E-Business
…That Nigerian Start-ups May Survive
Start-ups in Nigeria have always been viewed as veritable vehicles for kick-starting and sustaining technological advancement in the country.
How has these start-ups fared in Nigeria in terms of being empowered to achieve this? I recently had a robust discussion with Mohammed Mega, the Founder of start-ups in Nigeria.
Mohammed is a foremost tech start-up motivator in Nigeria.
On why he it is so difficult to be a start-up in Nigeria, Mega is of the opinion that the government is not encouraging start-ups enough in Nigeria because so many of them struggle in the system.
This is due, for instance, to lack of government patronage of these start-ups for local content that can assist them to grow. He opined that many start-ups, such as Vougepay, decided to look for support outside the country when support is not coming from within, hence, this high level of struggle to survive by start-ups in Nigeria. Jega is, however, optimistic that, if the government creates the enabling environment, start-ups in Nigeria will thrive.
Responding to a question on what constitutes enabling environment for start-ups to survive, Mega stated that these includes encouraging solutions, ideas and innovations that are coming up.
In our Clime, however, he noted that our young start-ups bring forth solutions, ideas and innovations but they are not encouraged as they are always looking for capital to drive their start-ups.
Government, he said, needs to go out there and identify these talents that are scattered all over the country and support them, domesticate their solutions, link them with the ecosystem that can assist them and turn their start-ups to global solutions. For Mega, looking inwards is the at for the government to go in order to achieve local content input.
On where he is going with ‘Start-up Arewa’, Jega stated that his goal is to identify talents, build capacity and mentor them from the ideas stage through to start-up and incubation stages as well as assist them to become blue chips.
He stated that Start-Up Arewa is in partnership with sine Hubs in Abuja and across the Northern part of Nigeria to serve as breeding grounds for these identified start-ups. The outfit, Jega further said, is interested in seeing that these start-ups acquire the technological depths to become developers, programmers as well as come up with ideas.
This is because, if properly managed, these young start-ups can come up with solutions to solve our day to day problems.
To stem the challenges of not making profit by most start-ups, Jega said Start-Up Arewa is in collaboration with stakeholders that are already successful within the ecosystem that can support these start-ups and show them the way to go.
He stated further that hardcore developers were also brought in from Lagos to teach these start-ups on the right tools to use so they can be sustainable.
Regarding the current high rate of unemployment in the country today, Jega is of the view that technology can play a prominent role in stemming and reversing the scourge because, every young person is passionate about technology and people cannot do without technology today.
Government, he said, should use this knowledge to help the youths by teaching them how to develop apps, write programs, etc., so that they can deliver the ideas and solutions to solve our everyday problems.
On what support pillars he would like to see for the tech ecosystem to be sustainable and to help it grow beyond our wildest imagination, Jega posits that it still boils down to the government taking the initiative by looking inwards to help develop the tech ecosystem to grow, especially at the grassroots level.
The government, he also said, should look out for local stakeholders and plug in to their platforms and networks to solve our everyday problems. This way, he said, the government will be patronizing local content. On a final note, he is of the opinion that government should assist start-ups in raising capital through institutions such as the NIPC and the Bank of Industry, so that they can have funding for developing prototypes that can solve problems.
CFA is the Founder, www.CFAtech.ng & Co-producer/Presenter,Tech Trends on Channels Television
Gartner predicts that by 2028, 75 percent of enterprise software engineers will use Artificial Intelligence (AI) code assistants, up from less than 10 percent, currently.
According to a Gartner poll of 598 global respondents conducted in the third quarter of 2023, 63 percent of organisations are now testing, deploying, or have previously implemented AI code assistants.
AI code assistants provide for more capabilities than only code development and completion, notes the research firm.
According to Gartner, the use of AI code assistants can lead to higher work satisfaction and retention, resulting in lower turnover costs.
Philip Walsh, senior principal analyst at Gartner, comments: “Software engineering leaders must determine ROI and build a business case as they scale their rollouts of AI code assistants.
“However, traditional ROI frameworks steer engineering leaders toward metrics centred on cost reduction. This narrow perspective fails to capture the full value of AI code assistants.”
Gartner notes that software engineering leaders must “reframe the ROI conversation from cost reduction to value generations”.
Walsh adds: “Calculating time savings on code generation is a good place to begin building a more robust value story. To convey the full enterprise value story for AI code assistants, software engineering leaders should connect value enablers to impacts, and then analyse the overall return to the organisation.”
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the planned national ID card will be issued to applicants by their banks.
NIMC said it is working with the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS) to deliver the cards to applicants.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards,” the agency said at the weekend update on its official X handle.
KEY FACTS ABOUT THE PROPOSED NEW GENERAL MULTIPURPOSE NATIONAL IDENTITY CARD
- The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multipurpose card (GMPC) , eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
- The single GMPC has multiple use cases:…
— NIMC (@nimc_ng) April 12, 2024
It said applicants need to request their cards with their NIN “through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks”.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS,” NIMC said.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated center or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” the update read.
National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has said that the new national Identity card, powered by AfriGo Card, is a single card with multiple services.
NIMC made the clarification against the confusion and criticisms that have trailed the AfriGo Card , touted as a National Domestic Card Scheme.
NIMC is launching the AfriGo Card, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS), and has had appointed SecureID, a Lagos headquartered company to manufacture the Card Scheme
Making clarification on the card, Kayode Adegoke, head of Corporate Communications of the NIMC, said the General multipurpose card (GMPC) will eliminate the need for multiple cards.
“The new National ID Card is a single, convenient, and General multi-purpose card (GMPC), eliminating the need for multiple cards—not three.
“The single GMPC has multiple use cases: Payments/Financial, Government intervention/services, travel, etc.
“The National Identity Management Commission is working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System to deliver the payment and financial use cases.
“The card will be powered by the AFRIGO card scheme, an indigenous scheme powered by NIBSS. Applicants for the card will have to request with their NIN through the self-service online portal, NIMC offices, or their respective banks.
“The card will be issued through the applicants’ respective banks, in line with existing protocols with the issuance of the Debit/Credit cards.
“The card can be picked up by holders at the designated centre or delivered to the applicants at the requested location at an extra cost to be borne by the applicants,” he said.
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