Nigerian companies pulled in close to $1 billion in VC funding in 2022, but tech startups still struggle with a lack of basic infrastructure, and with an ongoing brain drain of educated professionals out of the country. Regulation is unpredictable, and the government has at times adopted an oppositional stance to the sector, at one point effectively banning cryptocurrencies and blocking Twitter after protests in 2021.

“I remember bringing a piece of paper and writing down what we felt were the three fundamental pillars that needed to be solved to create the ideal environment for tech in Africa,” says Edu of his and Aboyeji’s first discussion about Itana. They decided on governance, infrastructure, and community. “It makes sense to create this well-designed policy environment that would make investors feel more comfortable investing in Africa, and [allow] tech companies in Africa to be able to scale globally,” Edu says.

In practice, that begins with establishing a digital free zone, where companies signing up for digital residency would be able to benefit from bespoke rules around tax, company registration, immigration, the legal system, and offshore banking. Following the digital zone will be a physical city based in an urban development project in the Lekki Free Zone called Alaro City, a private-public partnership between the Lagos State Government and Rendeavour, an Africa-focused development company ​​whose shareholders are from the United States, New Zealand, Norway, and the United Kingdom.

Itana’s website displays photographs of the marshy plot where construction is due to start, juxtaposed with artistic renderings of what the tech hub should one day look like: a verdant business park which features snaking grass-covered walkways and sunlit decks housing breakout groups. The first stage of construction aims to house 3,000 to 5,000 people, and will cost up to $500 million, Edu says. Itana has recently closed a $2 million pre-seed funding round to build the digital free zone, from VCs including Local Globe, Amplo, Pronomos, and Aboyeji’s fund Future Africa.

The founders say they have already secured 7 hectares in Alaro City for the physical district (at a value of $12.5 million), and are also close to finalizing a separate special purpose vehicle for further financing and development. Edu adds the project has had an expression of interest from the Africa Finance Corporation, a development finance organization, for investment of $50 million for the first phase.

At present, Itana has around 2,000 digital members and 200 digital residents. While members can take part in the community’s activities, digital residents pay a $100 annual subscription fee to be given preferential consideration on securing a space in the city, the ability to incorporate their businesses in the digital free zone, and access to the physical districts. Edu says he envisions Itana in Nigeria as just the first of a string of hubs across the continent forming “a decentralized Silicon Valley, with districts all across Africa.”

Itana is collaborating with the Charter Cities Institute, a group set up to evangelize the charter city concept originally conceived by the famous economist Paul Romer. Romer’s idea was to set up self-governing jurisdictions in struggling countries that would be controlled by more developed countries, importing ready-made laws and institutional oversight. The success of the autonomous zone would theoretically present a positive example to the rest of the country and create an economic halo effect. One of Itana’s backers, Pronomos Capital, is a venture firm also dedicated to setting up charter cities. It’s headed up by Patri Friedman, Milton Friedman’s grandson, the libertarian founder of the Seasteading Institute.