Tech Startups and why Lagos is where you should be
I realise this blog post is likely to cause a stir but let me lay down the facts.
For tech startups to thrive, you need a startup community. From this community, you gain access to talent, funding and strategic partnerships that can come in crucial to the success of your startup.
I’ve shuttled quite a lot between a number of states in the north and in Lagos (I can’t say so for the east but then that’s why we have the Internet) and to be honest the technology startups and business are concentrated in Lagos. The tech activity in other states of the federation appear to be but a blip in the Nigerian tech radar.
Apart from gaining access to a startup community (which is budding for that matter), a tech startup needs access to the Internet and the choices available in Lagos are the highest compared to other states.
The last reason I’ve identified, is the fact that there’s a ready market in Lagos. Lagos is the most technophilic state of the federation; with businesses focussing on efficiency and how to be more productive, they embrace technology that demonstrates value, as sometimes, it’s what gives them the competitive advantage.
I do not deny the areas where Lagos is more deficient in relation to other states but when you consider what’s critical to startup success, you realise Lagos gives you more of an advantage.
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Great insight IG! We will look at expanding the network from Lagos to the north next year.
I also agree that most of the visible action in the Nigerian tech space is in Lagos. This seems quite natural since Lagos is the business capital of the country. There is however a lot of activities in other parts of the country. I also know very little about the east in terms of tech activities but there is some action in places like Kaduna, Kano and Maiduguri in the North. All these however doesn't compare to Lagos. That being said, I believe the Lagos techies are slow in harnessing the advantages found in their immediate environment. The more good internet access becomes available across the country, the more competition comes from outside Lagos because every tech enterpreneurs eyes are on Lagos.
A message for the Lagos based techies is act fast and set the pace before the competition starts.
That was a very brilliant comment. How vibrant are those states? Do you have any information, links?
Personally I have worked with a few guys in Kaduna on a couple of software projects. But let me make clear that I am more of a stand alone software developer than a web developer. My last trip to Kaduna was to deploy a software my team developed for an organization situated there. In the course of our work, I came across a few startups that are also handling other projects for the same organization. The tech atmosphere is kind of optimistic/exciting/startup-ish.
Talking about Kano, I attended the first and second Nigerian Free And Open Source Software conference organized by a Kaduna based startup called Hutsoft and the Bayero University Kano. I was able to network a little with some of the techies in Kano which I previously thought do not exist.
I have made a blog post about the conference at http://a-ig.blogspot.com/2010/05/foss-nigeria-2010.html
Talking about Maiduguri, most of the activities is in the University Of Maiduguri's campus. My team run a startup software company for some time now in Maiduguri. The conception and birth of that business all took place in the University when we were students there.
The problem with the techies in the North is that they seem to be a little less vocal and are scattered in cities very far apart. Hopefully more flattening of the world through broadband internet, there will be more networking beteen techies not only in the North but across the federation.
The following may be of interest to you;
http://www.thesareeshop.net
An online store for garments. The idea was originally hatched by a friend in Maiduguri but he plans to eventually move the business to Kano.
Another planned venture by the same person is http://sayedasayarwa.com although this one is yet to take off.
ok. Good one! I'll check it out.
I also agree that most of the visible action in the Nigerian tech space is in Lagos. This seems quite natural since Lagos is the business capital of the country. There is however a lot of activities in other parts of the country. I also know very little about the east in terms of tech activities but there is some action in places like Kaduna, Kano and Maiduguri in the North. All these however doesn't compare to Lagos. That being said, I believe the Lagos techies are slow in harnessing the advantages found in their immediate environment. The more good internet access becomes available across the country, the more competition comes from outside Lagos because every tech enterpreneurs eyes are on Lagos.
A message for the Lagos based techies is act fast and set the pace before the competition starts.
That was a very brilliant comment. How vibrant are those states? Do you have any information, links?
Personally I have worked with a few guys in Kaduna on a couple of software projects. But let me make clear that I am more of a stand alone software developer than a web developer. My last trip to Kaduna was to deploy a software my team developed for an organization situated there. In the course of our work, I came across a few startups that are also handling other projects for the same organization. The tech atmosphere is kind of optimistic/exciting/startup-ish.
Talking about Kano, I attended the first and second Nigerian Free And Open Source Software conference organized by a Kaduna based startup called Hutsoft and the Bayero University Kano. I was able to network a little with some of the techies in Kano which I previously thought do not exist.
I have made a blog post about the conference at http://a-ig.blogspot.com/2010/05/foss-nigeria-2010.html
Talking about Maiduguri, most of the activities is in the University Of Maiduguri's campus. My team run a startup software company for some time now in Maiduguri. The conception and birth of that business all took place in the University when we were students there.
The problem with the techies in the North is that they seem to be a little less vocal and are scattered in cities very far apart. Hopefully more flattening of the world through broadband internet, there will be more networking beteen techies not only in the North but across the federation.
Great insight IG! We will look at expanding the network from though the north next year.
The following may be of interest to you;
http://www.thesareeshop.net
An online store for garments. The idea was originally hatched by a friend in Maiduguri but he plans to eventually move the business to Kano.
Another planned venture by the same person is http://sayedasayarwa.com although this one is yet to take off.
ok. Good one! I'll check it out.