Startups in Nigeria has been urged to be investor ready, by acquiring a high level of financial and business development knowledge, as well build capacity to attract investors.
Faiz Mohammed, executive director, Blue Sapphire hub, stated this at the pre launch of the Silicon Valley startup development founders program in Abuja, organised by United States Market Access Center (US-MAC) in collaboration with Imo Digital City Limited.
According to Mohammed, Nigeria before the COVID 19 pandemic had the largest funding opportunity from across the African continent, adding that there has been pull back of these support in recent time.
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The pull back, he said is due to realignment of investors priorities, in terms of what particular sectors, or businesses that appear more feasible for funding.
“Investors are really looking at what particular businesses, what particular startups, what particular entrepreneurship networks are meeting the goals that they set out to do. It is those networks and those startups and those entrepreneurs that they’re interested in funding. The funding isn’t as robust as it used to be.
“It isn’t as easily attainable as it used to be. That’s simply because investors are now, after COVID, readjusting their priorities. This is both an opportunity and an issue for the tech ecosystem. It is an issue because what that means is across Nigeria, funding has come down significantly from the first and most funded tech ecosystem in Africa. We’re now, I think, the third.
“Some of that also has to do with microeconomic factors, the way the environment has followed, but mostly it simply has to do with several venture capitals and several partners thinking about what sectors in Nigeria are actually feasible, rather than, oh, let’s fund as much as we can and see what sticks.
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“What that means is everyone has to be investor ready now. What that means is the level of investor readiness, the level of financial knowledge, the level of business development knowledge that you have needs to be top-notch.”
Also speaking at the event, Amukoyo Onome, technical adviser to special advisor to the President on ICT Development & digital innovation said that even though the Nigerian population is characterised by young, creative individuals, having access to continental and global markets, potential alone will not create category defining companies needed.
Noting that the next decade of Nigeria’s growth will be innovation-led, Mohammed said that the federal government is collaborating with relevant MDAs the likes of CAC to streamline founder-facing processes, from company registration and IP protection to sandboxing innovative products in fintech, healthtech, edtech, agtech, and
energy.
“A founder should spend more time building, and less time queuing.
We are advancing secure digital rails identity, payments, data exchange, and
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“With federal and state partners, we are strengthening bridges between the
youths, government to government, government to private, and research centers so students and researchers can commercialize ideas, and startups can tap into real technical depth,” Mohammed said.
Matt Ifese, U.S-MAC managing director for Africa aaid that the program is aimed to create a positive impact on the innovation ecosystem of Nigeria.
He explained that the program also stand as a platform to attract investments into the country. “The whole essence of taking the best of the Silicon Valley is to interface them with world’s best, biggest venture capitalists who are not willing to come to Africa without having a clear vision of what is waiting for them here in Nigeria.
“But with their brothers here now, with the American citizens here on ground, the confidence is going to shoot up. And by the time you interface them with these venture capitalists, not just the venture capitalists of local currencies, but these are the world’s biggest venture capitalists. And they will invest on those startups who are going to be selectedat the end.
“And that is the way you start improving on foreign direct investments. Investment will start flowing in and as those companies start going global, Nigeria’s visibility jn the digital innovation system of the globe will come up.”
