Dr. Bosun Tijani, the Minister of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy, has revealed that the federal government has successfully obtained access to around $500 million to support innovation and entrepreneurship within Nigeria’s digital sector through local funding.

Speaking during a dinner event hosted by the Tech community in Abuja on Friday night, Tijani shared with reporters, “We’ve secured access to about half a billion dollars to kickstart local funding.”

This funding initiative is geared towards benefiting authentic Nigerian businesses, as emphasized by Tijani. By keeping the funds within the country, the government aims to bolster the growth and advancement of homegrown enterprises, thereby making a positive contribution to the nation’s overall economic advancement.

Tijani emphasized that additional investors will be brought on board to enhance the available funds and provide greater support to Nigerian innovators. He stated, “Part of my responsibilities is working with BOI (Bank of Industry) to ensure that we domicile that funding locally in Nigeria, work with firms who manage and invest in businesses to ensure that those businesses that will benefit are true, real Nigerian businesses.”

Highlighting the broader perspective, he added, “And what we are going to see is that the funding is available locally and in the coming months it is going to become larger and as these funds become larger we want to leverage that money as well. So the government is not just going to put half a billion and that’s it, it can actually bring more investors to heart as we have more money, more of our innovators can have access to resources.”