Kenya has enacted and published a ‘Startup Bill’ thereby becoming the third African country to do so.
Kenya however is clearly not the last as other countries are already in the process of enacting their own startup bills in order to spur and grow the startup ecoystem.
Below are just some of the African countries that have already done so or are in the process:
- Tunisia
- Senegal
- Kenya
- Rwanda
- Ethiopia
- Ghana
- Mali
- DRC
Thread:
Glad that the #Startup bill 2020 has been published.
Check out vol 163 of the Kenya Gazette 2020 for more.
Thanks @SakajaJohnson for driving this. We hope Ecosystem players such as @ASSEKnews will be involved in this through public participation. pic.twitter.com/d0UdZjL22j— Kenya National Innovation Agency (KeNIA) (@KENIAupdates) September 23, 2020
A startup bill provides a framework that encourages and catalyzes a culture of innovative thinking and entrepreneurship with a number of benefits:
- Caters to the registration of startups
- Provides a mechanism for collaboration between startups and private sector, financial institutions, investors, and research organizations
- Enables regulation thereby helping startups navigate existing government obstacles
- Establishes a startup fund to help them raise funding thereby opening up and encouraging local and international investment
- Opens up the possibility for innovation funds for startups such as credit guarantee schemes
- Facilitate intellectual property rights
- Encourages local entrepreneurship as they require atleast a third ownership of equities to local citizens and minimum local number of employees
- Encourages localized startup ecosystems that offer locally-relevant solutions
- A set amount reserved to go to community work and research
- Opens up a taxation-free time period for a set time limit to encourage faster growth
With startup funding across the African continent having already surpassed over $1 billion annually with increasing interest in the continent’s young companies, this holds great promise for young African entrepreneurs.
Blockchain and crypto projects are no doubt going to benefit from such an environment too. A clearer regulatory path and opportunities to collaborate with financial institutions, for example, would no doubt spur growth in the industry.
No doubt, there is great value to be gained for blockchain and crypto startups across Africa with the approval of these startup bills.
Sign Up to attend: http://bit.ly/BitKECatapult-25
Follow us on Twitter for latest posts and updates
______________________________________
