NITDA warns against fraudulent ‘National Startup Investment Fund Programme’

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has warned Nigerians to be wary of a fraudulent website claiming to be National Startup Investment Fund Programme and calling for applications.

The site claims that the purported program was being supervised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, trade, and investment in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Bank of Industry (BoI).

To deceive many Nigerians, the site also put up the Nigeria Startup Act, which was recently signed by President Buhari, to paint the picture that the ‘programme’ is the startup fund that the Act mandated to be set up by the government.

Not from the government: While distancing the federal government from the website and its acclaimed programme, NITDA warned Nigerians not to divulge personal information on the website. The agency said:

• “The attention of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has been drawn to an Investment Fund Programme named “National Startup Investment Fund Programme“, accessible via (https://nationalstartupinvestmentfund.com) being purported to be from the federal government and requesting for individuals and startups in Nigeria to apply.
• “NITDA is hereby notifying the general public that the federal government has nothing to do with this programme as being purported by the site. Additionally. NITDA advises the general public to avoid and desist from divulging personal information on this website and urges unsuspecting Nigerians to only visit official websites of government agencies to confirm the authenticity of any grant schemes or investment fund programmes.”

While announcing the signing of the Nigeria Startup Act by President Buhari in October, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami disclosed that the president also approved the setup of an N10 billion Investment Fund for young innovators. However, the fund that the fraudulent site is claiming to represent has not been set up, according to NITDA.