Tech startups critical to economy — Osibanjo

Vice President Yemi Osibanjo has said the startup ecosystem is one of the vital tools in finding solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges.

Osinbajo said tech startups will determine if Nigeria’s future as the next frontier for economic opportunities will be fully realised.

The VP, represented by Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Mallam Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said this at the virtual Startup and Developer event organised by Google.

He stated that the topic - The African Start-up Ecosystem Opportunity - is exciting because the startup ecosystem is extremely critical to the future of Nigeria and Africa at large.

Osibanjo noted that the 3rd industrial revolution was pivotal to unprecedented global economic growth in the 21st century, as it disrupted traditional service delivery channels and accelerated the automation of factories and manufacturing processes.

He said: “The 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.”

According to him, 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”, he said.

The VP stated that according to the Startup Genome report, Lagos is the most valuable startup ecosystem on the continent, having 400 to 700 active startups valued at over $2bn with fintech being the most prominent in the Lagos technology startups ecosystem.