The federal government has revealed its engagement with the African Development Bank to setup a 500million US dollar innovation fund, which will provide support for startup ecosystem in the country.
The support will cut across infrastructure support, finance, skills development and technical assistance.
Vice President of Nigeria Professor Yemi Osibanjo represented by director-general National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi at the Startup and Developer event organised by Google recently said startup ecosystem is critical to the future of Nigeria and Africa.
He added that startup is one of the vital tools in finding solutions to Africa’s various challenges.
According to him, these challenges will determine if the continent’s future as the next frontier for economic opportunities will fully be realised.
“Globally, the startup ecosystem is the most viable platform for innovators and entrepreneurs to take their ideas from inception to impact. It brings relevant stakeholders together to collaborate and bring something new to the world or new to an industry. There will never be a more perfect time to strengthen the African startup ecosystem than now, on the verge of the 4th industrial revolution,” he said.
He noted that, “countries that captured maximum value from the 3rd industrial revolution have become more prosperous and built solutions that improved service delivery in all aspects of lives, from education, healthcare and food production to efficiency and speed in manufacturing.
Today, Africa is presented with another opportunity, the 4th industrial revolution, which is shaping and creating economic activities. It is proving to be the catalyst for future economic activities that will bridge the divide between rich and developing countries, and remove physical borders and barriers while maximizing the utilization of digital technologies as a source of inspiration across economic sectors,” he said.
According to the VP, “The African startup ecosystem opportunity is hinged on two key factors, which are anchored on the 4th industrial revolution and driven primarily by digital technologies.
The first factor is innovation capacity, and the second one is entrepreneurial capacity. Both capacities depend on four key indicators, human capital, infrastructure, funding and demand.
Human capital being the first indicator means that African startups must realize that they are only as strong as the value of the human resources they have.
