The Federal Government of Nigeria has intensified its determination to control social media. Yesterday, the news came that the bill known as the Protection from Internet Falsehood and Manipulation Bill 2019 has scaled second reading in the National Assembly.

The sponsor of the bill, Senator Sani Musa, and those who stand by it claim it’s time such a regulation comes into play in Nigeria for the sake of national peace and security in the country.

Apart from the social media bill, there is also the Prohibition of Hate Speech Bill sponsored by Senator Sabi Abdullai. Each of these bills is seeking to control free speech and how Nigerians react to issues.

The Nigerian Senate has overwhelmingly stood in favor of the bill, apart from Chimaraoke Nnamani, the senator representing Enugu East; others have given various reasons why the bill must be passed.

In his speech against the bill, Nnamani said he condemns it in its entirety, citing the provision of freedom of speech in section 39 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. He said the bill is nothing more than an attempt to censor the media, reminded his colleagues that there are existing laws in Nigeria to tackle issues of cybercrime and false information. Quoting Fredrick Gustav Emil Martin Niemoller and as reference of repercussion the social media bill may bring upon those who ignorantly passed it, he said “this bill is pure censorship; it has no business in 2019 Nigeria. I therefore oppose and vigorously condemn the bill.”

However, his opposition and condemnation of the bill did nothing to deter the lawmakers from pushing the bill, now close to its third reading.

Among those who spoke in favor of the bill is Elisha Abbo, the senator representing Adamawa north, he said:

“The issue of fake news, if it’s not regulated, if it’s not caged, it is a cancer waiting to consume all of us… I’m supporting this bill holistically, I stand to say that this bill is good and if we cannot regulate the spread of falsehood, it will consume all of us tomorrow.”

The sentiment echoed here represents what everyone who supports the bill has been saying. It’s about curtailing the damages that falsehood and hate speech could cause on individuals and the country as a whole. President Buhari, addressing the concerns about government’s move to control the media in his Independence Day speech said:

“Whilst we uphold the constitutional rights of our people to freedom of expression and association, where the purported exercise of these rights infringes on the rights of other citizens or threatens to undermine our national security, we will take firm and decisive action.”

Nigerians have been a little unbothered in the beginning, until the contents of the proposed bill appeared online, and it brought outrage with it for reasons remarkable in other countries that have similar media control laws.

Part 3 (12) of the bill empowers enforcement agencies to shut down access to the internet and social media without recourse to the National assembly or a court.

The section reads: Law Enforcement Department may direct the NCC to order the internet access provider to take reasonable steps to disable access by end-users in Nigeria to the online location (called in this Clause an access blocking order), and NCC must give the internet access provider access blocking order (emphasis ours).

An internet service provider that refuses to obey the order on conviction by a court may be fined N10 million for each day the order is not obeyed.

A section of the bill prescribes a fine of N300, 000 or three year jail term or both for anyone found guilty of making statements that diminishes public confidence in the performance of any power of the government. That means, anyone criticizing a public office holder for not living up to expectation is liable to go to prison.

It is based on these highlighted sections of the bill and many others that dissent arose on Thursday against it. Critics believe it’s a calculated ploy in the guise of “curbing falsehood and hate speech” to muzzle the only medium that Nigerians have used to criticize the government and expose wrongs to the world.

The former Director General of BPSR, Dr. Joe Abba, joined other Nigerians who are registering their displeasure with the hashtags #SayNoToSocialMediaBill #SayNoToHateSpeechBill, to denounce the bill. He tweeted:

“I, Joe Abah, say no to Social Media Bill. It is a grievous infringement on the constitutional right to free speech. We must be able to speak our minds, even when we are wrong or mistaken, without fear of intimidation, harassment or incarceration by the State.”

The popular singer, Simi, didn’t hold back her voice, she tweeted: “This, Social Media Bill is very worrisome. We’re used to taking everything so lightly. I doubt most of us understand the implications of this if it gets passed. The things I’ve been reading are crazy. Freedom of speech is almost all the power we have left.”

One after another, Nigerians have been signing a petition initiated on Change.org against the Bill. Contact information of senators are being published on twitter, and everyone is urged to call his senator demanding they drop the bill.

Among the fears that have been expressed by the people is that Nigeria may end up like Congo, Cameroon, Iraq, Iran and every other country notorious of shutting down the internet whenever there is a protest by the people against the government.

Press Release

Africa’s startup ecosystem on the brink of massive growth

The growing number of startups securing major financial commitments, sets the stage for an entirely new era of growth in the African venture capital industry. This was the most discussed topic during the sixth edition of the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit #AESIS2019 held between 13-15 November in Cape Town, South Africa.

Growing interest from foreign investors – including an increasing number of Chinese investors – , startup valuations becoming too high, entrepreneurs increasingly looking to international markets and the question if local entrepreneurs are really benefiting from the influx of funding, were highlighted across a rapid series of panels, keynotes, fireside chats and roundtables across the three day event, that marks the 6th year VC4A and ABAN organize the Africa Early Stage Investor Summit.

Lessons learned from investing in the continent’s top businesses

Industry leaders challenged these topics while sharing insights and lessons learned from investing in the continent’s top businesses. At #AESIS2019, participants dove head-first into these and many more startup ecosystem topics with African powerhouses like Pieter de Villiers, Eghosa Omoigui, Keet van Zyl, Rebecca Enonchong, Ido Sum, Lauren Cochran, Tomi Davies, Marième Diop, Johann Choux, Paul Cook, Yassine Oussaifi,  Llew Claasen, Abu Bakr Cassim, Olivier Furdelle, Khaled Ismail, Ben White, David van Dijk and many others, leading the conversations.

The 2019 event comprised 3 days of rich content and networking activities including new components this year such as a full-day Fund Manager Training and curated speed-dating sessions between Limited Partners and General Partners. Both of which were oversubscribed. The first day of the Summit also included the first Annual General Meeting for the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) as efforts continue to spur angel investing across the continent and to unlock resources for starting companies at their earliest stages of development.

Co-organizers, ABAN and VC4A, welcomed 330 investors representing Africa’s early stage investing ecosystem. The Summit attracted the highest ever number of early stage African investors from 35 different countries representing 110+ investor organizations, funds, family foundations and business angel networks. The motivation? To bring together leading investors from Africa and beyond to network, exchange insights, create partnerships and make deals.

Key takeaways from the Summit include:

• The number of women (co-)founders are on the rise at 18% in 2019
• Africa’s startup ecosystem, as of 2018, is on par with Southeast Asia’s of 2014, with major increase in early-stage investing expected
• Ecosystem actors need to stop looking to Silicon Valley and create own ecosystem model and path for growthAfrican startups create social impact but investing for profit remains leading driver for investor participation
• Fund managers and investors need to play the long game to reap any returns while there is a need for more fund managers to enter the industry

Creating pipeline through VC4A’s Venture Showcase – Series A

#AESIS2019 wouldn’t be complete without co-organizer’s VC4A Venture Showcase that featured 12 vetted Series A-ready companies (https://bit.ly/2D4nfTB) from Egypt and Algeria to Nigeria and South Africa. Their solutions range from VR therapy to more efficient transport to an easy cashback app, and more. The Showcase simultaneously helps build pipeline for some investors and create exists for others, propelling the African startup ecosystem forward. Several past Showcase ventures currently appear on the list of companies that raised more than USD 1 million in 2019, with FlexClub from the 2019 Showcase making an appearance as well. In addition, the 2018 alumni Nawah Scientific and the 2019 participant LifeBank, have just been announced the winners of the Jack Ma Netpreneur Prize. Altogether, VC4A’s Venture Showcase companies have raised more than USD 36 million to date.

Announcing launch of Catalyst, a fund-matching mechanism for angels

Rebecca Enonchong, female founder and treasurer of the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) announced the Catalyst initiative to summit attendees. The initiative, in partnership with Afrilabs and funded by the AFD will stimulate angel investing across the continent by matching investments up to EUR 60K. She adds: “This mechanism helps build layers in the ecosystem and creates more pipeline for investors since angels will be able to invest in more businesses.”

Everyone at the Summit agreed that Africa’s startup ecosystem is maturing. To-date in 2019, over USD 1 billion has been raised with 83 deals alone exceeding USD1M and with 18% of those companies co-founded by women. “More women than in Silicon Valley,” as VC4A’s Ben White pointed out in his opening keynote. However, as anyone present at #AESIS2019 could sense, the hunger and energy to do better and to do more is mighty. With the quick adoption of Netflix across the continent, as Rebecca Enonchong highlighted to the amusement of all in the audience, the potential is endless. The key to ecosystem growth and success? Treat Africans as consumers, like anyone else.

SOURCE – Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A)