The Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs Omobola Johnson recently revealed plans by the Nigerian government to raise $15 million for the take-off of an ICT venture capital fund. SHe said the fund would be used to finance commercially viable projects proposed by members of the public.
The venture capital fund being set up for the ICT industry is to be anchored by the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), which is expected to commit $3.6 million (N500 million) to the project. The Minister said that the private sector, globally and locally would raise an additional $11.4 million.
She added that “The $15 million will be managed by independent fund managers who would work with the ICT incubation team to identify projects or initiatives that we believe are great ideas that will be commercially successful. We will use those venture capital funds to fund them because there is no collateral. We are taking a risk.”