startup

Apart from its status as a major global oil exporter, most of Nigeria’s value proposition to foreign investors is about domestic and regional growth. For now, most of its short-term economic drive will come from tooling up the country’s outdated or even non-existent infrastructure such as its faulty power grid, as well as from projects to address the urgent need for roads and bridges that will enable a higher level of functionality.

Knack International Limited launched a trio of smart devices and a laptop over the weekend. The young startup from Nigeria is attempting to provide local tablets, smartphones, laptops as well as support services. The company states that it has a specific target that will focus on personal individuals, students, and businesses as the key market segment.

When university student Ayodeji Adewunmi faced daunting hurdles in starting his own business in Nigeria, he turned to an unlikely source of inspiration: the country's huge youth unemployment problem. "Our mission was to have the largest active job list in the country," he told AFP.

In bid to foster Nigeria’s growing entrepreneurial landscape, a new innovation hub has launched. Its aim, it says, is to “help Nigerian entrepreneurs create successful businesses”. The new hub, called Information Technology Developers Entrepreneurship Accelerator (iDEA) launched in 2013 and is a not-for-profit organisation aiming to accelerate the development of the technology industry in Nigeria.

As we near the tail end of the third quarter of 2013, we see increasing levels of competition amongst mobile service providers for the attention and business of consumers. We also continue to witness the relevance and impact of technology in markets throughout the continent – and the influence connectivity has on important events.