How and Why Lagos is Breeding Ground for Techpreneurs

Technology entrepreneurs’ (techpreneurs) and most technology startups have remained concentrated in Lagos due to the dearth of basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of their enterprises outside the megacity, investigations have shown.

Also, the city and the entrepreneurial spirit it represents have become an enduring part of Lagos lore.

For instance, on a weekly basis, technologies startups with innovative products and services are launched, but are constrained to remain in the city no thanks to unavailability of bandwidth, frequent electric power cuts, bad roads, unsavory tax systems, are among few factors in most parts of the country.

Mr. Ejomofo Obi, managing director, Lamudi Nigeria, told Nigeria CommmunicationsWeek that most techpreneurs would wish to expand their tentacles beyond Lagos but issues around infrastructural development have to be addressed.

According to him, techpreneurs are not mainly concerned with Government funding, “rather we prefer a situation where the infrastructure is in place to help drive growth.

“Most startups prefer to remain in Lagos, because this is where majority of the network operators are. This is where you have relatively good road network to deliver items, if you are into e-commerce. Now, as a technology company you need to track your business, which calls for bandwidth. Aside Lagos, Abuja, Port Harcourt and now Ibadan, where you will get 4G LTE service experience, most states are still on 2G, but operators would claim 3G. Infrastructure is key in nurturing startup businesses” he added.

On her part, Amy Muoneke, managing director of Carmudi Nigeria said that startup business beyond Lagos demands venture capitalists or partnership to thrive; and investors are willing to dole out founds in a market where return on investments is guaranteed.  

She admitted that the cost of running business outside Lagos might be relatively cheaper, but as most banks headquarters are in Lagos and other logistics challenges, most startups fates seemed tied to the megacity.

But, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Sokoto State Governor, has stated his administration’s resolve to remove bottlenecks that have limited the State’s access to technological evolution evident in States like Lagos, Rivers and the FCT.

Tambuwal said, “IT has revolutionarised every aspect of our lives with mush evidences in our immediate environments. Communications has become easier via SMS, voice calls, internet calls, etc., due to the collective efforts of the players.

“In Sokoto State, we are trying to get the framework right. Before now, there was no plan on ground to enable our dear State leverage the opportunities. We are ready to partner with players to move to Sokoto State to help our young people to use IT and deepen our IGR (internally generated revenue). We will give you the best support than any government in Nigeria”