FG moves to strengthen coordinated innovation ecosystem

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on Thursday in Abuja inaugurated the Technical Working Group (TWG) for the National Regulatory Sandbox to strengthen coordination in the innovation ecosystem.

Malam Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of NITDA, said the initiative was designed to address structural regulatory bottlenecks slowing innovation in Nigeria’s digital economy.

Represented by Mr Edet Emmanuel, Acting Director, Regulations and Compliance, Inuwa said existing regulatory frameworks were no longer adequate to address the pace of emerging technologies.

He said regulators often operated in silos because of their separate statutory mandates.

According to him, the rapid growth of the digital economy has outpaced regulation, resulting in delays and barriers that hindered deployment of innovative solutions capable of improving lives and driving economic growth.

He said the multi-agency frameworks would enable regulators to understand one another’s mandates and work collaboratively to create an innovation-friendly environment while maintaining strong regulatory oversight.

“Nobody is taking away anybody’s regulatory power but we are giving innovation a chance to thrive within the ecosystem,” he said.

Inuwa explained that the sandbox model would allow regulators to “learn by doing” through creating supervised environments where innovators could test products and services safely before obtaining full regulatory approvals.

He added that the TWG would provide advisory, validation and governance functions for innovations emerging from the ecosystem and ensure strategic oversight of the sandbox framework.

“We are not launching just a document; we are building a governance structure and system that will impact innovation in Nigeria beyond the implementation phase,” he said.

Ms Victoria Fabunmi, National Coordinator, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), NITDA, said the National Regulatory Sandbox was a structured legal and multi-agency framework.

Fabunmi said it would support controlled testing of innovative products, services and business models under defined regulatory conditions.

Fabunmi identified key challenges confronting innovators to include fragmented sectoral regulations, multi-agency approval delays and poorly coordinated testing mechanisms for emerging technologies.

She said the sandbox would provide innovators with an opportunity to engage multiple regulators simultaneously, thereby reducing duplication, regulatory uncertainty and time-to-market for innovations.

According to her, the framework is sector-agnostic and extends beyond fintech to sectors such as artificial intelligence, digital health, agriculture, mobility and logistics, clean energy, blockchain and digital public infrastructure.

She said priority areas were selected because of increasing innovation activities and regulatory complexities within those sectors.

Fabunmi said the initiative would also support the implementation of the Nigerian Startup Act by providing startups with structured regulatory support mechanisms.

She explained that the implementation strategy would adopt an agile approach, beginning with a limited number of agencies before expanding to include more regulators and stakeholders over time.

She listed the immediate next steps to include formal inauguration of the TWG, development of operational frameworks, stakeholder consultations, agency alignment and a six-month pilot phase for the sandbox initiative.

The National Regulatory Sandbox is a multi-agency initiative established to support supervised testing of innovative solutions, strengthen regulatory coordination and promote evidence-based policy development in response to emerging technologies in Nigeria.

Organisations consisting the TWG include Nigerian Postal Service, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Korea International Cooperation Agency, Japan International Cooperation Agency, among others.