1. Nigeria
startup ecosystem
Following Mobile West Africa conference in Lagos
May 2014

2. Innovation has no place in a global world, it’s everywhere
Startup ecosystems can learn from one another
Local context matters and should be a source for innovators
This is why…
We’re on a world tour of startup ecosystems!
We believe…

3. History & context of startups
in Nigeria
“The India of Africa”

4. An insulated country until very recently
• Until 1994 and the “new nation” in South Africa, all the continent
was pretty much totally insulated
• Africa growth remained stagnant until 2000, with small figures for
intra-Africa trade (only $11m traded between NG and SA in 1997)
• Nigeria is no exception: no MNCs had a HQ there, except churches!

5. Nollywood and South African telcos started it all
• 1970-1980s: rise of Nollywood as the African scene for movie
production. A Nollywood movie takes 10 days and $50k, 50 are
produced every week, 1m people employed
• 1994: South African companies “take over” Nigerian economy, with
telcos/TV (MTN, DSTV), supermarkets, construction works

6. Social innovation is the key, more than technology
• No patents, broken education system, brain drain: Nigeria won’t
generate breakthrough technologies
• Lots of issues (law, environment, violence) need local answers with a
focus on usage and social innovation: breakthrough usages
• Wecyclers = environment + gamification + $$$

7. Co-creation Hub as the step #1 of the tech scene
• 2011: launch of “CC Hub”, to “solve social issues with a business
purpose”
• Settled in Yaba area, a student district in the center of Lagos
• Challenges: don’t ask for money too soon!

8. Mobile West Africa to gather the tech community
• 2011: launch of Mobile West Africa, now the most proeminent
tech conference in West Africa, 4th edition in 2014
• A conference + a Focus Day + A 1-day workshop

9. Heading for half a billion Nigerian in 2050
• Nigeria is now 170m people, will be 440m people by 2050
• How to find 10m new jobs every YEAR
• A demographic dividend or a time-bomb?

10. Solving the kleptocracy issue
• Africa’s biggest oil producer… but only about $30bn tax & royalties from oil
each year (= size of higher education budget per year in France)
• Between 2004 and 2012, poverty rate went 52% to 61% of the population:
140m Nigerians live with less than $2/day

11. Electricity and internet infrastructure not there yet
• Power cuts abound, and electricity is available on average 5h per
day. Back-up gas generators can’t cope and pollute a lot
• Broadband penetration is 6-8%, with expensive data plans.
Successful ventures can’t bet on a data-consuming population

12. A nascent startup ecosystem for Nigeria
• Coworking spaces, investors and events pop-up in Lagos and a
few other city (Abuja)
• Sub-Saharan Africa tops growth of tourism/travel

13. Startups from Nigeria
• Two different segments for startups: tapping the happy few (Rocket
Internet: Jumia, Jovago, Kaymu…), local tech startups (Hotels.ng,
Konga…), solving social issues (Traffic Butter, Wecyclers, Budgit)
• No middle-class yet or expected for a bigger and more stable market
Cab finding app Low-cost smartphones Mobile learning Media for the youth
Find a medic Community-based traffic E-commerce Online Booking

14. Nigeria startup
scene today
Pros & Cons, Top Connectors & local best practices

15. Pros and cons of Nigeria
startup ecosystem
• A huge market getting even bigger of 10m
new people every single year. Half a billion in
2050. A billion in 2100
• A cultural epicenter for African youth
through Nollywood movies and online
publications
• A young and English-speaking population (at
least in urban areas, e.g 1/4th population)
which represent a pool of possible talent and
market
• Safety issues remain a constant issue over the
years, overpopulation can’t make them easier
• Broken governance, education, tax system,
widespread corruption
• A country cut in two parts: Lagos/Port-
Harcourt (English-speaking, with some
wealth) and 140m people with <$2/day
• Infrastructure is a variable, with power cuts
and small broadband penetration
• An oil-rich country not diversified at all: not so
many opportunities for startups to disrupt
anything
PROS CONS

16. Top connectors in Nigeria
Matthew Dawes (LinkedIn), the UK born organizer of
Mobile West Africa, Nigeria’s main tech conference
on mobile technologies, also organizer of tech events
in Africa, part of UKTI Sub-Saharan task force
Femu Longe (LinkedIn), cofounder of CC Hub, Lagos’
first tech hub. A diasporan coming back from the UK,
strong believer in social business opportunities in
Nigeria, tech activist
Yomi Adegboye (LinkedIn) aka Mr. Mobility, early
founder of a webhosting company in Nigeria, since
then top blogger and speaker on mobile in Nigeria
Tomi Dee (Twitter), futurist techpreneur based in
London and Nigeria, part of the angel investor
community in Lagos

17. Top connectors in Nigeria
Tayo Ogundipe (LinkedIn), founder and CEO of Solo
Phones, a venture making affordable smartphones
for the Nigerian market
Yemi Adamolekun (Twitter), executive director at
Enough is Enough (EIE Nigeria), an activist group
mixing technology & politics
Neal Hansh (Twitter), CEO of MEST incubator in
nearby Ghana, living both in the corporate and
startup world, with connections in Silicon Valley and
UK as well
Olufunbi Falayi (Twitter), founder of Passion
Incubator, an early stage incubator, and a social
innovator in the field of education

18. Best practices of
Nigeria tech ecosystem
• Mobile West Africa organized as a participatory conference
• Tables have limited seating to foster interaction between participants
• All conferences and speeches include at least 20 minutes of Q&A + a MC
to invite participants to discuss questions together

19. Best practices of
Nigeria tech ecosystem
• CC Hub User Experience Lab: The ground floor of the 5-story main tech building is
dedicated to showcasing new phones
• Anyone can come and try everything to buy with better knowledge of the market
• Brands also use the User Experience Lab for feedback sessions with users
• It’s a clever and successful meeting point between end users, entrepreneurs and
the corporate world

20. Best practices of
Nigeria tech ecosystem
• Towards a cashless economy. Nigeria government tries to get everyone to pay online
with a series of sub-projects:
• The new Nigeria ID Card is also a Mastercard
• 10% penalty for merchants bringing back cash to the bank
• Banks must deploy over 50k+ payment terminals to make it digital

21. What’s next for Nigeria?
Solve the infrastructure issue: low broadband, power cuts can be
constraints which make entrepreneurs creative but it impedes
widespread use of technology
Increase help & support for social business: More than urban &
consumer web startups, Nigeria needs social entrepreneurs who
can solve issue in place of a broken government
Tap into Nigeria’s strengths: Demographic dividend + strong
cultural production and influence should lead to projects and
companies within the media field

22. Mobile West Africa 2014
Key takeaways from the conference

23. Key stats on mobile in Nigeria & Africa
• West Africa has 67% mobile penetration and 25% mobile internet penetration
• 115m subscribers in Nigeria, 750m in Africa overall
• About 8-10% smartphones in Africa, growing fast
• 6-8% broadband penetration in Nigeria

24. Mobile marketing 101:
Objectives & means
• Gamification? Go for an app
• Online/Offline interaction? Go for QR codes
• B2C interactions & push? Go for SMS
• Brand awareness? Go for mobile ads
• Full control on content & conversions? Go for a mobile website

25. Mobile marketing 101: Principles & KPIs
• Immediacy: always on with us
• Mobility: always in our hands
• Interactivity: through live data
APPS
Social currency
Functionality
Engagement
rates
ADS
Reach
CTR
CPA
SMS Marketing
Relationships
built
Database growth
Reply ratio
QR Codes
Visit duration
Conversion
Database growth

26. Mobile marketing case studies
from MWA speakers
Knorr South Africa (Prizes &
Airtime for polls)
Carling Black Label (prizes for
SMS engagement)
OMO South Africa (opt-in SMS
for purchase reminders)
MyNeta.info India:
transparency by SMS

27. 2go, Eskimi:
where Nigerians hang out online
• 2go: 10m monthly active users in Nigeria
• Eskimi: 8.8m monthly active users in Nigeria
• Lightweight all-in-one applications (chat, job search, music,
news)

28. Solo Phone,
a smartphone by Africans for Africans
• Commercial launch in Nov. 2013 with $80 and $150 models
• A network of wifi hotspot to avoid expensive data costs for users
• Music for free, video on demand as a source of revenue
• For $1, one movie, downloaded in 30 seconds

29. Rocket Internet in Nigeria: a big lead
within higher-income population
• Nigeria: 170m people, 2.4m mobile phone payments, +9.3% internet payments
• Jumia: Amazon-like, 200 vehicles for delivery, 600 employees, 70% market share of
e-shopping
• Kaymu: eBay-like, new features for fastest mobile upload of products
• Jovago: Bookings-like, tapping 12% growth in Sub-Saharan Africa tourism

30. The future of mobile by Tomi Ahonen
• Still a lot of opportunities in mobile: healthcare, education, F&B,
banking…
• Behavior on mobile and tablet are completely different
• Moore law for smartphone prices: they would cost $10 in 2019
• After mobile, augmented reality will be the next big disruptive mass
media

31. The power of voice-based apps in Africa
• VOTO Mobile (Ghana): polling and communication with rural
population, often illiterate, through voice calls & apps
• Sterio.me (pan-African): pre-recorded lessons from teachers and
homework by students through voice

32. Eager to learn about the
other innovation ecosystems?

33. Documenting innovation through key events
Hot posts, interviews, live-tweet, Google Hangouts
Identifying key connectors on & offline
Discovering alternative and emerging innovation ecosystems
Beyond the Silicon Valley, local innovation hotbeds
Tech, Social impact, Education, Life Sciences…
Increasing mobility of innovators and ecosystem enablers
Connecting doers and thinkers through monthly Hangouts
Offering innovation ecosystem enablers to learn and exchange from peers
About our project
A world tour of innovation ecosystems

34. Martin Pasquier
Entrepreneur in
Singapore (social
media agency), long-
time traveller
Mixes economics,
politics and travels to
analyze ecosystems,
reports on innovation
About our team
Analysis, community & network
Anne Lalou
CEO of Innovation
Factory & Web School
Factory in Paris
Transfer knowledge of
ecosystems to new
generation and to a
network of top French
companies
Nicolas Loubet
Serial entrepreneur
in Paris
with 3 companies,
growth hacker
Manages and
nurtures creative
communities
on & offline

35. A world tour of innovation: 2013-2014
SUPPORT US! Travel & time of exploration isn’t free 
 Custom reports on emerging markets & trends
 Workshops, talks on innovation trends
 Connection to key local players for VCs, brands, tech communities

36. • Meet The Entrepreneurs Behind Nigeria's Startup Revolution
(Fast CoExist)
• Nationwide Cash-less Policy: Is Nigeria Ready? (Ventures
Africa)
• E-commerce in Nigeria: how Rocket Internet’s Jumia, Kaymu
and Jovago are taking over Africa’s biggest market (Innovation
is Everywhere)
• An investor’s comparison between West & East Africa’s tech
startup ecosystems (VC4Africa)
• Mobile West Africa 2014: wrap-up of Nigeria’s largest tech
conference (Innovation is Everywhere)
• PEDAL TO THE METAL – SEVEN TECH STARTUP ACCELERATORS
IN NIGERIA (TechCabal)
More on Nigeria startup & innovation scenes
Resources

37. Thanks!
Martin Pasquier, for Innovation is Everywhere
martin@innovationiseverywhere.com