Nigeria’s digital economic zone management company, and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), an infrastructure solutions provider, have agreed to jointly develop a digital economic zone in Africa designed for global and Pan-African technology, finance and service-based businesses to operate and scale with ease across Africa, unlocking the continent’s digital economy.
The formalisation of this partnership took place yesterday in front of global government and business leaders, at the Global Africa Business Initiative (GABI), on the sidelines of the ongoing United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York.
The Itana Digital Economic Zone in Lagos, Nigeria is intended as an online jurisdiction and a gateway to build a global business in Nigeria. Through Itana, companies can remotely incorporate and operate their businesses in the Itana zone, with laws, business incentives (tax, immigration & banking), and services optimized for the digital economy.
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This will be coupled with eco-friendly live-work districts and a live-in accelerator program, showcasing the future of African cities and providing the ideal infrastructure and support for businesses in Africa to scale and compete globally.
AFC will support Itana with project development funding and intends to lead in the financing of phase 1 of the Itana project which is budgeted at around $100m. This will include an eco-friendly tech campus in Lagos, Nigeria, and funding of startups in Accelerate Africa, the accelerator program of Itana in partnership with Future Africa.
AFC will also support the roll-out of the Itana Digital Economic Zone for global and Pan-African tech, finance, and service-based businesses seeking to operate across Africa.
Itana and AFC are already collaborating alongside Future Africa, PwC Nigeria, and Charter Cities Institute as technical advisers to the Initiative for the Promotion of Digital Free Zones in Nigeria.
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