President unveils 180-day roadmap to position Nigeria as a global base for tech, finance and digital-service companies
By Chioma Vivian James
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has moved Nigeria’s Digital Free Zones initiative into its implementation phase, with the Federal Government targeting increased global investment, job creation and the retention of Nigerian technology companies and intellectual property within the country.
The initiative, according to the President, is designed to create an enabling environment where Nigerian technology, finance and digital-service companies can raise international capital, access global markets, employ Nigerians and scale their operations without being compelled to relocate their businesses or intellectual property to foreign jurisdictions.
President Tinubu said the administration’s objective is to ensure that Nigeria’s growing pool of technology talent translates into sustainable jobs, investment, professional services and economic value within the country.
“Nigeria has the talent, enterprise and ambition to build companies that can compete anywhere in the world. Our responsibility as a government is to ensure that Nigerians do not have to leave Nigeria or rely on other jurisdictions to realise that potential,” the President said.
The President has consequently directed the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Jumoke Oduwole, who serves as Vice-Chairman and Implementation Coordinator of the Presidential Steering Committee on Digital Free Zones, to work with the Itana Innovation project and other members of the committee to develop a roadmap for the full launch of the initiative within 180 days.
The Presidential Steering Committee, established and chaired by President Tinubu, is expected to modernise Nigeria’s free-zone framework, which was established more than three decades ago, and adapt it to the demands of the rapidly expanding digital economy.
Keeping Nigerian Talent and Intellectual Property at Home
For President Tinubu, the Digital Free Zones initiative is not simply about creating technology parks. It is also about reversing a long-standing trend in which promising Nigerian entrepreneurs establish companies and intellectual property outside the country to gain access to international capital, markets and business structures.
“For too long, some of our most promising young entrepreneurs have felt compelled to establish their companies and intellectual property abroad to access global capital and markets. I do not accept that this must remain the case,” he said.
The President said his administration wants the next generation of African technology, finance and service companies to be built, headquartered and scaled internationally from Nigerian soil.
The policy could also deepen opportunities for Nigerian professionals across several sectors, including software engineering, product development, design, law, accounting, finance and other specialised services that support digital businesses.
Itana Emerging as Flagship Digital Free Zone
The initiative is already taking shape through Itana, Nigeria’s first Digital Free Zone, which has been licensed by the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).
Located at Alaro City in Lagos, the Itana Innovation project is designed to provide a platform for global and pan-African digital and service businesses seeking to establish and operate from Nigeria.
The $500 million project is backed by the Africa Finance Corporation and is expected to combine an enabling policy environment with an innovation campus, access to capital and ecosystem services aimed at helping African startups scale while retaining a greater share of the economic value they generate on the continent.
The President said the ambition is for companies serving international markets to be incorporated, financed and governed from Nigeria while creating employment and expanding local professional-service ecosystems.
“We want African companies to be incorporated in Nigeria, financed here and governed from here, while serving markets across Africa and the world,” he said.
Jobs Without Borders
A major component of the initiative is the potential to expand access to global employment for young Nigerians without requiring them to relocate abroad.
President Tinubu specifically envisaged a digital economy in which Nigerians in cities and communities across the country can work for international companies while remaining in Nigeria.
“I want a young Nigerian in Kano, Enugu, Warri, Minna, Maiduguri or Ibadan to be able to work for a global company without leaving home,” he said.
He added that Nigerian founders should also be able to raise capital internationally while keeping their companies and intellectual property within the country.
“When these businesses grow here, they employ Nigerians, use Nigerian professional services and retain more of the value they create in our economy,” the President said.
Reforming the Business Environment
The Presidential Steering Committee is expected to address several regulatory and institutional areas that could determine the success of the Digital Free Zones programme.
Its work will cover regulation, taxation, banking, immigration, arbitration and the digitisation of government processes within Nigeria’s free zones.
The broader objective is to create a business environment capable of supporting companies that operate across borders while maintaining their Nigerian base.
President Tinubu also linked the initiative to the wider expansion of Africa’s digital economy and the growth of digitally enabled trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
He said Nigeria’s combination of talent, entrepreneurial capacity and market size gives the country an opportunity to play a significant role in shaping Africa’s position in the global technology and digital economy value chain.
“Nigeria has the talent and the market to reshape Africa’s place in the global technology and digital economy value chain,” he said.
Describing the initiative as part of the administration’s broader digital-economy reforms, the President said the objective is to turn policy reforms into tangible opportunities for Nigerians.
“This is what our Renewed Hope commitment to a digital economy looks like in practice, and this is how we transform reform into opportunities.
“We made a promise to Nigerians. We are keeping it,” he said.
Bayo Onanuga
Special Adviser to the President (Information and Strategy)
September 17, 2026
