Nigeria risks losing digital wealth without local tech ownership – MOFI
Dr Armstrong Takang, the Managing Director, Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI) says Nigerians risk losing the wealth created by the digital economy unless they invest in and own technology businesses.
Takang made the assertion on Thursday in Lagos at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX) Nigeria, a forum focused on the intersection of technology, finance and investment.
He said that there was the need for greater domestic participation in financing technology companies.
The MOFI boss said that Nigeria had made significant progress in developing its technology ecosystem over the past two decades.
He, however, said that the country risked losing the economic benefits of that growth if Nigerians continued to play a marginal role in financing technology businesses.
According to him, Nigeria’s technology development efforts are driven by the recognition that the country cannot remain a mere consumer of digital products and services.
He said that the objective was to build an ecosystem where Nigerian companies could develop software, provide digital services, generate data and deploy technology to grow their businesses.
Takang, however, identified access to capital as a major obstacle, urging Nigerian investors and capital allocators to participate more actively in funding technology businesses, particularly at the pre-seed and early stages.
He said that although some Nigerian technology companies had grown into highly valued businesses, foreign investors often held significant equity positions, because they provided much of the capital needed to scale the companies.
“Every time they move up in the rounds, the Nigerian equity has been diluted and the foreign capital allocators are taking positions in these companies,” the MOFI boss said.
He said that greater domestic participation in early-stage funding would enable Nigerians to retain a larger share of the wealth created when successful companies paid dividends, were acquired or became publicly listed.
Takang said that individuals, institutions and investment managers needed to recognise technology as an investment opportunity, rather than merely a sector for consumption.
He said that MOFI was adopting a more active approach to managing Federal Government investments and assets, rather than treating them as passive holdings.
He said that the ministry was established to manage the Federal Government’s investments but had historically operated largely as a passive custodian of assets.
Takang cited entities such as Nigeria Airways, NEPA, Nigerian Shipping Lines and NITEL as examples of government investments that had suffered under a passive ownership model.
According to him, the new philosophy is to combine ownership with active stewardship to ensure that government assets are properly managed, productive, profitable and capable of generating wider economic impact.
“Every Nigerian is the owner of the assets that we are managing, government institutions are merely stewards of the assets,” he said.
Takang said that the principle made transparency and accountability essential in the management of public assets.
He said that technology would play a critical role in cataloguing, managing and unlocking the value of government assets.
The MOFI boss disclosed that the ministry was creating comprehensive records of government-owned assets, including real estate, infrastructure and creative-industry assets.
According to him, more than 2,000 art pieces are currently being valued, while about 600 real estate assets have been identified and documented.
He said that the exercise would extend to infrastructure such as dams, roads and bridges, as well as other assets, including solid minerals.
Takang said that digitising the ownership and status of the assets would improve transparency and make it easier to mobilise investment against them.
He said that digital platforms could also facilitate the tokenisation of assets, enabling ownership interests to be structured in ways that could attract a wider pool of investors.
Takang said that the objective was to create systems through which investors could establish ownership, participate in investments and potentially trade their interests.
He also highlighted Project Bridge, a public-private sector initiative aimed at deploying more than 90,000 kilometres of fibre infrastructure across Nigeria.
Takang said that the private sector would hold a majority stake in the project, while government would retain a minority position, demonstrating how public assets and private capital could be combined to deliver large-scale infrastructure.
According to him, the approach can help Nigeria overcome financing constraints that has traditionally limited major infrastructure projects.
Takang said that the combination of technology, finance and investment offered an opportunity to transform Nigeria’s vast asset base into productive capital, capable of supporting economic growth.
Also speaking, Dr Nurudeen Zauro, the Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, said that the Federal Government was implementing reforms aimed at creating an enabling environment for investment and economic growth.
Zauro said that collaboration among government agencies, financial institutions and private-sector players was critical to achieving the objective.
He said that Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector continued to face a significant financing gap estimated at 32.2 billion dollars.
According to him, government is also working to improve the environment for domestic and foreign investors by addressing challenges around the movement of capital into and out of Nigeria.
He urged Nigerian businesses, particularly technology companies and MSMEs, to take advantage of emerging financing opportunities, partnerships and policy reforms to scale their operations.
Zauro said that the government remained committed to initiatives that would mobilise investment, strengthen financial inclusion and ensure that economic opportunities reached businesses and Nigerians at the grassroots.
He also called for stronger public-private partnerships, describing the private sector as central to driving productivity, investment and sustainable economic growth.