Recently, majority of the parliament members in Senegal, voted in support of the Startup bill, which has now been passed into law, thus, becoming the second African country to do so, after Tunisia.
Sometime around August 2019, up to 60 stakeholders, in the Senegalese innovative tech ecosystem, gathered to draft a Startup Act, at the i4policy hackathon, in the country’s capital city, Dakar.
In November 2019, Senegal’s President, Council of Ministers, adopted the Start-up bill and it got approved, by the country’s national assembly.
The Startup Act, having bill number 17/2019 is, aimed at promoting innovation that can lead to the growth of the country’s economy. This is in line, with the “Digital Senegal 2025” strategy, which comprises some frameworks, to encourage and promote innovation, alongside entrepreneurship.
The Startup Act, was designed to bring about a framework of governance, for start-ups and also, a convenient legal space that, allows for smooth registration and identification, of Senegalese startups.
The act will, also, create resource centres, specially dedicated, to Senegalese start-ups and also, provide incentives, for encouragement.
With the country, establishing itself, as a platform for the assistance of its local start-up, Senegal has become the second, after Tunisia, on the African continent.
The Délégation de entrepreneuriat Rapide, (DER), aims to assist local start-ups, in the country, to overcome challenges, such as, inaccessibility of early-stage funding and lack of accelerators. More than US$2 million, got invested, in not less than 40 Senegalese start-ups by DER.
In 2012, Italy became the first country in the world, to pass a start-up law and with Tunisia and Senegal, already, in the space, with Mali on the verge of enacting its startups law. Almost 10 African countries have also joined the race.
According to Jon Stever, Co-founder and Managing Director of Impact Hub Kigali, “I think that, in a few years, the question will be, “how many countries don’t have Start-up Acts?”
With this recent development, we hope that Nigeria would also join the race of West African countries on realizing the startup act.
Featured Image: Medium
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