Source · Select Committees · Foreign Affairs Committee
Recommendation 11
11
The UK-Nigeria Tech hub is an innovative solution that has the potential to benefit UK...
Recommendation
The UK-Nigeria Tech hub is an innovative solution that has the potential to benefit UK and Nigerian businesses through the exposure of entrepreneurs to would-be investors, peer mentoring and training. The lessons learnt here have the potential to be applied to other situations on the continent. To maximise the effectiveness of this programme we recommend the FCDO champion the role of the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub by: a) ring-fencing funding; b) encouraging collaboration with other government initiatives, such as the Climate Finance Accelerator, to build capacity in the Nigerian finance sector helping green tech start-ups secure seed investment from local sources; c) working across Whitehall to better understand the barriers to SME investment in Africa and how to address them. (Paragraph 33) Strengthening Security at Home and Abroad
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
We partially agree with this recommendation. The FCDO recognises the value and impact of the UK – Nigeria Tech-Hub, as the committee’s recommendations set out, but does not commit to follow all parts of the committee’s recommendations. ODA Budget allocations are set by the Foreign Secretary and are designed to provide support across a wide range of projects. We do not plan further ring-fencing of funding. However, the joint FCDO-DCMS Digital Access Programme (DAP) will continue supporting and funding the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub (Pillar 3 of the DAP) for Financial Year 2022–23, and potentially for the rest of the spending review period (to March 2025), subject to final ODA allocations. Longer-term decisions on the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub will depend on HMG’s future priorities set against other funding constraints, on the implementation of the FCDO-led IDS published in May 2022 and on the steer provided by the FCDO-DCMS International Technology Strategy (ITS), which is expected to be published in July 2022. The Digital Access Programme, of which the Tech Hub is part, works closely with other teams in the British High Commission Abuja and Deputy British High Commission Lagos to ensure that HMG raises any market access barriers and business environment problems facing tech SMEs with the Federal Government of Nigeria through the UK-Nigeria Economic Development Forum. British International Investment (BII) has funded Nigerian tech start-ups indirectly through investing in venture capital funds, such as Nigeria’s TL.com. Nigeria’s tech sector has benefitted from above average foreign direct investment (FDI) compared to other sectors in the Nigerian economy; start-ups attracted an estimated $1.27 billion of FDI in 2021 - 44% of the total investment in Africa. The Deputy British High Commission (DBHC) in Lagos is working with incubators and other private sector partners to promote the investment opportunities in Nigeria’s tech sector, as well as supporting Nigerian start-ups to access private sector capital from the UK; DBHC Lagos held a matchmaking event with UK partners for Nigerian tech companies in London on 27 April 2022. The Climate Finance Accelerator (CFA) programme already has a remit to support project proposals from green tech start-ups, provided these meet certain bankability and International Climate Finance (ICF) criteria. One of CFA’s potential partners in Nigeria is the Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre in Lagos (an entity first supported by ODA over 10 years ago).