By Laolu Akande, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity,
Office of the Vice President.
*As VP Osinbajo leads roadshow to showcase growth of Nigeria’s technology & entertainment sectors
Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, will be leading a public-private sector collaborative investment roadshow to the United States, where he will be speaking to global industry leaders in information technology and entertainment at the Silicon Valley in San Francisco and Hollywood in Los Angeles, California, from Monday, July 9 to Wednesday, July 11, 2018.
It would be recalled that in recognition of the central role of innovation and technology in the Federal Government’s Economic Recovery & Growth Plan, the Vice President has spoken extensively about the commitment of Government to supporting the growth of technology and creative industries in the country through its policies and reforms.
Find below highlights of the growth of technology, creative industry in Nigeria
*Lagos is one of Africa’s largest markets, with GDP of over $136 billion and significant young population
*Lagos startups are also building to serve the entire African market, with high quality and relatively lower cost talent
*Startups like Andela, NESA, and Data Science Nigeria are training developers and Data Scientists
*Strong community and support system through incubators, accelerators & dev communities
*Nigeria has recorded significant progress made in recent years with local and international VC funds emerging with over $100 million invested in 2017.
*Over $100 million raised from VC investors by Nigerian startups.
*Over $ 40 million raised each by Flutterwave and Andela, and SureRemit recently raised $7 million in an ICO.
*Government led initiatives (LSETF, Startup Mambilla etc) also providing early stage capital
*Nigeria’s young population have strong entrepreneurial and risk taking culture, evident in the growing number of innovative companies leveraging technology to solve locally relevant problems
*Several global technology leaders have launched initiatives aimed at Nigeria, including:
*Google Launchpad for Nigeria, the first ever Launchpad outside San Francisco
*Facebook recently launched physical hub space in Lagos
*GE operates a GE Lagos garage for startups
*Growth of technology hubs in Lagos has attracted gloabl attention with recent visits by CEOs of Google, Facebook, Microsoft
*Significant growth in number of Nigerian startups accepted into global accelerators- Y-Combinator, 500 Startups
*FinTech’s with significant Nigerian operations also raising major funding e.g. Cellulant raised $47.5 million
NEW FRONTIERS: Significant strides made by Nigeria’s technology startups:
*Online and mobile money payment processors and gateways facilitating web payment through different payment methods (card, bank accounts etc.), e.g. Flutterwave processed over $1.2 billion in transactions in 1 year;
*Paga has acquired 8 million customers since inception
*Several startups leveraging alternative data sources and data science to lend to the underbanked, e.g. Paylater issuing over 1,000 loans daily with 5-minute disbursements
*Players leveraging web payment channels to create alternative automated savings products, e.g. Piggybank grew deposits over 3000% in 2017
NIGERIA’S E-COMMERCE CHAMPIONS
*Jumia has emerged as Africa’s first unicorn acquiring over 1 million customers
*Innovative players creating new channels in entertainment and media consumption such as Adtech players like Twinpine which has created a mobile ad network for Africa leveraging telco data
*IrokoTV is the largest distributor of Nollywood content globally
*Players digitizing an offline health industry and increasing access to healthcare for the mass market e.g. Lifebank, which recently raised $1m to help hospitals better access blood & other health supplies
*Companies leveraging technology to serve small holder farmers and increase funding for agriculture, e.g. FarmCrowdy has raised over $1 million to build a crowd-funding platform for agriculture and bring Nigeria’s farmers online
*Startups solving the problem of easing access to physical goods in Nigeria leveraging tech solutions, e.g. Kobo360 has built the ‘Uber for trucks’- matching truck drivers to companies who need their services, and recently raised $1.2M from Western Technology Investment
*Andela is creating the next generation of tech developers across Africa and providing opportunities for global firms to leverage African talent. Has raised over $80 million from several investors including Chan Zuckerberg initiative
*Several innovative players building solutions across off grid solar solutions, recycling and environmental protection, e.g. Rensource is building the largest off-grid solar network in Nigeria