African countries. It also facilitated the creation of a new industry valued at around 3.4 Billion Naira, stimulated new business models, and empowered thousands of Nigerians through capacity building and skills development. It also facilitated the creation of over 2,818 new jobs in the industry;
d.     executing strategic global initiatives in the innovation ecosystem such as MIT-Regional Entrepreneurship Acceleration programme (MIT REAP), Bridge to MassChallenge and Clayton Christensen’s Framework of Disruptive Innovation to foster the growth and success of startup enterprises, facilitate key strategies to compliment innovation initiatives and accelerate economic growth and job creation through Innovation Driven Enterprises; and
e.     strategic deployment of digital literacy, skills and entrepreneurship initiatives resulting in building capacities of millions of Nigerians and the emergence of new economic sectors like Fintech, e-Commerce, Venture Capital Investment, Business Process Outsourcing, and robust software industry.

The proposed NITDA Bill aims to create a regulatory framework to accelerate Nigeria into the digital economy and substantially catalyse prosperity. This will include promoting and implementing policies that support indigenous content, access to digital services, investments in the sector, adoption of emerging technologies, innovation, research and development, with a particular focus on the rights of citizens and national interest.
NITDA, as the apex regulator of the IT sector, will leverage the proposed NITDAs Bill to extensively engage with crucial IT stakeholders and protect its stakeholders’ interests in the best possible way. However, this can only be achieved through more excellent connectivity and collaboration by registration and licensing processes.

Considering the importance of the NITDA proposed Bill. The Bill will be presented to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill. The process of Executive Bill is as follows:
a.     the Agency initiated the process by sending the initial draft to its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, for policy review;
b.     the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy perform the policy review;
c.     upon completion of the policy review, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy conveys the initial draft Bill to the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Office for legal drafting and statutory review;
d.     the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice Office will revert with their legal opinion to the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy;
e.     NITDA will engage all IT stakeholders in line with the Rulemaking Process of the Agency;
f.      NITDA will send the updated draft Bill to its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy;
g.     the Bill will be presented to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and upon approval, the President will transmit the Bill to the National Assembly for the enactment process, which will include public hearings and more stakeholder engagements; and
h.     upon passage by the National Assembly, it will be transmitted to the President for assent.
As an accountable Agency, NITDA assures Information Technology sector stakeholders as well as the general public that the process will be transparent and subjected to comprehensive stakeholder engagements. We, therefore, count on the support of Nigerians towards the successful passage of the Bill and eventual signing into law. This will undoubtedly help towards ensuring that Nigeria harnesses the potentials of the ever-expanding digital economy.

Signed:
Mrs Hadiza Umar, MNIPR, M.APRA, MCIPR
Head, Corporate Affairs and External Relations

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