The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is pleased to announce the inaugural meeting of the Startup Consultative Forum, scheduled for Monday April 28, 2025 This milestone event marks a significant step in deepening stakeholder engagement within Nigeria’s growing startup ecosystem.

The Forum will serve as an interactive platform for startup founders, innovators, ecosystem enablers, and intermediaries to actively shape national policies that foster growth, attract investment, and drive digital innovation.

Convened under the framework of the Nigeria Startup Act (NSA), this initiative reflects the government’s commitment to making startups not just stakeholders but key contributors in building an enabling environment for innovation.

The meeting will emphasize collaborative dialogue, with a primary focus on nominating and selecting representatives for the National Council for Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Startup Council)—Nigeria’s highest advisory body for the startup ecosystem. Decisions from this Forum will lay the foundation for inclusive policy development, amplifying the voices of Nigeria’s tech and innovation community.

NITDA invites all Labelled Startups, Verified Entrepreneurial and Innovation Support Organisations, Angel Investors, Venture Capitalists, and other relevant stakeholders to join the Forum and actively participate in the nomination and voting process.

Join us in shaping the future of digital innovation in Nigeria. Together, we can build a thriving ecosystem that supports and celebrates the pioneering spirit of Nigerian startups.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised downward its economic growth forecast for Nigeria in 2025 to 3.0%, a 0.2 percentage point cut from its earlier projection of 3.2%.

The downgrade is attributed to a decline in global crude oil prices, which remain a significant driver of Nigeria’s economy.

The updated figures were published in the IMF’s April 2025 World Economic Outlook (WEO) report, released in Washington, DC, during the ongoing Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank.

The report outlines global and regional economic trends, highlighting continued vulnerability among oil-dependent economies.

According to the IMF, growth across sub-Saharan Africa is also expected to experience a modest decline, with projections falling from 4.0% in 2024 to 3.8% in 2025. However, a slight recovery is anticipated in 2026, with growth forecasted at 4.2%.

Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, was singled out in the report as among the major economies affected by falling oil prices. The IMF noted that the country’s 2026 growth forecast has also been revised downward by 0.3 percentage points.

The IMF further reported similar economic challenges in other African countries. In South Africa, growth projections were adjusted downward by 0.5 percentage point for 2025 and 0.3 percentage point for 2026.

These revisions reflect weakening economic momentum following a lacklustre 2024, growing uncertainty, a rise in protectionist economic policies, and the impact of a broader global slowdown.

In a more severe adjustment, the IMF slashed South Sudan’s 2025 economic growth forecast by a staggering 31.5 percentage points.

The sharp decline is linked to delays in the resumption of oil production after a major pipeline sustained damage, significantly impacting the country’s revenue and export capacity.

The IMF’s outlook underscores the fragility of economies heavily reliant on natural resources and the ongoing risks posed by global market volatility.

Crime syndicates have made billions scamming victims in Asia and are now expanding their operations to Africa, Europe, South America and further, according to a United Nations report on Monday.

The UN said Chinese and Southeast Asian gangs were targeting victims through investment, cryptocurrency, romance and other scams.

According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), cyberscams are now a sophisticated global industry, featuring sprawling compounds housing tens of thousands of mostly trafficked workers who are forced to con other people online.

“It spreads like a cancer,” said Benedikt Hofmann, UNODC Acting Regional Representative for Southeast Asia and the Pacific said. “Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear; they simply migrate.”

While the activity had largely been focused on the border areas in Myanmar, a country torn by civil war, and dubious “special economic zones” set up in Cambodia and Laos, UNODC reported networks are expanding their operations to South America, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and some Pacific islands.

“This reflects both a natural expansion as the industry grows and seeks new ways and places to do business, but also a hedging against future risks should disruption continue and intensify in Southeast Asia,” Hofmann added.

Countries in east and southeast Asia lost an estimated $37 billion  (€32.5 billion) to cyber fraud in 2023, while the United States reported more than $5.6 billion  (€4.9 billion) in losses the UNODC report said.

There were also raids in Cambodia, but they prompted the crime syndicates to move to “more remote locations” and border areas.

Cambodian government spokesman Pen Bona said the country is among the victims of the cyberfraud industry and is committed to fighting it.

According to Bona, the government has established an ad-hoc commission chaired by Prime Minister Hun Manet which seeks to boost law enforcement and legal tools while working with international partners and the UN.

UNODC urged the international community to act, saying it was at a “critical inflection point.”

According to the UN, staying aside would have “unprecedented consequences for Southeast Asia that reverberate globally.”