African Development Bank and partners invest $618 million in Nigeria’s digital and creative industries | African Development Bank

The African Development Bank and partners launched a new program for investment in digital and creative enterprises (iDICE) on Tuesday.

The initiative, with investments totaling $618 million, will attract direct investment in more than 200 technology and creative start-ups and provide non-financial services to approximately 450 digital technology SMEs. With a potential to generate $6.4 billion for the Nigerian economy, iDICE is expected to create 6 million new jobs for young Nigerians.

Speaking at the launch event in the capital Abuja, Nigeria’s Vice President Osinbajo stressed the importance of a coordinated approach to innovation across Africa. “The government needs to give more support to start-ups and small businesses, and investors need to provide more funding,” Osinbajo said.

The African Development Bank Group is iDICE’s largest financier, providing $170 million. The French government, through the Agence Française de Développement, will contribute €100 million ($116 million), and the Islamic Development Bank is expected to provide $70 million, pending approval by its board of directors. The Nigerian government will provide $45 million in counter-financing through its executive agency, the Bank of Industry. Other institutional and private investors are also expected to provide additional funding for the implementation of the strategic initiative.

Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, stressed the need to harness iDICE’s huge potential for sustainable job creation and economic transformation. “We are adapting Nigeria to be more competitive in an increasingly digital world. We are creating hope for a new Nigeria, driven by the power of youth.”

The African Development Bank expects the iDICE model to be rolled out in other regional member states through the bank’s Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Bank initiative, which will be designed to create a financial and non-financial services ecosystem to support start-ups run by young Nigerians. and create jobs.

French Ambassador to Nigeria Emmanuelle Blatmann said that the digital technology and creative industries have huge potential to create jobs and drive economic growth in Nigeria. “The iDICE program… is designed to support young entrepreneurs and innovators moving these industries forward,” she said.

Through iDICE, approximately 175,000 young people, including university students, gain direct access to technology to build creative skills, fuel innovation and help new businesses thrive. iDICE will help consolidate Nigeria’s leading position as Africa’s premier hub for young entrepreneurs and early-stage investment. In 2022, African start-ups raised $5.4 billion, with Nigerian companies receiving the largest share at $1.2 billion.

iDICE will also strengthen regulatory policy frameworks such as the Startup Act of 2022, provide access to funding through the creation of a DICE Fund, an independently managed venture capital fund; and raises more than $217 million in investment capital. The fund will also provide technical tools to de-risk digital and creative companies at scale and in a sustainable way.

Click here to view images from the iDICE launch.

To hear young people and authorities discuss their expectations, click here.