CAMA, others vital for tech startups, experts say

Co-founder, Advansio, Mr. Olufisayo Oludare, has stressed the importance of the Companies and Allied Matter Act (CAMA) and the startup bill to help regulate and enhance growth in technology startups.

They noted that the startup bill would ensure that the country’s laws and regulations are clear and planned, as heel as harness the potential of the digital economy.

This was disclosed at Advansio Fintech Growth conference with the theme: ‘Bridging the Gap Between where Fintech is and where it should be’ in Lagos.

Oludare said the bill would give labeled tech startups, with at least 10 employees, 60 per cent of whom have no prior work experience, tax breaks on income tax and five per cent on their assessable profits.

He noted that this initiative would help small businesses reinvest their profits to upscale. “When we started, there were lots of taxes. But thank God for the new CAMA. Today, if you are earning less than N25 million and below, you don’t need to pay, s,o that is something. And today, startup bill, which is going through the Senate, is going to help.

“When we started, we had to do it the hard way. There were different of taxes that we didn’t even know we had to pay, and then, have got penalised for something we don’t know about,” he stated.

Co-founder, Advansio, Mr. Ikenna Agugua, said that the fintech ecosystem would attract collaborations and growth.

“In the next five years, there would be fintechs coming together in partnership with the banks as well. Coming together means that at the end of the day, we will definitely have growth within the space.

“We need to have as many fintechs as possible, to help take Nigerians and Africa to where it needs to be when it comes to technology.

“So, yes, in the next five years, I believe that the Fintech would have a huge impact, within the technology ecosystem in Nigeria,” he said.

According to him, Advansio, to encourage economic growth and development in the country and Africa as a whole, launched the startup fund.

The initiative is a grant to support startups with the required fund to propel their business ideas and growth, most importantly female fintech founders.
 
Advansio in collaboration with Taj Bank gave a female fintech startup, Regixta credit, with N1, 000,000 out of the over a hundred applications that were received.