At Zikoko Citizen Townhall, builders urged to engage, not avoid, regulators

The intersection between innovation and regulation took centre stage at the Zikoko Citizen Townhall on Saturday, February 28, themed, “Who shapes the Nigerian life?” 

Held at the Four Points by Sheraton in Lagos, industry leaders dissected the psychological and financial toll of regulatory uncertainty, offering a pragmatic roadmap for founders navigating one of the world’s most volatile business environments.

Speaking on a panel titled “Innovation under pressure: How politics shapes what can be built in Nigeria,” Oswald Osaretin Guobadia, Managing Partner at DigitA, an advisory and policy development firm, challenged the notion that innovation must always outpace the law. He argued that the friction often stems from a fundamental misunderstanding of what new technology represents to those in power.

“The government doesn’t understand disruption,” he said. “What they see is displacement. Essentially, what they’re saying is that they see that something has changed. In the absence of understanding, actions will be taken in the form of bans and a number of other tools that the government has at its disposal.”

Amaka Okechukwu Opara, Founding Partner at Weav Capital, a venture capital fund that invests in gender-smart companies, pointed to specific interventions that laid the groundwork for the current tech boom. 

“Other countries came to Lagos to understand how to do better in terms of right of way, and the building of fibre optics in Lagos. That was one of the big things that spread in the hubs in Yaba,” Opara said.

However, she also pointed out the unfavourable realities of the present day, where macroeconomic instability threatens to undo such progress. 

“[Exchange rates] have real implications on businesses.  Businesses are struggling and are building despite what I can say is one of the toughest environments for doing business in the world,” she said. 

The personal cost of this volatility was echoed by Douglas Kendyson, founder and CEO of Selar, an e-commerce startup that helps creators sell products, who offered a nuanced view. 

“Regulation is not there to cloud businesses,” he said. “The honest idea is that they’re there to protect the citizens.” However, he recalled the 2021 cryptocurrency ban as a moment where that protection felt more like a threat.

Addressing how to break this cycle of “displacement,” Guobadia emphasised that the missing component is active citizen and founder participation in the halls of power. He suggested that the gap between the private sector and the state is often a matter of communication. 

“It’s important that those of us who are creating amazing ideas find a way to engage the government and the policymakers on what you’re trying to achieve,” he said. 

Opara reinforced the need for proactive engagement of policymakers, framing it as a core business function rather than an afterthought. In her view, ignoring the regulator is a form of negligence. 

“If you’re a fit tech company and you’re not already going to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regularly, then you’re doing something wrong. You have to be proactive and engaged,” she said.