Saying Yes To Yabacon Valley

Yabacon Valley is a centre for ICT start-ups and SMEs to thrive, leading the sector toward great success and the country toward its future.

Nigeria has all the ingredients for the future of the ICT sector to grow: a young, tech-savvy workforce, a constantly improving telecom sector and a population that is ready to make its mark in the sector. These elements all culminate in Lagos, the country’s centre for tech and startups. Nicknamed “Yabacon Valley” after Yaba, the Lagos neighbourhood that many consider to be an unexpected source of startup success.

Yaba’s appeal lies in its wealth of possibility. With mostly one-story buildings that echo the late colonial architecture of the past, the potential to transform Yaba into a hub of technology is ready and waiting, even catching the attention of Facebook founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, who visited Yabacon Valley in August of 2016. Zuckerberg’s visit was a monumental acknowledgement in the world of ICT that Nigeria is a source for endless potential.

Although many view Yaba and the surrounding areas as a glass that is half full, others worry that it does not have the infrastructure to adequately help startups find their footing. Bosun Tijani, CEO and co-founder of Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB), is working toward a solution. CcHUB is a startup incubator that wants to solve the infrastructure problem in Yaba. All that is needed is a spark to ignite a wildfire of startup businesses and success in Lagos. CcHUB has plans to build a US$8 million Innovation Centre in Yaba by 2020. Standing tall over Yaba, the 10-story building will serve as CcHUB’s new location and hopes to promote more investment in the ICT hub.

But that is not the only purpose of the Innovation Centre. CcHUB also provides offices for other flourishing startups, creating a space where ideas and tech can come together to create new jobs and opportunities for Nigerians. What is more, CcHUB offers training programmes for its startups throughout every stage of development to help them succeed. So whether a small business is in the pre-incubation stage where prototypes are developed, the incubation stage where revenue is built, or the acceleration stage where products and business models are refined to sustain growth, the people are motivated. Bosun Tijani says, “There is a can-do attitude, which means

you can literally get anything going around here. It is a fantastic place for ideas to germinate. Creative people tend to flourish in places where they are exposed to opportunities as opposed to challenges.”

Some startups have already found significant success. In the world of e-commerce, one success story is Jumia. Known as the “African Amazon”, Jumia ships products from virtually every department, ranging from fashion to electronics to home decor. Jumia has partnered with over 50,000 African retailers and has a presence in fourteen African countries. In April of 2019, Jumia was the first startup in all of Africa to go public on the New York Stock Exchange, a monumental achievement and huge step forward for Nigerian startups.

Other startups such as iRokoTV specialise in entertainment. Dubbed the “Netflix of Nigeria”, iRoko adds value to Nigeria’s economy through its web-based television platform that offers free and paid access to Nigerian films on-demand.

Startups also specialise in helping other sectors and improving the communities of Nigeria. Farmcrowdy is Nigeria’s first digital agriculture platform that blends technology with the agro-industry. Their goal is to provide improved seeds to farmers, training programmes on farming techniques, inputs and creating a better market for farmers to sell their produce.

What this means is that startups and small businesses are the future to improve Nigeria. They stimulate the economy, bring awareness to its rich culture and provide job opportunities in all sectors. Don’t be fooled by the clever wordplay of Yabacon Valley as a copy of Silicon Valley. Although Yabacon Valley is striving to be ground zero of the innovation and tech industry in Africa, it is reaching its goals through originality, not imitation, as its startups are founded with the needs of its people in mind. Nigeria has its own story, its own unique narrative, and its character will allow it to make its mark in the world of ICT.

“Creative people tend to flourish in places where they are exposed to opportunities as opposed to challenges.” Bosun Tijani, CEO and co-founder of CcHUB