Nigeria unveiled a $618 million fund to start-ups and small and medium enterprises on 14th March. The $618 million Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) fund was officially inaugurated by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja, the nation’s capital, according to a statement from the presidency.<\/span><\/p>\n
The $618 million project will provide non-financial services to about 450 digital technology, small and medium enterprises and draw direct investments in over 200 technology and creative start-ups. iDICE is anticipated to add 6 million new employment for young Nigerians and have the potential to bring in $6.4 billion to the country’s economy.<\/span><\/p>\n
The fund, which caters to individuals between the ages of 15 and 35, arrives at a time when locals are worried about the collapse of US startup-focused lender SVB Financial Group, which supported startups in Nigeria.<\/span><\/p>\n
Only one cross-border payments company, Chipper Cash, has so far claimed to have $1 million in SVB. Some of the biggest startups, including the e-commerce company Jumia and the fintech company Flutterwave with an emphasis on Africa, told British news agency Reuters they had no contact with the bank.<\/span><\/p>\n
According to the administration, the African Development Bank will contribute $170 million, Agence Fran\u00e7aise de D\u00e9veloppement will contribute $116 million, and the Islamic Development Bank will contribute another $70 million.<\/span><\/p>\n
The Bank of Industry Nigeria, on behalf of the government, will give $45 million and the private sector committed $217 million.<\/span><\/p>\n
At the fund’s launch, Osinbajo said, “iDICE is a government initiative to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in the digital tech and creative industries and especially targeted at job creation.”<\/span><\/p>\n
The majority of the tech and fintech startups in Nigeria, which has the most in Africa, have received financing from foreign banks and venture capital firms.<\/span><\/p>\n
But the majority of startups still have trouble getting financing because banks require collateral, which they do not have.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria unveiled a $618 million fund to start-ups and small and medium enterprises on 14th March. The $618 million Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) fund was officially inaugurated by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in Abuja, the nation’s capital, according to a statement from the presidency. The $618 million project will provide non-financial services […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":32338,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[157],"tags":[10490,508,3826,8276,19779,19780,1910,19781,19778],"class_list":{"0":"post-32337","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-abuja","9":"tag-africa","10":"tag-african-development-bank","11":"tag-flutterwave","12":"tag-idice","13":"tag-jumia","14":"tag-nigeria","15":"tag-nigeria-vice-president-yemi-osinbajo","16":"tag-venture-capital-firms"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n