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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has announced the appointment of four key figures from Nigeria’s startup ecosystem to the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship (NCDIE) — a major milestone in implementing the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA), the 2022 law designed to strengthen collaboration between government and the country’s growing tech sector.
The appointments, made through NITDA’s Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), follow elections conducted via the Startup Consultative Forum (SCF). The newly elected representatives — Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Victoria Manya, Charles Uchenna Emembolu, and Abba Ibrahim Gamawa — will serve a two-year term on the Council.
According to NITDA, the four leaders will “represent the interests of Nigeria’s startup ecosystem, provide input and proposals to the Council, and ensure that founders and innovators contribute meaningfully to shaping policies that drive innovation and entrepreneurship.” The agency noted that their participation will “help promote inclusivity, strengthen the startup environment, and ensure innovation delivers measurable economic and social value across the country.”
The appointments mark a concrete step toward operationalising the Nigeria Startup Act, which aims to create a more enabling environment for startups through structured engagement, incentives, and reforms. The Council is expected to oversee the rollout of startup labelling, investment incentives, capacity-building programmes, and regulatory reforms envisaged under the law.
Each of the new representatives brings a strong background in innovation and entrepreneurship:
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Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Founding Partner at Future Africa, is a leading venture capitalist and co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave.
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Victoria Manya serves as Co-founder and Executive Director at Advocacy for Policy and Innovation (API).
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Charles Uchenna Emembolu, Founder of TechQuest STEM Academy and Roar Nigeria Hub, chairs the Innovation Support Network (ISN) — a coalition of tech hubs nationwide.
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Abba Ibrahim Gamawa, Founder of Go Agent Limited, leads a logistics-tech company connecting clearing agents, transporters, and importers.
Signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in October 2022, the Nigeria Startup Act provides a comprehensive legal and institutional framework to accelerate the growth of tech-enabled enterprises. It addresses long-standing challenges related to funding access, regulatory bottlenecks, infrastructure, and talent development, positioning Nigeria as a key innovation hub in Africa.
The NCDIE serves as the central body for coordinating implementation efforts. Chaired by the President, with the Vice President as Vice Chairman, its members include the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Director-General of NITDA, and representatives from key professional bodies, alongside the four SCF-elected ecosystem leaders.
While the formal inclusion of startup representatives is widely seen as a breakthrough for stakeholder engagement, observers note that effective implementation remains the true test. Many of the Act’s key incentives — such as tax reliefs, access to funding, and startup labelling — rely on operational structures that are still being developed. Analysts have also pointed to challenges around inter-agency coordination, resource allocation, and execution capacity as factors that could affect the Act’s overall impact.
Still, the inclusion of ecosystem leaders in the NCDIE offers renewed optimism that Nigeria’s Startup Act can deliver on its promise to transform the country’s innovation landscape and accelerate digital economic growth.
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