July 2018
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JULY<br />
<strong>2018</strong><br />
YOUTH EMPOWERMENT MAGAZINE<br />
FREE WITH BUSINESS DAY LAST FRIDAY OF THE MONTH
From Our Guest Editor<br />
//TECH:REVOLUTION<br />
T<br />
here’s obviously a tech renaissance going on in the world right now and<br />
Nigeria has not been spared from this prevalent wave. At quite a fast pace,<br />
technology is getting woven into modern culture and driving life as we<br />
know it.<br />
From new media to artificial intelligence, virtual learning, machine learning,<br />
block-chain technology to e-commerce ... and yes, self-driving cars, technology<br />
is crossing into the mainstream now.<br />
With this edition, we have engaged tech minds in order to explore the countless<br />
arrays of opportunities and possibilities within the industry, while showcasing<br />
their contributions to the tech space. You also get to see some of the people<br />
behind the scenes and learn about their growth processes.<br />
We have also added insightful contributions from industry leaders to cover some<br />
of the nuances worth considering by anyone looking to go into the technology<br />
business.<br />
Without holding back, we have taken time to address issues of tech from<br />
different aspects ranging from the legal, personal development and approach<br />
to the market.<br />
Whether you are a casual observer, a tech entrepreneur or someone looking to<br />
get into this space, this is an edition you’d definitely find as a good reference for<br />
your present and future review.<br />
Let’s go!<br />
Ope Adeoye<br />
Guest Editor<br />
Published By<br />
Editor<br />
Anthony Osae-Brown<br />
Head of Strategy & Planning<br />
Bankole Jamgbadi<br />
New Media Manager<br />
Uchenna Okafor<br />
Head of Operations<br />
Fabian Akagha<br />
Managing Editor<br />
Lanre Solarin<br />
Marketing and Communications<br />
Adeola Adenugba<br />
Head of Advertising & Sales<br />
Kola Garuba<br />
Chief People Officer<br />
Lehlé Baldé<br />
Design<br />
Sodeinde Oladapo<br />
Publisher<br />
Frank Aigbogun<br />
Head of Business Development &<br />
Client Services<br />
Ikenna Onuorah<br />
Head of Marketing<br />
Akintunde Marinho<br />
Head of Business & Growth<br />
Oghenevwoke Ighure<br />
Guest Editor<br />
Ope Adeoye<br />
Creative Director<br />
Segun Adekoye<br />
Art director<br />
Kola Oshalusi<br />
Advertising<br />
Linda Ochugbua<br />
Advert Manager<br />
Adeola Ajewole<br />
Ass. Managing Editor<br />
Ayandola Ayanleke<br />
Specialist Editor<br />
Lucy Onuorah<br />
Chief Communications Officer<br />
Janet Benson Amarhavwie<br />
Empowerment Director<br />
Jeremy Oparah<br />
Growth and Partnerships<br />
Emeka Iwu<br />
In-house Photographer<br />
James Otihi<br />
IT Director<br />
Michael Aworoghene<br />
Address:<br />
Enquiries:<br />
The Spark: 21, Military Street, Off King George V Street, Lagos Island.<br />
BusinessDay Media Ltd: 6 Point Rd, Apapa, Lagos.<br />
+2348123183458, +2347030951270, +2348182799268<br />
Email: info@thesparkng.com<br />
Website: www.thesparkng.com Social media: @thesparkng
Contributors<br />
Ruth Owojaiye<br />
Ruth Owojaiye is a tax and regulatory expert who worked in KPMG for<br />
six years. She had her first degree at the University of Ilorin and<br />
proceeded to the Nigerian Law School in Abuja where she was called<br />
to bar. She began her professional career with a brief stint working as<br />
a lawyer before focusing on taxation and regulation. Ruth Owojaiye is<br />
an Associate Member, Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and<br />
now works at Heineken Nigeria as Tax Manager. She is married with<br />
children and lives in Lagos.<br />
Stephanie Obi<br />
Stephanie Obi is the Amazon Bestselling author of the book,<br />
“Knowledge is the New Gold” and is also the founder of an EdTech<br />
Startup, Trayny, which is an online educational platform that creates<br />
and manages online courses from Africa’s most trusted leaders. Given<br />
her renowned expertise with online courses, she now helps other<br />
people to create, launch and sell their own online courses. She shares<br />
business lessons weekly at www.stephanieobi.com<br />
Harry Tomi Davies<br />
Harry Tomi Davies (TD) is “Collaborator-in-Chief” of technology<br />
services company, TechnoVision which advises clients on technologyled<br />
transformation and early stage entrepreneurship in Africa.TD is a<br />
seasoned technology strategist and project development expert with<br />
significant market intelligence, research and project management<br />
capabilities. Recognized for consistent success in building teams,<br />
he specializes in developing cost-effective approaches that use<br />
technology to streamline corporate processes and enhance<br />
operational performance. He has held a variety of leadership roles<br />
with global brands like Ernst & Young, Marks & Spencer, Elf Aquitaine,<br />
Sapient and the One Laptop Per Child project. Over the last decade<br />
TD has nurtured a growing portfolio of Africa-based tech-enabled<br />
early stage ventures as a business angel. He is a co-founder of the<br />
Lagos Angel Network (LAN) and President of the African Business<br />
Angel Network (ABAN).<br />
Kemi Onabanjo<br />
Kemi Onabanjo is an Associate Partner with one of the leading global<br />
management consulting firms (McKinsey & Company). Prior to joining<br />
McKinsey, Kemi worked with Zenith Bank and Ericsson in Nigeria in<br />
various roles. She is a proud alumnus of Covenant University with a<br />
B.Sc. in Computer Science and she also holds an MBA from INSEAD<br />
in France, where she was elected valedictorian for over 490 of her<br />
classmates in the graduating class of 2016. Kemi is a lover of theatre<br />
and actively explores the world through travel (she has visited<br />
37 countries to date). She is a blogger and documents her travel<br />
adventures, experiences, lessons learned and other musings at www.<br />
kemionabanjo.com<br />
Ayobami Adisa<br />
Ayobami Adisa is an astute legal practitioner skilled in administering<br />
the rights and responsibilities of corporations and individuals,<br />
through the strategic design and tactical implementation of legal<br />
instruments; over 9 years of accomplishments across aviation,<br />
financial services, oil and gas, and telecommunications industries.<br />
Olu Ogunlela<br />
Olu Ogunlela is a Peak Performance Consultant and the Founder of<br />
Liferithms, a data driven human capacity development company<br />
dedicated to improving workforce productivity without sacrificing<br />
health and wellbeing. He is also the inventor of Kairos Krunch, an<br />
intelligent calendar which provides its users with a peak performance<br />
score and weekly insights into how to increase productive use of time<br />
while experiencing work-life balance. Before Liferithms, Olu was a<br />
renewable energy professional with 7 years’ experience and he was<br />
previously part of Team Nigeria as a professional cyclist.<br />
Damilola Oyedele<br />
Dami Oyedele works as a product manager at a leading technology<br />
company. She has a dual MBA/ MPP from the University of Chicago<br />
Booth School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy. She holds<br />
a BSc in Economics from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. Prior<br />
to postgraduate studies, Dami worked in the management consulting<br />
practice of KPMG Nigeria, and also as the inaugural editor of YNaija.<br />
com. Given her intersectional background, Dami is passionate about<br />
finding new ways in which technology can be harnessed to create<br />
products and services that improve business and social outcomes.<br />
She served as a technology career advisor at Chicago Booth and still<br />
loves helping people advance their careers.<br />
Segun Adekoye<br />
Segun Adekoye is a writer of poems, short stories and feature stories.<br />
A digital marketing strategist, lifestyle and technology enthusiast,<br />
trained at the New York Film Academy, Harvard Business School and<br />
Kellogg School of Management. His write-ups have been featured<br />
on BBC UK, CP Africa, YNaija, 360nobs, naijaPOSE and Nairobi-based<br />
technology journals.<br />
Frank Eleanya<br />
Frank Eleanya is the Online News Editor for BusinessDay, Nigeria’s<br />
leading finance and market intelligence news report. Frank also<br />
writes about tech innovations in Africa and Cryptocurrencies on<br />
BusinessDay. He is a graduate of History and Strategic Studies from<br />
the University of Lagos and has previously worked as a Digital<br />
Correspondent at Business Day and as a Managing Partner at FEED<br />
Resources Center, a media centric company that provides excellent<br />
creative writing and branding innovations.<br />
Damilola Oyewusi<br />
Damilola Oyewusi is a Content and Digital Marketing Strategist<br />
working in the Social Innovation sector. She uses the power<br />
of strategic content and the dynamic nature of marketing<br />
communications to influence and amplify life-changing innovation<br />
solutions to social problems.<br />
Justin Irabor<br />
Justin Irabor is an illustrator, artist and character designer who lives in the delightfully teeth-jarring city of Lagos, where he spends an unhealthy amount of time<br />
making terrible drawings [and, by sheer luck, occasionally good ones]. While he does not have an art degree, he has spent enough time on YouTube tutorials to be<br />
considered at least semi-educated in the dark arts of…the arts. Apart from his personal projects, he has done illustrations for such fine clients and people like Jumia<br />
Food, Custodian PLC, Farafina, Ouida books, Purit and South Africa’s 10 and 5. He has had one art exhibit under his belt - at the Nigerian Satire Festival in Abuja,<br />
Nigeria, in 2017 - and liked the experience enough to not wince at the idea of future exhibitions. He makes the occasionally amusing comic about Nigerian life on<br />
Obaranda.com, and hopes to one day publish a graphic novel.”<br />
Copyright © <strong>2018</strong> The Spark. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or be transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or<br />
mechanical, without prior permission of The Spark.<br />
We do not endorse any product or service mentioned in any of the articles and are not responsible for the outcome of using such products or services.
www.thesparkng.com<br />
The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve<br />
Content<br />
4 6 9 11<br />
BOTTOM LINE WIREDIN<br />
FAST FORWARD PRO BONO<br />
Taxation for Tech Start-ups LinkedIn – A Power Tool<br />
The Future of Cryptocurrencies Tech IP and the Law<br />
12<br />
16<br />
19<br />
20<br />
FREESTYLE<br />
THE SPARK EFFECT<br />
VITAL SIGNS<br />
FEATURES<br />
1. Illustration and Monetization<br />
2. FreestyleX: Godwin Tom Sunday<br />
1. Iyinoluwa Aboyeji: The Man. The<br />
Tech. The Vision.<br />
2. The Spark Profiles Aminu Bakori<br />
Life Intelligence<br />
1. Driving Digital and Financial<br />
Inclusion for SMEs – Deepankar<br />
Rustagi<br />
2. 10 Organisations Funding Tech<br />
Start-ups<br />
3. Smartphone - A Millennial Addiction<br />
4. Accelerating the Future of Fintech<br />
in Africa<br />
5. Into The Mind Of A Digital Curator<br />
31 33 35 36<br />
START UP<br />
INTUNE WITH<br />
BRANDSPARK<br />
WHAT NEXT?<br />
1. Being a Founder<br />
2. Online Business 101<br />
Kemi Onabanjo on Travel Blogging<br />
MAX Go VS Gokada<br />
@thesparkng<br />
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www.thesparkng.com<br />
Bottom Line<br />
Taxation for Tech<br />
Start-ups<br />
Ruth Owojaiye is a tax and regulatory expert. In this<br />
article, she shares with us her journey into becoming an<br />
expert on taxation as well as insight into taxation for<br />
technology start-ups.<br />
- By Ruth Owojaiye<br />
Building a Career in Taxation Law<br />
While taxation has a largely compliance-driven element, the<br />
basis for the charge and collection of tax is the Law. Taxation<br />
law is an area that has not been fully ploughed and I felt I could<br />
make an impact in this space. I also liked the fact that the Law<br />
was and still is the bedrock of any form of tax collection which<br />
ultimately drives the imposition and collection of taxes. This<br />
always gave room for open discussions with the tax authorities<br />
and in areas of ambiguity, there were and still are opportunities<br />
to seek interpretation in the law courts or lobby for changes to<br />
the law with the National Assembly through the right channels.<br />
Tax-Related Problems That Need Redress<br />
Taxation is an area where (until the recent drive by government<br />
to raise alternative sources of revenue due to the fall in oil prices)<br />
simply put, there is an under-collection of tax as there is still a<br />
high number of companies and individuals who are not yet in the<br />
tax net. A few companies (mostly multinationals) are fully and<br />
in some instances over-taxed while the others are either undertaxed<br />
or not taxed at all. There is therefore inequality of taxation<br />
for which government suffers loss of revenue and the companies<br />
who make the efforts to comply are overburdened with incidents<br />
of over/multiple taxation.<br />
The problems noted therefore are three-faced:<br />
• There needs to be a situation where every company and<br />
individual pay the ‘right amount of tax’ for the benefit of the<br />
economy. Few companies and individuals should not bear<br />
the full tax burden of the state/nation.<br />
• The tax authorities also need to make the process of tax<br />
collection and compliance less cumbersome for the tax<br />
payers.<br />
• All incidents of multiple taxation at the federal, state and<br />
local government levels need to be eliminated.<br />
• While good progress has been made in these areas by the<br />
Government and the tax authorities, there is still a wide gap<br />
to fill in ensuring that the tax net is widened to bring in<br />
all companies and individuals who earn income from or in<br />
Nigeria.<br />
Taxation for Tech Businesses<br />
The concept of taxation is the same for all companies in Nigeria.<br />
Tax for tech companies like other companies is based on the<br />
income/profits made by the companies (direct taxation). Tech<br />
companies are also expected to act as agents of collection for<br />
some taxes as applicable (indirect taxation).<br />
I<br />
have a first and a masters’ degree in Law. I began my<br />
professional career with a brief stint working as a Lawyer<br />
and thereafter moved on to work in the tax, regulatory and<br />
people division of KPMG Nigeria for 6 years. While working with<br />
KPMG, I provided tax advisory and compliance tailored services<br />
to companies in different industries including manufacturing,<br />
telecommunications, oil & gas and retails (multinationals and<br />
local companies).<br />
I thereafter moved on to work as the Tax Manager of a<br />
multinational manufacturing company in Lagos in last 6 years.<br />
I thereafter moved on to work as the Tax Manager of a<br />
multinational manufacturing company in Lagos in last 6years.<br />
Before Staring Out<br />
Potential start-ups should bear in mind that while it aims to make<br />
great sales from technological innovation, all the monies from<br />
sales / profits made are not strictly for the start-up companies<br />
and its shareholders. Some of it belongs to government. There<br />
are other statutory / legal obligations which their companies are<br />
expected to comply with. One of such key obligations is taxation.<br />
Basic Tax Laws for Tech Companies<br />
The major tax laws applicable to tech companies include:<br />
• Companies’ income tax @ 30% of profits<br />
• Tertiary Education tax @ 2% of assessable profits<br />
• Value Added Tax @ 5% of sales (less purchases input VAT)<br />
• National Information Technology Development Agency<br />
Levy @ 1% of Profit Before Tax for applicable companies<br />
• PAYE tax - income tax on salaries of its employees<br />
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• Withholding Tax deduction from fees paid to its suppliers and<br />
service providers.<br />
Mistakes Tech Start-ups Make With Tax<br />
Mistakes I see tech entrepreneurs and start-ups make is to focus<br />
mainly on making sales and relegating taxes to the background of<br />
their businesses. Tax should be an integral part of their business<br />
models. The tax laws are clear on the tax compliance requirement<br />
for companies. Taxation therefore should not be left until the tax<br />
authorities come knocking for tax audits / reviews. Companies<br />
should be good corporate citizens and should ensure that their<br />
accounting and tax records are up to date and proper taxes are<br />
remitted to government.<br />
Influence of Technology on the Tax Profession<br />
Yes technology has influenced the tax profession. Tax is closely linked<br />
to accounting records. These accounting records are used by<br />
government agencies to check the correctness and accuracy of taxes<br />
paid. Various accounting software packages have been developed<br />
and improved on over time to keep records which has made<br />
tax reviews easy. Examples of these packages are SAP, Navision,<br />
Peachtree, Sage, QuickBooks etc.<br />
“<br />
“<br />
The Law was and still is the bedrock of<br />
any form of tax collection.<br />
The Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) have also used technology<br />
to aid tax compliance. For instance, tax payers can now sit from<br />
the comfort of their offices to file their monthly tax returns which<br />
previously had to be completed manually and submitted at the tax<br />
office.<br />
Challenges and Prospects<br />
Challenges include the need to sensitize all companies, including<br />
start-ups, on the need to pay their tax. The FIRS, Lagos and<br />
Ogun states have ongoing sensitization programs to encourage<br />
compliance. Other state governments are encouraged to emulate<br />
this trend.<br />
There needs to be an open communication and partnership between<br />
government and tax payers. Tax payers most likely will willingly<br />
comply where they trust that the monies paid to government will<br />
be put to good use. Government must in turn ensure the use of<br />
resources to provide and maintain infrastructure and basic amenities<br />
which will impact businesses directly and indirectly.<br />
Also, government must make the economy conducive for businesses<br />
to thrive and encourage local and foreign investments. Some actions<br />
to improve the business environment is continuous changes made to<br />
archaic laws, grant of incentives and tax waivers where necessary and<br />
elimination of multiple taxation.<br />
Final Advice for Tech Start-Ups<br />
I do not expect tech start-ups to have a full grasp of what the tax<br />
compliance needs of their companies are as their areas of strength<br />
@thesparkng<br />
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Wired In<br />
LinkedIn – A Power Tool<br />
LinkedIn is one of your toolkits as a professional, use and maximise your professional toolkit wisely.<br />
- By Damilola Oyedele<br />
Load your toolkit<br />
I<br />
get scores of LinkedIn requests every week. Most go ignored,<br />
and I’m not sorry. Actually, I am. I recently said to a coworker<br />
that I now feel guilty when I reject LinkedIn requests. A few<br />
years ago, I would add all and sundry, but now I’m at the point<br />
where my LinkedIn is saturated, and I only accept value-adding<br />
contacts, or people I already know.<br />
As a young professional, LinkedIn is one of the strongest tools in<br />
your career growth kit. Most recruiters either identify you as a<br />
prospect through a LinkedIn search, or if your name comes up<br />
through another channel, go straight to your LinkedIn page (and<br />
your other social media pages, but that’s a story for another day)<br />
for vetting.<br />
“<br />
As a young professional, LinkedIn<br />
is one of the strongest tools in<br />
your career growth kit.<br />
“<br />
In every sense, your LinkedIn page is your professional<br />
advertisement, and you want to keep it in top form. How do you<br />
communicate that you’re a value-add? The keys are presentation,<br />
connection, and engagement, and I have some tips to get you<br />
started on all three.<br />
Presentation matters<br />
First things first, you should have a photo. This is the first<br />
impression, and it will impact how people feel when they review<br />
your page. No one is excited to read a faceless profile or one with<br />
a blurry photo. Invest in a high quality photo of your face - head<br />
and shoulders wearing professional clothing. And smile in your<br />
photo! Research (and frankly, common sense) shows that smiling<br />
with your teeth in your LinkedIn profile makes you more likeable.<br />
Go on and be great.<br />
Secondly, have a concise title that says what you do and where.<br />
Concise here means a title that would fit and make sense<br />
underneath your name on a business card. Mine says ‘Senior<br />
Product Manager at Amazon’, as I prefer to keep things simple,<br />
but I’ve seen some interesting title lines that made me curious to<br />
look at the person’s page.<br />
Also fill up your page with your work experience, education, and<br />
interests. If you’re still trying to land your dream role, be<br />
sure to add a few bullets under each role that describes your<br />
achievements, so people can easily understand what you’ve<br />
done. Under education, add any special achievements, leadership<br />
roles, or associations of interest that you were an active part of.<br />
Here’s an easy tip that made me feel great when I did it -<br />
Customize your LinkedIn profile URL. It’s more tidy, and you can<br />
more easily put it on your resume and other social media pages.<br />
Finally, snoop around! Check out industry peers and leaders for<br />
inspiration on ways to customize your page, present your<br />
experience, and sell yourself.<br />
6<br />
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Presentation matters because an empty, sparse, or poorly laid out LinkedIn<br />
page is actually worse than having no LinkedIn page.<br />
Connection comes next<br />
There is no point having the best profile page when you have zero<br />
connections. The more connections you have, the stronger the signal that<br />
you are a real person who indeed has these credentials which you claim on<br />
your page. So how many connections should you aim to have? Legend has<br />
it that a good number to aim for is more than 500, because LinkedIn stops<br />
counting after that and just shows you as having “500+ connections”. So<br />
how do you build this posse? I’ve got you!<br />
Going back to my opening paragraph, one big mistake many make when<br />
they request connection on LinkedIn is to send a blank request. Unless<br />
this person knows you well, you should always add a note. Here’s a recent<br />
LinkedIn request I sent –<br />
“Hi Aishetu,<br />
I am a recent MBA grad from Chicago Booth who follows you on twitter<br />
and is highly inspired by your career trajectory! I’d love to connect on here,<br />
and hopefully in real life someday soon. Happy Holidays! Best, Dami”<br />
Smooth, right?<br />
If you met someone at a networking event, or found out about her on<br />
Twitter, let her know what the connection is. If you’re connecting because<br />
the person is an alumnus of your university in a similar industry to you,<br />
say so. Adding a note increases your likelihood of being added as their<br />
connection.<br />
Engagement seals the deal<br />
In recent years, LinkedIn has greatly ramped up features that allow users<br />
to engage, and I must confess this is one area I still don’t maximize.<br />
However, those I’ve seen use it well often share interesting articles written<br />
by themselves or others. Go on LinkedIn regularly. See what stories are<br />
up and like a few. However, be aware of what you like and comment on,<br />
as these get aggregated on your profile page. A good question to ask is<br />
if you would want your future boss to see that you liked this article.Keep<br />
it professional.<br />
Another way to engage is to reach out to people of interest, and ask for a<br />
phone chat or a quick meeting. Etiquette suggests that these meetings<br />
should not exceed 15 - 30 minutes for a phone meeting or 30 - 45 minutes<br />
for an in person meeting. Do not waste the person’s time! Hopefully if<br />
things go well, you get a follow up conversation. But I digress. Also, never<br />
ask someone to hire you for a job through LinkedIn.<br />
Get in on LinkedIn<br />
In <strong>2018</strong>, increasingly fewer recruiters and hiring managers will take you<br />
seriously with a shoddy or empty profile page. A few weeks ago, a mentor<br />
told my colleague: “When you’re ready to start applying for new jobs, go<br />
take a new and revamped LinkedIn profile picture”. I was awed. Who would<br />
have thought that something as small as your changing your profile picture<br />
could make a difference and signal to the market that you’re searching for<br />
your next role? Learn to use LinkedIn well, and you’ll be on your way to<br />
being headhunted and landing top roles and referrals.<br />
@thesparkng<br />
7
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Fast Forward<br />
The Future of Cryptocurrencies<br />
Cryptocurrencies are gradually becoming the preferred means of exchange but there is still a<br />
lot to be done to secure its place as the future of money.<br />
- By Segun Adekoye<br />
The historic parable of the blind men and an elephant<br />
illustrates how different people feel different parts of an<br />
animal they have never experienced or seen and how their<br />
opinions differ based on their interaction. This fable easily brings<br />
cryptocurrencies into the limelight as the ancient elephant,<br />
while the wider society is grappling with what to make of it.<br />
Cryptocurrencies have been likened to the Dutch tulip bulb<br />
bubbles of the 17th century as well as being named the future<br />
of money. The concept of the first Blockchain was published<br />
in a whitepaper released by an anonymous person or perhaps<br />
people who used the name Satoshi Nakamoto in October 2008.<br />
The following year witnessed the release of the Blockchain<br />
technology as a core component of the world’s most popular<br />
cryptocurrency – the Bitcoin.<br />
Prior to this time, different companies had tried to create a<br />
digital currency but experienced issues around double spending.<br />
The problem with double spending is digital currencies can be<br />
easily cloned, copied in a way that the money is spent while the<br />
original token or its copy is retained. Bitcoin tried to prevent<br />
the double spending problem by ensuring that transactions<br />
were publicly recorded in chains of blocks that were distributed<br />
across the world through nodes and they achieved consensus by<br />
solving complex cryptographic puzzles.<br />
Despite this prominence, adoption, and immutability, the world’s<br />
first cryptocurrency is still far from perfect for mass adoption.<br />
Other developers and organizations have over the years, tried to<br />
solve problems plaguing the pioneer cryptocurrency, however,<br />
most have only succeeded in solving bits of the problem.<br />
The crypto enthusiasts within the Blockchain tech community<br />
would argue that the essence of the tech is to facilitate<br />
decentralization and anonymity of transactions. While the<br />
creation of a deflationary currency outside the control of<br />
governments and policies seems appealing, it is apparent that<br />
the decentralized and anonymous nature of crypto also happens<br />
to be its worst nightmare. From the creation of Silk Road, an<br />
online black market that allowed the sale of illegal drugs using<br />
bitcoins, to over 80 percent of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) that<br />
happened between 2017 and <strong>2018</strong> labeled as scams, users may<br />
be rethinking the anonymous feature of the cryptocurrencies<br />
they transact with. Institutional investors that are looking to<br />
make a profit from the burgeoning digital economy are hoping<br />
for better governance and stiffer regulations to control aspects<br />
around market manipulation, token security, and insurance of<br />
assets. It is evident that the young, tech-savvy Generation-Z<br />
seems to warmly embrace cryptocurrencies and ideas that disrupt<br />
the norm. This generation wants privacy and control. They also<br />
want convenience and security. As it stands, the underlying tech<br />
is available but cannot meet their needs. For instance, if nonblockchain<br />
gamers decide to move over to blockchain games<br />
and exert the demand they use on Facebook apps or other<br />
gaming platforms, on say Ethereum-based games, it would most<br />
likely affect the overall performance of the protocol.<br />
Without a doubt, cryptocurrencies are here to stay as well as<br />
their underlying technology – the blockchain. IBM’s Hyperledger<br />
Fabric allows corporate organizations seeking to create<br />
Currently, there are over 1700 cryptocurrencies in existence and<br />
almost 1500 of them are publicly listed on Coinmarketcap (a<br />
public database of digital tokens). Some of these cryptocurrencies<br />
reside on their own protocol and are used as a means of exchange<br />
or a store of value such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.<br />
Others are simply tokens that are issued on smart-contracting<br />
platforms; hence, they are easy to create and are basically used<br />
as utility tokens. The prevalence of Initial Coin Offerings in 2017<br />
led to the sporadic bloom of the cryptocurrency space as lots<br />
of organizations discovered unregulated ways to raise money<br />
for business ideas in a market that was swayed by fear, greed,<br />
and optimism. This also led to the capitulation of these tokens<br />
since February <strong>2018</strong>, as different governments and authorities<br />
seek to clamp down illegal activities while trying to prevent<br />
losses to innocent citizens by regulating activities of traders and<br />
exchanges that list digital tokens.<br />
@thesparkng<br />
9
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blockchain solutions within a private, permissioned and secure network<br />
without exposing themselves to the risks of using public blockchain<br />
solutions. This means they are not inundated with problems around<br />
speed (transaction-per-second) plaguing some public blockchains. Newer<br />
altcoins are also seeking ways to run functionally using minimal electricity<br />
resources.<br />
The U.S SEC is playing a key role in the classification of different tokens as<br />
securitized and non-securitized tokens. This move is also putting<br />
organizations issuing tokens, in check. Different institutions are discovering<br />
use cases for the blockchain in their businesses and are adapting their<br />
business models to accommodate blockchain solutions. Some of them are<br />
leveraging the use of cryptocurrencies as utility tokens to reward loyalty,<br />
have users pay for services such as electricity or in the case of Basic<br />
Attention Token (BAT) get incentivized for watching ads online.<br />
As more people get paid with tokens for doing micro tasks, incentivized<br />
for loyalty, feel more secure storing their money in cold wallets or online<br />
wallets and watching the value of those tokens rise, the underlying<br />
technology would get adopted by different governments seeking to<br />
tokenize different areas of their economies. For cryptocurrencies to become<br />
adopted by the legislators, the clamour for anonymity must reduce with<br />
administrations knowing that it will not be an avenue to evade taxes and<br />
launder money. The wider world would adopt the tech easily as blockchain<br />
start-ups create better user experiences with their products ensuring that<br />
onboarding, adoption and continued use of their cryptocurrency is more<br />
convenient than obtaining and transacting with cash or debit/credit cards.<br />
Strings of long alphanumeric characters in crypto have to shorten into<br />
8-10 numbers or letters that can be easily remembered.<br />
In the next couple of years, we should begin to see the proliferation of two<br />
distinct classes of assets that would be in most demand among<br />
cryptocurrencies. These would be Stable coins and Securitized tokens.<br />
People may begin to adopt stable coins with functional wallets and high<br />
transaction speeds for day-to-day transactions, while securitized tokens<br />
will replace shares in emerging start-ups and existing organizations looking<br />
to onboard tech enthusiasts as shareholders. Larger institutionalized<br />
stock exchanges would begin to add crypto portfolios to their day-to-day<br />
trading. To gain mass appeal, cross-chain atomic swaps will need to occur<br />
seamlessly, reduce time and money lost by using centralized exchanges,<br />
and different protocols will need to work in consonance, keeping<br />
interoperability as a priority while complimenting themselves using their<br />
tech strengths.<br />
“<br />
Cryptocurrencies have been likened to<br />
the Dutch tulip bulb bubbles of the<br />
17th century as well as being named<br />
the future of money.<br />
“<br />
10<br />
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Pro Bono<br />
Tech IP and the Law<br />
Ayobami Adisa is a trained Legal Practitioner<br />
with over 10 years experience in IT Law, corporate<br />
legal practices, business structuring, commercial<br />
transactions, mergers & acquisition and IP law. He is<br />
an ethics and compliance executive, and he has been<br />
opportune to represent clients from different sectors<br />
of the economy in court. He sheds more light on<br />
Intellectual Property Law in this article.<br />
- By Ayobami Adisa<br />
Intellectual Property (IP) Law generally relates to that arm of<br />
law that seeks to protect the ownership of mental / intellectually<br />
generated ideas or services. There are about three areas of IP.<br />
They are trademarks, patents, designs and copyright.<br />
• Patents protect inventions; these are majorly physical<br />
things that no one has ever done or come up with.<br />
• Copyrights refer to the protection given to written or<br />
artistic expressions. It applies to videography,<br />
cinematography etc.<br />
• Trademark, on the other, is the protection of those elements<br />
or items that distinguishes a brand or service from other<br />
brands or services.<br />
Technology and IP walk hand in hand. As it is, technology is an<br />
improvement in the process or the way things are done. Generally,<br />
technology is only adopted when claims are laid to it. The laying<br />
of claim to technology establishes “the right” that goes along<br />
with Intellectual Property. IP right is that element that makes it<br />
possible for the developer or owner of the technology to reap the<br />
fruits of his or her labour over technology. This also distinguishes<br />
a particular product from the other (if not for anything, to enable<br />
a customer distinguish between one preferred technology to the<br />
other. This is what Trademarks does.<br />
It is important for a tech entrepreneur to be concerned with the<br />
entire suite of IP. However, particular attention should be paid to<br />
patent and trademarks. Patent ensures that the technology – if<br />
new – is not copied or replicated to the extent that a third profits<br />
from such technology. Trademarks, on the other hand, ensure<br />
that the customers of this technology do not confuse such a<br />
product with another product. It also ensures that a particular<br />
product is stands out from the other.<br />
Any technology owner who fails to pay attention to IP will either<br />
fall foul of infringing the right of others or “makes his bread” free<br />
for all. Both cases are very bad for any tech entrepreneur.<br />
For instance, I worked for a company that developed a trademark<br />
for a major product that was launched without paying adequate<br />
attention to the registration of this trademark. As the product<br />
grew and acceptance of same expanded, a competing company<br />
proceeded to register the mark out of malice. This led to a major<br />
issue for the company I worked with. In trying to recover its right,<br />
this company in questions spent millions of naira and a great<br />
deal of time. It is important to state that this company lost a<br />
lot of business opportunities too.Imagine if this happens to a<br />
start-up, it will be dead on arrival. Evidently, IP Law should not<br />
be taken with levity.<br />
This is why I will advise companies to seek the opinion of an<br />
experienced legal practitioner before taking any step that is<br />
tantamount to you launching your technology or announcing<br />
it to the world. Now, not all lawyers understand technology,<br />
you must seek for those lawyers who have touched technology<br />
at its base and not those who scraped the surface. It is also<br />
important to engage a lawyer that is passionate about business<br />
and technology. This will guarantee any tech entrepreneur the<br />
desired ROI, fame and achievement being sourced.<br />
Some are usually sceptical about IP Law within the Nigerian<br />
space but like I believe, “the easiest place to build a skyscraper<br />
is the bare land where nothing exists before.” Nigeria is a virgin<br />
land where all things good are possible. The future for IP Law in<br />
Nigeria is bright.<br />
“<br />
Any technology owner who fails to pay<br />
attention to IP will either fall foul of<br />
infringing the right of others or “makes<br />
his bread” free for all.<br />
“<br />
@thesparkng<br />
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Freestyle<br />
Illustration And<br />
Monetization: Three<br />
Hypotheses<br />
Artistry in our clime is unfortunately not as well<br />
appreciated or even understood, as it should be.<br />
- By Justin Irabor<br />
I<br />
am going to make three hypotheses, in rapid succession, and<br />
invite you to turn it over, gently and with care, in your head, as<br />
you read the rest of this:<br />
• Unlike most other professions, very few people attempt to be<br />
illustrators with the original aim of making money,<br />
• If you meet an illustrator who is also a banker, illustration is the<br />
job they really want, and banking is the job they have to have,<br />
and<br />
• The world doesn’t have nearly as many artists/creative people<br />
as it deserves to have.<br />
Let us begin, with a collection of anecdotes (exactly the sort of way<br />
to make an emotional argument, but not a logical one. Then again<br />
- if we were all perfectly logical, we would be down artistically by<br />
several pints):<br />
First hypothesis: the money question is the wrong question<br />
The first thing I remember drawing was a horse. Of course, like<br />
every other child, I must have started life by drawing squiggly lines<br />
and circles, so I should probably amend my statement to say the<br />
first interesting thing I remember drawing was a horse. It was in<br />
one of those classes ostensibly designed to allow kids engage their<br />
creative side, but were really an opportunity for the teacher to catch<br />
up on a much-needed nap.<br />
“What’s this?” a girl, Sophia was her name, asked.<br />
“A horse,” I said.<br />
There was silence.<br />
“It does not look like a horse,” she decided finally. “Legs too fat.”<br />
And so began her remarkable career as an art critic (I hope), and the<br />
hint of my future filled with bruised egos and misinterpreted ‘art<br />
directions’.<br />
My father saw the horse and declared, ‘Justin is definitely going to<br />
be a famous artist!’ and my mother, well, she said, ‘oh my God, this<br />
is so good - you must have traced it!’<br />
‘I didn’t!’<br />
‘Then you are very good! Help me squeeze the Maggi into the pot?’<br />
And so began my first experience receiving raving reviews from wellintentioned<br />
people who aren’t completely sure what you’re on about.<br />
I have come a long (or short, depending on how you look at it) way<br />
from that moment, and in that time, one thing has become apparent:<br />
people will compliment your art, and ask you to make art for them,<br />
and they will totally expect you to do it for free.<br />
Why’s that? I suspect the answer is in society. Or more accurately,<br />
social conditioning. Arriving at the utilitarian value of art is a<br />
convoluted process, and I do not even pretend to understand it<br />
myself. As a result, there is art which us plebs consider overpriced<br />
[often hung in galleries, with a bespectacled fella telling you about<br />
the type of emotions it’s supposed to ‘evoke’ in you], and then there’s<br />
art which is just one step away from ‘internet memes’ in (perceived)<br />
value. And that is the art that people often want to give you ‘exposure’<br />
for, because, they imagine, you must be doing this because fame is<br />
your only goal.<br />
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Your drawings will be considered ‘cute’, but not ‘important’, unlike a career in, say,<br />
software development (earth really needs its websites, apparently), and as a result,<br />
the sort of person who becomes an illustrator becomes one, not because it’s such<br />
an obvious source of income. They do it for a completely different reason, which<br />
leads me to hypothesis number 2:<br />
Second hypothesis: your favourite [illustrator] has no choice<br />
If you’re looking for the textbook definition of love, look no further than to that<br />
fella (or lass), hunched over an insignificant piece of paper, drawing line after line,<br />
flipping it this way and that, adding colours, removing detail, and replacing with<br />
form, until they straighten, their spine snapping in a million stress pops.<br />
You think that sort of person does it because they expect to be millionaires? You<br />
think they cackle over a cauldron, their eyes tinted green with glee, as they<br />
anticipate the dollars that shall come in?<br />
The short answer is no.<br />
The longer answer is: many illustrators have day jobs they don’t like (or day jobs<br />
they like a little less than they love illustrating), and the day job keeps them alive<br />
and solvent enough to buy more papers and crayons.<br />
There is an interminably long phase where an illustrator would draw for fun, for<br />
friends. Their work in this phase is rubbish, but original and fun, you know?<br />
They’re out there, making things! They do not care for money, and many are<br />
content making non-publishable rubbish. However, your favourite illustrator will<br />
push themselves, and get better, and better, until they are good enough to get<br />
paid for the first time.<br />
I call that the ‘holy shit’ moment, and it [often] happens without their own<br />
orchestration. Someone sees their work, and says ‘I really like it! Can you do this<br />
for me, and how much would you like to be paid for it?’<br />
The illustrator realizes that their work which has always been valuable to them has<br />
become valuable enough to someone else, in such a way that they are willing to<br />
part with cash for it.<br />
Holy shit.<br />
Third hypothesis: we’re several illustrators short at any given time<br />
I have been drawing, unprofessionally, for as long as I became aware of my<br />
cognitive abilities. Professionally, fairly recently. I only just started to get paid to<br />
illustrate. The money is not yet enough for me to quit my day job, so it’s not the<br />
reason I continue to be an artist.<br />
Enough about me. Let’s talk about babies.<br />
Given the number of babies who are natural Picassos (drawing on everything in<br />
sight: wrappers, walls, curtains), you’d expect more adults to be artists, right?<br />
After the GIGO fashion. But that isn’t really the case, and most artistic inclinations<br />
are leached out of kids early on in life, that only the ones in the right environment,<br />
with the right friends, or with the right level of stubbornness, continue to hold on<br />
to such a skill that many consider a pastime.<br />
Today, thanks to the internet, we can instantly see that not all illustrators are<br />
equal: some will be magazine cover illustrators, website illustrators, background<br />
artists for billion-dollar animated cartoons, concept artists, comic book artists,<br />
and the list goes on.<br />
As with everything, once you figure out the kind of illustrator you want to be, and<br />
double down on those 10,000 hours, you are almost totally guaranteed to<br />
emerge on the other side of the curtain with that delightfully titillating message<br />
to future clients:<br />
Sorry. Fully booked this year; no longer accepting commissions.<br />
Oh the joy - it would mean that illustration has become your one and only joy.<br />
@thesparkng<br />
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FreestyleX:<br />
Tom Sunday Godwin<br />
- By Ayandola Ayanleke<br />
Tom Sunday Godwin, also known as GTS, is a Nigerian painter. The Studio<br />
Artist who hails from Akwa Ibom state lives and practices art in Abuja.<br />
“From my early age, my parents encouraged my interest in art. I attended Federal<br />
Government Girls College Staff Nursery and Primary school Gboko. I proceeded<br />
to Federal Government College, Otobi, where I met Mr. Ijiga who taught me Fine<br />
Art then and exposed me to art. He also became my mentor and encouraged me<br />
to pursue Art as a course of study. I attended Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and<br />
graduated in 2011 with a B. A. in Painting.”<br />
“During my internship, I trained under artists like Dr. John Oyedemi, Dr. Wale Ajayi,<br />
Dr. Emma Irokanulo and Dr. Blaise Gundu Gbaden, all at ABU Zaria.”<br />
He gained his first exposure in an Art exhibition and workshop in 2011 and since<br />
then he has participated in several Art exhibitions and workshops both locally and<br />
internationally such as: -<br />
• Art is Everywhere International Waste to Art workshop and Exhibition 2011,<br />
Fine Art Gallery ABU Zaria<br />
• 4th National visual Art Competition 2012, Shehu Musa Yar Adua Centre Abuja.<br />
• 7th Edition of life in my city Art festival 2013, Enugu.<br />
• 1st Edition of In House Art Exhibition 2013, Hamdalla Hotel Kaduna.<br />
• Art for peace, Paint African Values international Art Exhibition Tour, African<br />
Union, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 8th March, 2014. Istanbul, Damla Art House,<br />
31st May, 2014, Waldorf Astoria, New York, 25th September, 2014.<br />
• Africa Art Resource Center Art Competition 2014, Lagos.<br />
• Imago Mundi Image of the World International Art workshop and Exhibition,<br />
Rome, Italy 2014.<br />
• 2nd Art Fair Art Exhibition, Kaduna, 2014.<br />
• Life in my City Art Festival, Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja 2015.<br />
• Annual yam and Art festival in Ogidi, Kogi State 2016<br />
• Junkmanfromafrika - Make the best of Junk Art workshop organize by<br />
German embassy, Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja, 2016.<br />
• Exploring the Role of the Artist in Defining the Future through Story Telling<br />
(Ferrum), Rele Gallery, Onikan, Lagos, 2016.<br />
• World Art Day Exhibition, Thought Pyramid Art Centre, Abuja, 15 April, 2017.<br />
• Ogidi Art Festival, Kogi, 2017.<br />
• World Art Day Exhibition, International Institute for Creative Development<br />
Center, Abuja. 15 April, <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
• Art for Development, Exhibition organized by actionaid, at Abuja Pavilion,<br />
<strong>2018</strong>. etal.<br />
TomSunday is a painter whose art focuses on female projection in the society,<br />
culture and enlightening people about issues in his immediate environment as well<br />
as the world. He renders his works in stylizednaturalism and realism using impasto<br />
technique of painting. Examples of his works include: The bride, the missing<br />
Mirror, water everywhere yet no water, the African child, we shall raise above all<br />
rubble, One Love One Nation, the cow and the crop, a fight over supremacy et al.<br />
The painter is an artist whose works are inspired by daily activities around him and<br />
contemporary Nigeria issues.<br />
Connect with him via:Instagram: godwintomsundaygma; Website: www.<br />
godwintomsunday.com; Facebook: Godwin Tom Sunday; Blog: Godwintomsunday;<br />
Tumblr: godwintomsunday.<br />
14<br />
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The Spark Effect<br />
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji<br />
The Man. The Tech. The Vision<br />
- By Lucy Onuorah<br />
Technology As Empowerment<br />
“<br />
Business is what<br />
people want. It is<br />
businesses that<br />
are funded and<br />
not ideas so if<br />
you do not have<br />
the appropriate<br />
network skills<br />
to turn your<br />
ideas into good<br />
businesses, you<br />
are basically<br />
sitting on a<br />
ticking time bomb<br />
Having the opportunity to sit with him recently for an interview in<br />
between his busy schedules was quite an honour; an interesting and<br />
exciting experience as well. As I walked towards him to take a seat, I<br />
could not help but wonder in my mind ‘how did this guy make it this far’?<br />
While still pondering on this question, we exchanged pleasantries and<br />
moved on to the business of the day - the interview.<br />
General Background<br />
“<br />
“<br />
Born on the 28th of March, 1991 to Nigerian parents, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is<br />
an entrepreneur, co-founder of Andela - a platform that recruits and trains<br />
software developers as well as connecting them with employers; and<br />
Flutterwave - a payment API that makes it easier for banks and businesses<br />
to process payments across Africa.<br />
Iyinoluwa completed his Secondary School education at Loyola Jesuit<br />
College and graduated from Columbia International College with degrees<br />
in International Development, Legal Studies and Economics. He also has a<br />
degree in Legal Studies from the University of Waterloo.<br />
Still in his twenties, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji has managed to create a great<br />
impact in the business of technology not just in Africa but also in the<br />
global economy.<br />
The tech space is fast becoming very popular in Nigeria and some of the<br />
greatest achievements that have been recorded recently have been linked<br />
to technology and technological advancements and no one should be left<br />
out.<br />
Technology could be used as a source of empowerment and could be used<br />
in reaching out to a very large and diverse community of potential clients<br />
for tech start-ups.<br />
Flutterwave was birth out of the belief that business infrastructures are<br />
one of the key holders for connecting Africa to the global economy, and<br />
they have been able to do a great job of building payment infrastructures<br />
that enable Africans accept payment from customers all over the world,<br />
explore new ways of payment and prosperity that could essentially change<br />
our economy and participation in the global economy.<br />
“<br />
Business infrastructures are one of the key<br />
holders for connecting Africa to the global<br />
economy and we are able to do a good job<br />
of it by building payment infrastructures<br />
that enable Africans to accept payment from<br />
customers all over the world.<br />
Hobbies<br />
“<br />
For an individual, who as a teenager, founded Bookneto – an online<br />
learning platform while studying in Canada and have it acquired by the<br />
Canadian Innovation Centre at a time when most of his peers in Nigeria<br />
where probably thinking about passing their WAEC, NECO, JAMB, or Post<br />
UTME examinations and gaining admission into the University, one would<br />
be totally wrong to think that Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is all work and no play.<br />
Iyinoluwa likes to hang out with the guys and play golf. He also enjoys<br />
spending time on social media, watching movies and expressing his ideas<br />
with like minds to explore different views.<br />
As a kid, Iyinoluwa was very good with comics and this helped improve<br />
and develop his creativity and ultimately inspire his interest in technology.<br />
He had a short stint with a technical company as a style engineer. It was at<br />
that point in his life that he realized that technology was not just something<br />
that one could consume but it was also something that could be created<br />
as well and the tools of that creation have been democratized, thereby<br />
making it possible for more people to be part of that creation process.<br />
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Pursuing Success<br />
In over ten years of his business life in the tech space, Iyinoluwa has<br />
become more aware of the fact that technology could be used as a tool to<br />
reach out to a very large audience and create great impact.<br />
“Although Flutterwave has not done too badly in that we have processed<br />
close to tens of millions of transactions and are rapidly growing, there is<br />
still a lot of work to be done by Flutterwave.” However, dedication has<br />
been Iyinoluwa’s watchword as he is driven by the belief that when one<br />
delivers a very good job, they will do well for themselves as well.<br />
Iyinoluwa believes one of the challenges start-ups face is raising capital.<br />
However, the Flutterwave boss did not really have to put up with that as<br />
he leveraged on relationships from ANDELA and was lucky to have been<br />
working with an amazing team.<br />
So many youth out there have beautiful ideas but do not know how to turn<br />
them into great business. “Well, you have to be very dedicated and work<br />
very hard” says Iyinoluwa. “You has to create an enabling environment in<br />
which you are surrounded by creative minds.”<br />
“Whilst age is a barrier to success, it is not one of the biggest barriers.<br />
Having an early start helps as it allows you time to make mistakes and<br />
learn from them. If you are young, you have to be twice as competent as<br />
you will be evaluated based on your results most of the time. Just make<br />
sure you are a performer.”<br />
Spanning over 10 years in business, Iyinoluwa has learnt that it is important<br />
to search for problems big enough to solve. Avoid taking up small<br />
problems and always select your team carefully.<br />
“Always work with a team that has like minds who will be willing to put in<br />
as much efforts as you. Do not compromise or cut corners in terms of<br />
competence and character. If you are out there thinking of starting up<br />
a business, you must move swiftly and find a client as soon as possible<br />
because that is exactly how you grow your business.”<br />
Most Common Mistakes In The Tech Space<br />
There are lots of mistakes made in the technology industry in Nigeria.<br />
These days, everybody wants to go into one form of business or the other.<br />
With a good idea or two, you could easily think that it’s an easy chew,<br />
however we have learnt from Iyinoluwa that it is not just enough to have<br />
an idea, business is not just what people want, people need businesses. “It<br />
is businesses that are funded and not just ideas, anyone who doesn’t have<br />
the appropriate networking skills to turn their ideas into good businesses<br />
are basically sitting on a ticking time bomb.”<br />
“These days, more and more people are becoming more aware of<br />
technological advancements and their empowerment abilities thereby<br />
leading to a stronger growth of technology in Nigeria. Nigeria is a country<br />
with huge demographics and that’s why businesses like Flutterwave are<br />
here to help.”<br />
The business of technology should not be seen solely as an avenue for<br />
making profit, Nigerian entrepreneurs in the technology industry will<br />
profit more to get as close as possible to their customers, understand<br />
their needs and offer good services as a means of building trust with their<br />
clients.<br />
Iyinoluwa really looks forward to witnessing Africa develop as a bedrock<br />
of technology in the next five years. “There will be a lot of tech start ups<br />
and it would be really interesting to see how things work out in the future.”<br />
If you do a very good job you can serve<br />
“others and do well for yourself as well.<br />
“<br />
“ Technology is not just<br />
something that is<br />
consumed but it can<br />
also be created; and the<br />
tools of that creation<br />
have been democratised<br />
such that many more<br />
people could be part of<br />
“<br />
the creation process.<br />
@thesparkng<br />
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The Spark Profiles<br />
Aminu Bakori<br />
- By Ayandola Ayanleke<br />
Aminu Ibrahim Bakori is a Software Developer and a Tech-Entrepreneur. He fell in love with<br />
computers right from a very small age while in primary school and started coding towards the<br />
end of his secondary school.<br />
When asked about his challenges, Aminu had this to say, “While starting up, I was faced with the<br />
challenge of limited resources and lack of mentorship. Finding like-minded individuals has also proven to<br />
be hard. Building and running a business as a tech-entrepreneur has also not been easy, most especially<br />
along the lines of trust and raising funds.”<br />
Steve Jobs and Apple have been a great inspiration for him, most especially along their sense of design<br />
and quality assurance.<br />
Establishing Payant was a huge deal for him and served as a confidence-booster. “Even though I’ve been<br />
involved with a lot of projects before Payant, it still remains one of my greatest achievements. It all<br />
started from a dream of simplifying payments and today, it has made significant progress along that<br />
line.”<br />
And now, as a tech-entrepreneur, “I’m looking forward to partnerships and funding opportunities.”<br />
Aminu is a great believer in the youth and of youth empowerment. “I’ve been all about sparking and<br />
uplifting this generation since I was in school. I was a Microsoft Student Partner and also a Microsoft<br />
Youth Spark Advocate.”<br />
“I worked along with Microsoft and Students to inspire students and create more youths like me. It was<br />
very successful and I’m always happy to see what we have started growing everyday. I strongly believe<br />
that we’re the leaders of tomorrow. But we can’t be leaders without taking everyone along.”<br />
Connect with him via<br />
Twitter: @Aminu_Bakori<br />
Email: aminu@payant.ng<br />
Offline: CoLab, Kaduna.<br />
18<br />
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The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve<br />
Vital Signs<br />
Life Intelligence<br />
The future of healthcare is preventative and will be<br />
heavily dependent on big data.<br />
- By Olu Ogunlela<br />
“<br />
The future of<br />
healthcare is big data.<br />
“<br />
In 2014, shortly after returning from studying and working in the US for 9<br />
years, I was hit with the challenges of living in a developing nation.<br />
The lack of proper infrastructure meant there was less time in a day.<br />
Traffic, unstable electricity, water supply issues and the likes, had its<br />
way of consuming time without much concrete work accomplished.<br />
Apart from this, I was juggling work as an entrepreneur and my athletic<br />
ambition as a professional cyclist (something I did in the US with more<br />
ease). This frustration, plus a constant reminder of a Peter Drucker’s quote<br />
“You can’t manage what you can’t measure” led me to conclude that I<br />
needed to develop a way of tracking how my time was being spent. After<br />
about 2 years of trials, I built a working prototype of an app without<br />
coding, by combining a digital calendar to input data on time spent and<br />
a spreadsheet to analyze the data to mine for actionable insights. This, in<br />
addition to another 2 years of research and data analysis, has led to the<br />
birth of Life Intelligence.<br />
Life Intelligence, like it implies is very similar to Business Intelligence<br />
which according to Wikipedia, comprises the strategies and technologies<br />
used by enterprises for data analysis of business information. I like to<br />
define Life Intelligence as a technology aided data driven process for<br />
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analyzing life information and developing insights to<br />
help individuals maximize their life potential. So far, our<br />
prototype has collected over 70,000 hours of life data from<br />
143 users. The insights generated from the analysis of this<br />
data informed several behavioral changes amongst its<br />
users. Most of these interventions have led to better health,<br />
while improving or maintaining optimal productivity.<br />
Hence, we see the potential of Life Intelligence in the<br />
healthcare sector.<br />
According to an article titled: Integrated Theory of Health<br />
Behavior Change, “Researchers suggest that personal<br />
behaviors cause more than 50% of illness.” The World<br />
Health Organization (WHO) states that Ischaemic<br />
heart disease and stroke are the world’s biggest killers,<br />
accounting for a combined 15.2 million deaths in 2016.<br />
These diseases have remained the leading causes of death<br />
globally in the last 15 years. The third, chronic obstructive<br />
pulmonary disease claimed 3.0 million lives that same year<br />
(see figure 1). All three are diseases which better lifestyle<br />
choices could have eradicated, but most times people are<br />
unaware until it’s too late.<br />
In developing countries, the biggest benefit of Life<br />
Intelligence in healthcare will be in life data collection<br />
to better understand, track and eradicate diseases like<br />
lower respiratory tract infections and other communicable<br />
disease which are currently the top killers in low income<br />
countries, majority of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa (see<br />
figure 2). In the United States and other developed nations<br />
where the top killers are non-communicable, lifestyle<br />
diseases (see figure 3), Life Intelligence will empower<br />
individuals to make better lifestyle decisions and address<br />
these diseases way ahead of their maturity stage.<br />
Workplace illness like burnout, stress, depression is<br />
another area Life Intelligence will play a role in eradicating.<br />
The effect of workplace illness is difficult to measure,<br />
because every individual is different and data isn’t<br />
available to show the effect of work-life balance. Insights<br />
from our prototype app for one user showed a 129%<br />
increase in productivity in just 11 weeks due to an increase<br />
in work-life balance. With this known, we can conclude<br />
that an employee deploys about 50% of his potential at<br />
his/her job when he/she isn’t engaged and lacks worklife<br />
balance. When an employee is engaged and well<br />
rested, performance increases. Life Intelligence will enable<br />
individuals maximize their time outside work and help<br />
employers maximize their workforce productivity. At<br />
Liferithms, we have created a product which will enable<br />
organization achieve peak performance by improving<br />
workforce productivity, without sacrificing the health and<br />
well-being of their employees.<br />
We envision a world where a product isn’t rated based on<br />
its perceived value but on the effect of the use of the<br />
product in helping an individual achieve his/her goals and<br />
objectives. We also envision the use of non penetrative<br />
blood tests in guiding food and nutritional choices for<br />
the day. Preventative healthcare will be powered via Life<br />
Intelligence and it will reduce healthcare cost and deaths<br />
dramatically. The future of healthcare is big data.<br />
20<br />
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The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve<br />
Features<br />
Driving Digital and Financial Inclusion<br />
for SMEs – Deepankar Rustagi<br />
- By Lucy Onuorah<br />
“<br />
Try to solve only one<br />
problem at a time,<br />
when you try to solve<br />
too many problems,<br />
you will not move<br />
forward – incremental<br />
progress is key to<br />
success.<br />
“<br />
It was a very hot afternoon when we welcomed the founder of VConnect<br />
Global Services, popularly known as VConnect – Mr Deepankar Rustagi<br />
into our office. Eager to have a chat with him we had reached out to him<br />
and he obliged us effortlessly.<br />
Deepanker Rustagi had his education here in Nigeria and has lived here for<br />
the past 23 years. It was here he found a reason and an opportunity to give<br />
back to the society; hence the journey to creating VConnect was initiated.<br />
VConnect is an online service marketplace that helps users hire local<br />
professionals for all service needs. There are over 100 services listed<br />
on VConnect ranging from repairs to maintenance, home and office<br />
improvement, personal services, business services and logistics.<br />
His inability, in 2010, to locate Nigerian local businesses online led to the<br />
idea of VConnect. Deepankar began assembling a team that would help<br />
collect the information of local SMEs that can be accessed via a Googleesque<br />
local search engine. This eventually led to the launch of VConnect<br />
alongside co- founder Anand Chander, in 2011.<br />
“<br />
Starting up a business online is not a<br />
taboo; online presence allows for<br />
accessibility and visibility. We just need<br />
to be more educated on technology.<br />
“<br />
“<br />
Funding a business is challenging, however,<br />
find people who believe in you enough to be<br />
patient to see the value of your business.<br />
Today, VConnect stands as one of Nigeria’s hottest tech startups.<br />
“<br />
For some Nigerians, when you hear of VConnect it is likely that we<br />
remember it as a platform to check for registered and verified addresses<br />
to various businesses, however, there is a whole lot more to the platform<br />
than being just a directory.<br />
Two major factors that helped shape the idea of VConnect and bring it to<br />
reality was that of the absence of a link between service providers and<br />
their customers. There was a point in time where it was difficult to verify<br />
if a business is registered and trusted. Nowadays, with client reviews and<br />
online search on VConnect, you are good to go.<br />
“VConnect came right on time to fill in the huge trust deficit there was<br />
between service providers and their clients. We find that many businesses<br />
in Nigeria start out with a short term goal. Instead of looking at about 5<br />
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years of operation, they tend to look at 2 years of operations after which,<br />
if no major success has been recorded, they start getting discouraged. It<br />
is as a result of the high rate of interest and high cost of operation that<br />
businesses suffer. It is worthy to note that the absence of the right number<br />
of customers involved in your business for growth purposes eventually<br />
cripples the business.”<br />
“In setting up VConnect, we had to sensitize people and make them<br />
change their mindset and accept the idea that there was nothing wrong in<br />
running an online business, online business is not a taboo,” said Deepankar.<br />
“Online business is important for businesses to gain more visibility and<br />
accessibility. Education and rebranding are not exempted either. That was<br />
how we became the first platform to embrace that online presence.”<br />
“<br />
In the future we will be one of the most<br />
advanced countries in africa also equally<br />
giving competition to state of the art tech<br />
players in the world.<br />
“<br />
When starting up a business, it is always advisable to carefully select a<br />
team because that will be the most valuable asset. Starting VConnect at<br />
26 years of age, it was quite cumbersome to grow a trusted network but<br />
slowly and steadily, VConnect found its feet.<br />
“There is no shortcut to success; brainstorming amongst team members is<br />
encouraged. It helps to build a team that absolutely believes in problemsolving<br />
as well as empowerment of small and medium enterprises. That<br />
has made it possible for VConnect to simplify things for users and making<br />
a place where getting things done is not a challenge.”<br />
“Funding is usually a problem faced by many start ups, however, you need<br />
people who understand your model and believe in your motivation<br />
enough to see that you are committed and persistent. That is not to say<br />
that one would not invest, personal investment cannot be overruled. Whilst<br />
banking on friends and family is a viable option, personal investment is<br />
encouraged. This lifts off some of the financial burden.”<br />
To continually have a positive effect on businesses in the Nigerian<br />
economy, Deepankar’s VConnect aims at providing a visibility study to<br />
businesses as well as building an economy of trust. “When you are able<br />
to build trust between a business and its clients, users will have no doubts<br />
about the businesses they come in contact with via our platform. VConnect<br />
prides itself in being recognized as a trusted economy.”<br />
VConnect has a low barrier entry which enables startups place their<br />
listings. It is a model that pays you off in the long run so once started, it<br />
will take a while to gather business and create relationships. To separate<br />
themselves from other competitors, VConnect tries as much as possible<br />
to understand and maintain a good relationship with its customers. At<br />
this level, an understanding of user needs comes in to be able to create<br />
end-user satisfaction. More so, they try not to over-market themselves<br />
so as not to send the wrong signal. It pays off eventually to allow for an<br />
organic traffic which stems from satisfaction from the customers who will<br />
keep coming back.<br />
Often times, we hear some people say that tech businesses are easy to<br />
handle while some others see it as a quick way to success but that is far<br />
from the truth. What is more acceptable is that tech businesses are a more<br />
organized form of business so when working with the right model and the<br />
right sociability, it yields great results.<br />
Notwithstanding, there are still unique challenges because of the<br />
ecosystem, absence of infrastructures, etc. which creates amazing<br />
opportunities and interesting problems to be solved. Every startup has<br />
in mind a problem or more to solve, however, solving the problems will<br />
ultimately be determined by the level of commitment, persistence and<br />
hard work.<br />
Tech business is not a quick walk and will never really get to that point<br />
where it becomes all too easy. It involves high level of intelligence and<br />
patience as well as machines and software.<br />
VConnect has been recognized by Forbes as one of the “Hottest Tech<br />
Startups in Africa”. By 2015, VConnect was reported to have had 1.2 million<br />
businesses listed.<br />
Evolving progressively, <strong>2018</strong> saw VConnect officially launching “Market by<br />
VConnect” - a service marketplace where trusted business owners can<br />
find and connect with real customers.<br />
“For tech startups, getting the right unit matrix and the formula to scale is<br />
the biggest and most important thing. Instead of focusing on too many<br />
things at a time, rather, focus on doing one thing right and you’ll find that<br />
you are on track with your unit matrix from the onset.”<br />
“<br />
Focus on only one<br />
thing at a time.<br />
“<br />
22<br />
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The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve<br />
10 Organisations Funding Tech Start-ups<br />
You have an innovative tech idea you want investment for? Here are ten<br />
organisations that are ready to invest in your idea.<br />
- By Ayandola Ayanleke<br />
Technology is here to stay and it is ever growing. Technology<br />
is the present and it is the future. The world has recognised it<br />
and has quickly embraced its potency, little wonder some of<br />
the most developed countries are also the most technologically<br />
advanced. Fortunately, developing countries have also seen<br />
the light and are running with it as well. Nigeria is one of such<br />
countries. There are so many technologically advanced and<br />
savvy minds in Nigeria. Some have reached the peak and many<br />
more starting out. If you are in the latter category, then you need<br />
information on organisations that have been set up to not only<br />
fund your tech ideas but help bring it to fruition.<br />
3. NG_HUB<br />
NG_HUB is an idea of Facebook in collaboration with CCHub (Co-creation<br />
Hub) to bring techies together to learn and exchange ideas. A very recent<br />
venture, NG_HUB has also launched a research and mentorship-driven<br />
6-month program called FbStart Accelerator. The program is targeted at<br />
innovative teams creating solutions through advanced technology such<br />
as Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Data Science, Internet-of-Things<br />
(IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR). For more information,<br />
visit https://cchubnigeria.com/fbstart.<br />
1. GreenHouse Capital<br />
GreenHouse Capital is the brain child of Venture Garden Group<br />
(a holding company of financial technology entities).<br />
GreenHouse Capital was launched in January 2016 as an<br />
independent investment holding company and their goal is to<br />
build the largest fintech investment holding company in Africa<br />
by investing in technology companies in Africa. Contact them<br />
by visiting Unit 2, Alma 2, Richmond Gate, Lekki, Lagos State,<br />
Nigeria, calling +2348099518140 or sending an email to info@<br />
greenhouse.capital . You can also check out their website at<br />
http://greenhouse.capital.<br />
4. Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF)<br />
AFF is a pan-African fintech accelerator supported by Access Bank,<br />
Microsoft, IBM, Kantar TNS, SAS and SystemicLogic. The accelerator was<br />
established in order to boost technology forward and they achieve this<br />
by investing in technology start-ups through training mentorship and<br />
funding. Companies are expected to apply and stand a chance to be<br />
chosen for mentorship from world-class investors that will assist startups<br />
in reaching their full potential; to receive seed investment of 10%<br />
-12% equity investments that range from $25 000 - $50 000; receive<br />
office space that is perfect for collaboration and networking and other<br />
benefits including marketing and legal services. Get more information<br />
by visiting https://www.africafintechfoundry.com/ or apply here https://<br />
www.africafintechfoundry.com/apply-now<br />
2. Leadpath Nigeria<br />
Leadpath Nigeria is a seed capital fund that provides start-up<br />
entrepreneurs in the tech space with the required mentorship,<br />
enabling environment and funds in order to bridge the gap<br />
between start-up and market dominance. They are especially<br />
focused on high growth technology areas like software, web<br />
and mobile technology. Leadpath accepts applications all year<br />
round. For more information, visit them at 70, Olonode Street, off<br />
Hughes Avenue, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos or send your inquiries to<br />
info@leadpath.com.ng . You can also visit their website at http://<br />
leadpath.com.ng/.<br />
5. Google Ventures<br />
Google Ventures is a Capital Venture arm of Alphabet Inc. that provides<br />
venture capital funding to companies bold enough to push innovations<br />
in the fields of life science, healthcare, artificial intelligence, robotics,<br />
transportation, cyber security, and even agriculture. Since its launch in<br />
2009, they have invested in over 300 companies that dared the impossible.<br />
Visit their website https://www.gv.com/ to get more information.<br />
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6. Accion Venture Lab<br />
Accion Venture Lab is a seed-stage impact investment initiative of Accion,<br />
a global non-profit organisation that seeks to create a financially inclusive<br />
world by giving people the financial help they need to improve their<br />
lives. Accion Venture Lab offers financial and other forms of support to<br />
innovative start-ups, especially in areas like alternative data, blockchain,<br />
machine learning, digital identification and other emerging technologies.<br />
Contact them at info@accion.org or visit their website https://www.accion.<br />
org/ to get more information.<br />
9. Venture Capital for Africa (VC4A)<br />
Venture Capital for Africa is focused on connecting African start-ups to<br />
different opportunities in different sectors. VC4A seeks to strengthen the<br />
start-up eco-system, including that of the tech sector, by exposing them<br />
to all they require to succeed including mentorship, funding, training,<br />
research opportunities and other forms of empowerment programs. For<br />
more information, visit https://vc4a.com/ .<br />
7. Trequity Capital<br />
Trequity Capital is a global finance and asset growth company with key<br />
investment focus on technology companies as well as other sectors,<br />
including film production. The company, which is currently headquartered<br />
in Lagos, also operates in Dubai, London and New York. They invest in tech<br />
companies that create value through artificial intelligence, mobility, IOT,<br />
cloud computing, augmented reality, virtual reality and other emerging<br />
technologies. To find out more, send a mail to info@trequitycap.com, call<br />
2341230101 or visit their website at https://www.trequitycap.com/ .<br />
10. Seedstars World<br />
Seedstars is an idea born in Switzerland to accelerate innovative ideas by<br />
connecting them with empowerment. It is all about impacting people’s lives<br />
through entrepreneurship and technology. They empower entrepreneurs<br />
by providing them with mentoring, funding, visibility, network and even<br />
office space. They also conduct Seedstars World Competition where<br />
start-ups or emerging entrepreneurs apply to pitch their ideas regionally<br />
and globally. For more information, go to their website at https://www.<br />
seedstars.com/ .<br />
Help is sometimes closer than you think. If you are tech start-up, there you<br />
go; ten organisations at your fingertips ready to help you build your<br />
innovative idea.<br />
8. StartPreneur<br />
StartPreneur is a technology accelerator and venture builder that helps<br />
build innovative ideas anchored on augmented reality, data science,<br />
machine learning, artificial intelligence, virtual reality and blockchain. They<br />
are focused on growing a completely digitalised Nigerian economy and<br />
one of the ways they do that is by investing into innovative ideas geared<br />
toward their goal. If you want to join and be among the over 4000 people<br />
they have trained, then visit their website at http://startpreneurs.com.ng/<br />
or contact them at info@startpreneurs.com.ng or call +2348140424240.<br />
24<br />
@thesparkng
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Smartphone - A Millennial Addiction<br />
The Smartphone has taken over Nigerian millennials and practically made them illequipped<br />
to handle a PC.<br />
- By Frank Eleanya<br />
Every research on millennials has one insight or the other<br />
about how they will transform or disrupt the workplace.<br />
They are also the butt of many stereotypes including selfish,<br />
demanding, entitled and overly addicted to technology.<br />
A PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) report predicted that by 2020,<br />
almost half of the workforce will be made up of millennials. The<br />
stereotypes therefore give a picture of what the future workplace<br />
will look like.<br />
As companies around the world begin the process of transforming<br />
their workplace to accommodate the millennial generation, here<br />
in Nigeria the transformations are not happening very fast. For<br />
instance, while most companies abroad are doing away with<br />
desks and replacing wood panels with colourful sofas and glass<br />
doors, it hasn’t caught on here, only a handful have thought it<br />
necessary in Nigeria. What may be increasing are organisations<br />
replacing desktops computers with laptops.<br />
Without a doubt, companies’ adoption of technology and<br />
everything digital is increasing in the country. The mobile<br />
whirlwind that is sweeping across the country is also impacting<br />
many of these companies as they devise digital strategies to<br />
push their products. However, whereas laptop and PC rate may<br />
be declining as more individuals go mobile, organisations are<br />
not doing away with the older technologies any moment. The<br />
National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) recently revealed that Nigeria<br />
currently has 4.5 percent computer penetration, a decline when<br />
compared with 11 percent in 2016 and an 84 percent mobile<br />
phone penetration as at March <strong>2018</strong>.<br />
from using one finger to type on the keyboard, to not being able<br />
to identify computer icons, and not knowing how to browse with<br />
a laptop.<br />
Their mobile phone skills, however, were not in question as they<br />
were often found using them during office hours.<br />
Interestingly, millennials in other countries maintain a healthy<br />
balance between their mobile phones and PCs. A survey<br />
conducted for Pew Research Center found that 30 percent<br />
of people ages 18 to 35 said they could not live without their<br />
laptops and 34 percent identified their mobile phone as the<br />
technology they could not live without.<br />
That Nigerian employers do not hand out mobile phones to new<br />
recruits is a reality that many millennials learn very late. In nearly<br />
99 percent of organisations, you are started off with either a<br />
laptop or a desktop computer. Thus, there is a need for a healthy<br />
balance between addiction for Smartphones and learning to use<br />
a either a laptop or desktop computer.<br />
While the odds may favour a mobile phone culture in the<br />
workplace, companies – at least those in Nigeria – are still<br />
considerably dependent on the laptops to carry out their<br />
operations. Hence, millennials joining these organisations will<br />
be setting themselves up for a fall expecting the work tools to be<br />
different when it concerns them.<br />
Two years working as online content manager has been an eye<br />
opener for this writer. Usually the company recruits interns to<br />
supplement the online desk. Nearly 80 percent of the young<br />
adults between the ages of 18 to 26 that have been assigned to<br />
the unit had problems using a computer. The problems range<br />
“<br />
According to Pew Research Center, 30% of<br />
people between ages 18 to 35 can’t live without<br />
their laptops and 34% can’t live without their<br />
mobile phones.<br />
“<br />
@thesparkng<br />
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Accelerating the<br />
Future of Fintech<br />
in Africa<br />
- By Lanre Solarin<br />
Given the opportunity, the average Nigerian youth will take<br />
advantage of every opportunity announced on mainstream<br />
media, as long as it holds the prospect of helping them<br />
achieve their dreams. This is why this economy can never get tired<br />
of brands and institutions looking to make positive change in the<br />
lives of many.<br />
Access Bank, which is presently one of the five largest banks in<br />
Nigeria in terms of assets, loans, deposits and branch network,<br />
understands that to thrive in a fast paced economy, with<br />
technology as the catalyst, it needs to continuously create value<br />
while being flexible enough to adapt to change.<br />
In an interview with Ade Bajomo, the Executive Director of<br />
Operations and IT at Access Bank, he affirmed the fact, stating<br />
that the bank believes in driving innovation, digital financial<br />
services, financial inclusion, secure banking services, speed and<br />
enhanced services. It also believes in enhancing the capability of<br />
the wider ecosystem – the youths.<br />
As he stated, “I can say that Herbert Wigwe (Chief Executive<br />
Officer, Access Bank) is the top digitally aware financial services<br />
CEO in Africa today because he understands instinctively, that the<br />
financial services landscape needs to adapt fast, innovate, and<br />
either disrupt itself internally to remain relevant to its customers,<br />
or wait to be disrupted by Fintechs and other new players”.<br />
Ade Bajomo added: Customers today want fast, personalised<br />
financial services that can be accesses in a simple, efficient and<br />
seamless manner, from anywhere and at anytime. The millenials<br />
in particular thrive on innovative solutions. This is what we<br />
constantly move to achieve with our digital solutions.<br />
One way Access Bank has created value to stay at the forefront of<br />
innovation is by providing access to content that the wider<br />
ecosystem desires. They’ve done this through the innovative<br />
social interaction platform known as Accelerate TV.<br />
Accelerate TV<br />
Inspired by Access Bank, this platform is targeted at professionals<br />
and youths interested in world trends in order to stay informed.<br />
It’s a fulfilment of the bank’s promise to cater for the needs of<br />
its heterogeneous customer base – they identified a gap and<br />
decided to fill it up.<br />
It’s a haven for creatives, doers, thinkers, champions and everyone<br />
in between. Accelerate TV empowers the audience by being the<br />
lightning rod for cultural provocation, documenting Nigerian/<br />
African stories and pop culture while ensuring they continue<br />
blazing the trail in new directions.<br />
With several shows and publications under their belt, championed<br />
by a creative pool of next generation writers, stylist videographers<br />
and image makers, this multimedia outlet is stopping<br />
at nothing to ensure that as they blaze trails at top speed, they’re<br />
taking millennials along.<br />
Asides inspiring the creation of a forward-thinking media platform,<br />
Access Bank is also keen on helping new start-ups create an enabling<br />
environment to thrive. As stated by Ade Bajomo, “We need to<br />
provide easier access to technology, better training, capital and a<br />
strong but agile 21st century regulatory environment. In Africa, we<br />
have the opportunity to create innovative digital financial services<br />
to solve our unique problems by leveraging global technologies.<br />
Look at past industrial revolutions for instance. We first had the<br />
invention of the steam engine, then we had mass production.<br />
Next, was the electronics revolution when the ENIAC was built. But<br />
where was Africa in all this? This is the fourth industrial revolution<br />
and it’s exciting for Africa because of a few reasons:<br />
• There’s accessibility.<br />
• We have the highest number of innovative and entrepreneurial<br />
youths.<br />
• We can now solve our problems. We can take expertise from<br />
abroad to create local solutions and still get better results.”<br />
Empowering Africa Through Fintech<br />
Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF), unveiled December 2017, is a fintech<br />
accelerator that’s powered by Access Bank. AFF’s goal is to create<br />
new opportunities in Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa, providing<br />
the investment and support that tech entrepreneurs need to<br />
launch and scale up, while mitigating any risks.<br />
It’s a platform designed to inspire and challenge African innovators,<br />
entrepreneurs and developers. AFF makes this possible through<br />
networks – via its ecosystem of and associates partners, including<br />
Fintech Nigeria.<br />
The idea of having an accelerator program was conceived in 2016<br />
when Access Bank brainstormed ways to introduce more innovation<br />
into the economy and maintain long term relevance. As a forwardthinking<br />
bank, Access Bank is always on the lookout for ways to<br />
create value for their shareholders and customers. To achieve this,<br />
Africa Fintech Foundry was created in 2017 to provide African tech<br />
start-ups seeking to launch their products, with capacity building<br />
and training in business development. They’d also make access to<br />
capital easier, facilitate partnerships and will drive the introduction<br />
of top notch Africa-led innovation solutions.<br />
Through AFF, Access Bank plans to generate new products and<br />
enter new markets. It is also an avenue for creative people, such<br />
as innovators and developers to achieve success, thanks to its<br />
digitally-savvy team that provides advice, support and finance for<br />
these start-ups.<br />
‘Our vision at AFF is to bring innovative digital financial services<br />
originated by Africans to the world; and to bring the world to<br />
Africa through digital innovation’. Bajomo added.<br />
As a financial institution, Fintech (financial technology) was a viable<br />
area of technology to focus on. It involves the use of software<br />
and other technology to support or enable banking and financial<br />
services.<br />
//Re:Code Nigeria 2017<br />
On March 24 to March 26, 2017, Africa Fintech Foundry organised<br />
a 48-hour hackathon titled ‘//Re:Code Nigeria’, with N2.75m to be<br />
won. This hackathon, which was the first of its kind in the financial<br />
services industry, attracted multiple teams of talented developers,<br />
designers, problem-solvers, and innovative thinkers to tackle<br />
challenges in the financial services industry, and was supported<br />
by industry giants such as Microsoft, IBM, Access Bank, and Idea<br />
Nigeria.<br />
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With collaboration from Access Bank, the objective was to ensure that<br />
shareholders’ value and growth in tomorrow’s complex financial<br />
technology ecosystem can be delivered. Through the hackathon, Access<br />
Bank was ready to create the future now.<br />
As Ade stated, “The unique thing about our hackathon is that we’re not<br />
just solving problems for specific people. We’re solving problems for<br />
specific streams of businesses and industries.”<br />
The participating teams had the privilege of building hands-on solutions<br />
that leveraged application programming interfaces such as Microsoft’s<br />
Azure cloud computing infrastructure, IBM’s Bluemix artificial intelligence<br />
platform and Access Bank’s digital financial services platform.<br />
17 teams participated and created several applications and services<br />
creating a fusion between customers and banking services, with 3 teams<br />
emerging as winners.<br />
The winning team created an app called “Voice It” which activates banking<br />
transactions via voice. By simply tapping a button, customers can speak<br />
into the application and initiate transactions such as bank transfers,<br />
checking account balance, mobile recharge, etc.<br />
The second place team, called Paysense, developed a bot, nicknamed<br />
“Victor”, which provides payment solutions and easy access to financial<br />
advice and uses this information to create customer profiles based on<br />
spending habits. This provides the bank with information needed to make<br />
better financial decisions with respect to giving out loans, and more.<br />
The third place team created a financial assistance app called “Fissit” which<br />
helps users manage money and make payments from any messenger app<br />
– Facebook messenger, SMS or Slack.<br />
Every participant received one month Azure subscription while the winners<br />
received a full year’s worth of Azure, BizSpark and MSDN subscription<br />
worth over $10,000, with one selected team receiving admission into<br />
Africa Fintech Foundry’s 17-week accelerator program worth a $50,000<br />
early stage investment.<br />
//Re:Code Nigeria <strong>2018</strong> - The Biggest Hackathon in Nigeria, Ever.<br />
The second edition of //Re:Code Nigeria Hackathon themed “<strong>2018</strong> Data<br />
Hack” took place between <strong>July</strong> 20th and <strong>July</strong> 22nd, <strong>2018</strong>, and attracted<br />
a new set of innovators and developers with the objective of creating<br />
innovative solutions in response to challenges in some of Nigeria’s<br />
leading sectors such as Fast Moving Consumer Goods, Agriculture and the<br />
Financial Services ecosystem.<br />
Some of these problems include, but not limited to:<br />
• How financial technology can address supply chain challenges (from<br />
finished goods to retail) in the FMCG sector.<br />
• Leveraging big-data analytics, identity management and behavioural<br />
analysis to identify customers’ needs, providing investment advice &<br />
lending services.<br />
• Financial Inclusion for the agricultural and related sectors with a<br />
focus on improving credit scoring and financing opportunities for<br />
small and medium scale operators.<br />
With over 300 registrations, it was great to see young people trying to do<br />
the right thing and build their own businesses, without relying on<br />
government. For Ade, he desires that out of AFF, the next round of people<br />
like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, etc. emerge as this will benefit Nigeria specifically,<br />
and Africa as a whole. “Our vision is very big”, he stated.<br />
The <strong>2018</strong> edition was also supported by industry leaders such as Unilever,<br />
DELL, AFEX, Microsoft, IBM, SaS, Hitachi, Coca-Cola, amongst others to<br />
help leverage and create value for the ecosystem.<br />
‘Our partners were extremely pleased with the outcomes and the<br />
usefulness of the solutions that arose from the event and will be rolling<br />
them into their businesses.<br />
Africa Fintech Foundry has an accelerator program that opens its doors to<br />
start-ups with good ideas. They then fine-tune those ideas and help them<br />
grow from start-ups into enterprises that can actually stand on their own<br />
in the market.<br />
Also, through the AFF Disrupt conference, the foundry helps raise<br />
awareness about the importance of technology and building an ecosystem.<br />
It’s like a festival to celebrate, discover the best technical ideas, to inspire<br />
and give people confidence around driving their own innovations.<br />
Start-ups can take advantage of opportunities at Africa Fintech Foundry<br />
by reaching out and applying to be a part of the start-up accelerator<br />
program (www.africafintechfoundry.com). The hackathon is run at<br />
least twice a year and from that, 3 potential cohorts are chosen to go<br />
through an intensive accelerator program for 20 weeks, which helps them<br />
understand how to turn their innovation into successful enterprises by<br />
learning secrets in business and marketing. Mentors come in to teach<br />
about entrepreneurship, projections, finance, legal matters, etc.<br />
There’s still more to come from a bank that makes innovation the<br />
watchword for key business decisions. Tech start-ups can leverage the<br />
resources made available at AFF now and get started in achieving their<br />
dreams, and disrupting the market, one solution at a time.<br />
You can catch up on some of the action from the //Recode Nigeria <strong>2018</strong><br />
Hackathon on Twitter using the hashtag #RecodeNigeria<strong>2018</strong>.<br />
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Into The Mind Of A Digital Curator<br />
Bankole Oluwafemi is the co-founder of Big Cabal Media, the publisher of Tech Cabal and other<br />
media outlets. In this interview, he shares his journey into tech industry as a creative.<br />
- By Ayandola Ayanleke<br />
Tell us about yourself and what you do.<br />
I’m a creative. I like to make things. Right now, I make things at<br />
Big Cabal Media, a digital content company that makes cool<br />
things for African audiences.<br />
Big Cabal Media is the publisher of Techcabal.com, a magazine<br />
website that covers the business of technology, innovation and<br />
start-ups in Africa; and Zikoko.com, an entertainment website<br />
that curates and amplifies young African culture and lifestyle.<br />
We are also the makers of Ebolafacts.com and GetYourPVC.<br />
com. And we’ve got more exciting stuff on the way.<br />
Take us through your journey into the tech industry. When<br />
and how did you first “interact” with the tech industry?<br />
I kind of stumbled into the whole tech thing; and actually<br />
consider myself a media guy, not a tech guy. For as long as I<br />
can remember, I wanted to get into media, and didn’t quite<br />
know how, because I studied law and had no media training or<br />
obvious media skills.<br />
In 2010, when I was in Law School, I got the idea to start<br />
blogging. It began as a personal journal, and I’d write about<br />
anything and everything that caught my fancy. But after<br />
attending a tech event at Unilag, and interacting with internet<br />
entrepreneurs and developers, I slowly developed an affinity<br />
for technology blogging. More of the stuff I published started<br />
to be about gadgets I had or wanted, and apps that I was trying<br />
out. I was eventually invited to become a contributor to what –<br />
at the time – was the largest technology blog in Nigeria.<br />
What inspired the establishment of Techcabal and what<br />
was the Spark to your success?<br />
Contributing to an established technology blog made me<br />
realise that I had a voice, even if it was coming out of an entrylevel<br />
Samsung Android phone in the back of a Danfo on Third<br />
Mainland Bridge. And people were not only listening to what I<br />
had to say, they were sharing and engaging with it.<br />
I eventually got tired of competing with TechCrunch in<br />
California to review the latest apps or phones from Lagos.<br />
At that time, devices that launched in North America/Europe<br />
would take months to reach Africa, so it really made no sense<br />
to go head to head with TechCrunch on phone reviews. What<br />
did make sense to me was writing about local start-ups and the<br />
people behind them.<br />
In 2011, the start-up ecosystem in Lagos was incredibly tiny;<br />
there weren’t a lot of page-views from writing about obscure<br />
app developers and entrepreneurs. No page-views meant<br />
no advertising revenue. Page-views came from writing stale<br />
gadget reviews and recycling press releases from boring<br />
but, established companies. That was the reigning wisdom. It<br />
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became obvious to me that the only way to prove my hyper-local coverage<br />
hypothesis was to start something that was laser-focused on local startups..<br />
There are tech websites everywhere. How were you able to grow<br />
Techcabal to become a primary resource for industry information?<br />
My decision to write about local start-ups and entrepreneurs seemed<br />
strategically counterintuitive at the time. In 2013, Techcabal essentially<br />
zigged when everyone else was zagging. Today in <strong>2018</strong>, writing about<br />
African start-ups makes all the sense in the world, and tech blogs emerge<br />
everyday. This is a very good thing. Africa is not a country, and there are<br />
hundreds of local tech ecosystems across the continent that need the kind<br />
of visibility that only hyper-local media can provide.<br />
Where do you think technology in Nigeria is headed and what<br />
innovations are there to look forward to?<br />
Right now, everyone is going nuts about fintech, and for good reason. But<br />
the things I care most about are education -- building an army of<br />
developers, creators and problem solvers that will solve the problems<br />
of this age and the next; Policy -- creating enabling environments for<br />
innovative start-ups with forward-thinking legislation.<br />
How best can techies leverage technology for the future?<br />
By solving problems. From when wheels were invented to the age of flying<br />
cars, the purpose of technology has always been to solve humanity’s<br />
problems and help people live longer, healthier and happier lives.<br />
What technological trends do you believe can change the Nigerian<br />
economy if leveraged?<br />
The most important technological trend that needs to be leveraged on<br />
right now is fixing electricity in Nigeria. It isn’t rocket science. Fix electricity,<br />
and watch Nigerians do the rest. Next, let’s get broadband to the last<br />
mile by getting the state and local governments to align sensibly on those<br />
pesky right-of-way fees for laying fibre.<br />
New tech gadgets spring up back to back. How do you think gadgets<br />
are affecting the technological space in Nigeria?<br />
The proliferation of gadgets, which I’m assuming in this context, are<br />
mobile phones, is a huge driver of economic activity and opportunity in<br />
Sub-Saharan Africa, contributing more than 7 percent to GDP. Cheap smart<br />
phones are bringing millions of Nigerians online each year and affording<br />
them access to credit and financial services, educational content, jobs,<br />
and entrepreneurial opportunities. In a country where only 40 percent<br />
of the adult working population have bank accounts, where only one in<br />
five people who sit JAMB will gain admission into University, and where<br />
unemployment is at over 14 percent and rising, mobile phones and access<br />
to the internet are a chance to transcend the challenges of one’s immediate<br />
environment. I am proof of this but, that’s a story for another day.<br />
How do you think Nigeria can take advantage of the innovations in<br />
gadgets production to improve the economy? Are we receptive to<br />
these tech innovations?<br />
Companies like Innoson and Andela have proven that we can make things<br />
and export world class talent. But, until the underlying issues of<br />
infrastructure and education are fixed, Nigeria will continue to be a net<br />
importer of technology and innovation. That is the real challenge we need<br />
to rise up to.<br />
What advice do you have for potential entrepreneurs in the tech<br />
space?<br />
I think that if you build something that solves problems, everything good<br />
will come.<br />
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START UP<br />
Being a Founder<br />
Tomi Davies is the “Collaborator-in-Chief” of technology services company TechnoVision which advises<br />
clients on technology-led transformation and early stage entrepreneurship in Africa. He sheds light on<br />
starting up as a tech entrepreneur.<br />
- By Harry Tomi Davies (TD)<br />
Starting out as a Tech Start-up<br />
As a guide to answering this question of “Where do I start?” especially if<br />
you really want to get your start-up funded, the question of what exactly<br />
it is that you’re building, measuring and learning should start with<br />
some old-fashioned thinking about what you see in the future — YOUR<br />
VISION! I mean taking yourself through a process that recognises you’re<br />
preparing to build a business (and that’s exactly what your start-up is!)<br />
that can change the world!It is critical to begin with a think-through of<br />
the journey you are starting on while you’re still a start-up because once<br />
you’ve started, while you might evolve, pivot and scale you’re never going<br />
to get to start the same company again. For how to do this, take a look<br />
at my article “What’s the vision for your startup?”on Medium - http://bit.<br />
ly/2NmoHnh<br />
Demonstrate Your Mastery as a Start-up Entrepreneur<br />
It is your responsibility as the founder and owner of the venture’s vision to<br />
figure out and be sure to document how the business will function from<br />
a process and procedures standpoint. At the minimum, you should be<br />
able to describe the buy-side (i.e. procurement, vendor management etc),<br />
inside (i.e. human capital, design, development, production etc) and sellside<br />
(i.e. marketing, sales, customer relations, etc.) of your operations.<br />
It is important to demonstrate your mastery (and as appropriate lack of<br />
knowledge) of your envisioned (or semi-built) organisation in anticipation<br />
of helping potential investors, partners and employees understand how<br />
you see it all working operationally to deliver your proposition.Research,<br />
think through and get advice if need be to bring to life on paper just<br />
how you expect your startup business to work, highlighting key roles and<br />
responsibilities of the different units that will make up the company. You<br />
should also (if possible) identify the main activities that will make up the<br />
daily operations of the business and any issues associated with them that<br />
you foresee.<br />
Courses and Programs for Tech Start-up Entrepreneurs<br />
Personally, I’m a big fan of Eric Ries’“Lean Startup” and the “Build, Measure,<br />
Learn” process which is evolving as I write, thanks to the likes of Steve Blank.<br />
The VC4A Startup Academy is a FREE online resource dedicated to the<br />
next generation of African startup founders; you can take your business to<br />
the next level by learning about the latest insights and listening to advice<br />
from 35 experts like me active in the African early stage ecosystem. It can<br />
be found at https://academy.vc4a.com/<br />
Mentorship<br />
At each stage of my personal development, I have been privileged to have<br />
an amazing array of mentors throughout my life including my late brother<br />
Akin Ogunmade-Davies who built Nigeria’s first ever indigenous Public<br />
Relations firm ROD Publicitywith his two partners, Jim Obi who built<br />
Equitable Life Insurance - the most lucrative Agency in New York, and<br />
Nicholas Negroponte, a co-founder of MIT’s Media Lab who created<br />
the One Laptop Per Child organization. Today I still benefit from the<br />
mentorship of both senior and junior mentors who guide me in building<br />
businesses and their industry expertise.<br />
Start-up Quick Tips<br />
Make sure, as I said earlier, that you have a compelling vision that is<br />
sustainably innovating the solution to a problem in a compelling way;<br />
choose great co-founders who share your vision enough to build it with<br />
you then launch fast; let your proposition to the market evolve with your<br />
understanding of your customers; Avoid distractions to your strategic<br />
focus while making sure delivery of your offer delightscustomers. Spend<br />
pragmatically and measure everything you can in the business. Above all,<br />
don’t get demoralized and don’t give up.<br />
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Online Business 101<br />
The internet has made it easy to do business that can<br />
have global relevance.<br />
- By Stephanie Obi<br />
“<br />
An Online business is not just a<br />
website or a blog, it is a business<br />
“<br />
Online businesses are booming and have created a fantastic<br />
opportunity for young people to start businesses without<br />
necessarily having huge capital. You can even start an online<br />
business from the comfort of your home, and with your smartphone<br />
as long as you have access to the internet. The additional beauty of<br />
online businesses is that you can serve a lot more people regardless<br />
of where they live. Your customers are no longer limited to the city<br />
or country you live in.<br />
Unfortunately, there is a lot of misconception around what an online<br />
business really is, so let’s start with some definitions. An Online<br />
business is first of all a business. It is not a website or a blog, it is a<br />
business. Like every business, it is created to solve a specific problem<br />
for people, and it has to be a solution that people are willing to pay<br />
for. Once you are clear about the problem you solve, you have to<br />
think about what business model to go with. Simply put, a business<br />
model is how you make money.<br />
In this article, I will share eight online business models that have<br />
been tried and tested.<br />
Advertising: In this business model, you make money by charging<br />
people or organizations a fee to advertise on your platform (website,<br />
blog, social media page, email list, etc). To successfully run this<br />
model, you must have built up a platform that has a lot of traffic, as<br />
advertisers will pay you to access the people that visit your platform.<br />
Examples of Nigerian businesses that use this model are Bella Naija<br />
and Linda Ikeji. You can equally attract advertisers if you have a niche<br />
audience who engage on your platform.<br />
Physical Products: In this business model, you make money by<br />
selling a physical product like clothes, shoes, gadgets, books, etc.<br />
You can partner with a logistic company to deliver your orders to<br />
people wherever they live. Examples of Nigerian businesses that use<br />
this model are boutiques that also have e-commerce stores.<br />
Marketplaces: In this business model, you create a platform that<br />
houses different online stores and you make a commission from<br />
every sale that is made on the platform. Examples of Nigerian<br />
businesses that use this model are Konga which houses stores that<br />
sell electronics, clothes, phones, etc and Trayny which houses online<br />
courses from different facilitators. To successfully run this model,<br />
you must be able to market the products that have been housed on<br />
the marketplace.<br />
Apps: In this model, you make money by selling access to an app or<br />
by offering in-app purchases. Many mobile phones now come with<br />
the Android and IOS operating systems which allow developers to<br />
upload their apps and earn an income from it. People who have been<br />
successful with this model often have a free version and give their<br />
users an option to pay for additional features in the app.<br />
Memberships: In this model, you make money by creating a<br />
resource or software or a product that people have to pay a fixed<br />
amount monthly to access. A popular example of this is Netflix, which<br />
has a library of entertaining content that people have access to when<br />
they pay their membership fee. Another example of this is Basecamp,<br />
which is an online productivity software that small business owners<br />
pay monthly to use.<br />
Affiliate Marketing: In this model, you make money by marketing<br />
another person’s product. You get paid a commission each time<br />
someone pays for the product you are marketing. People who have<br />
been successful with this model have built up a community of people<br />
who trust them and who will buy what they recommend for example<br />
bloggers, vloggers and podcasters.<br />
One on One service: In this model, you make money by providing a<br />
service to another individual or organization. It can be business<br />
coaching, website development, brand consultancy, etc. Meetings<br />
can be held over platforms like Skype and Zoom. Contracts can be<br />
signed using platforms like HelloSign. Emails can be used as a means<br />
of communication and these days, people even use WhatsApp.<br />
Online Courses: In this model, you make money by teaching what<br />
you know online as an online course. People who pay for your course<br />
will receive a username and password to access your content. This is<br />
currently an industry that is valued at over $107 billion as individuals<br />
who have a skill, talent or expertise and coming online, building their<br />
brands, growing their online community and creating online courses<br />
to sell to their communities.<br />
With all these options, there has to be an online business you can<br />
start today.<br />
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Intune With<br />
Kemi Onabanjo on Travel Blogging<br />
Kemi Onabanjo is a management consultant by day and a blogger by night. In this piece, she<br />
took us through a journey with her as a travel blogger.<br />
- By Kemi Onabanjo<br />
Being a management consultant at a global firm like McKinsey<br />
comes with the opportunity to work on projects across<br />
multiple countries. However, travel for me started well<br />
before I became a management consultant. While I worked<br />
at Ericsson Nigeria, I travelled all over and eventually started<br />
travelling to other countries (Ghana, Kenya) running change<br />
management projects. My first trip to Kenya triggered my<br />
curiosity to see the rest of Africa and I made it a goal to visit one<br />
new African country every year.<br />
My first trip ever was a family trip from Lagos to Port-Harcourt in<br />
1995 to visit my Aunt. It was also my first time ever on an airplane<br />
– we went by bus and returned by air and I can never forget how<br />
excited I was to be in an airplane. It was so fascinating! First trip<br />
abroad was also a family trip in 2000 to the United Kingdom to<br />
visit my Uncle and his family.<br />
I started travelling properly on my own in 2009 when I could<br />
afford to sponsor my trips from my savings (thank God for good<br />
jobs).<br />
Planning Travels With a Full-time Job<br />
This depends on if it is a proper vacation or a quick opportunistic<br />
trip. Every year, since 2013, I take 4 weeks of unpaid leave off<br />
work, and plan my proper vacations around that. The great thing<br />
about working in an organization that is project-based is that<br />
with good upfront planning (I am talking months in advance),<br />
you can take time off without worrying about the world crashing<br />
at work.<br />
In addition, we have a good number of weekend public holidays<br />
in Nigeria, and I try to plan quick trips around those as well. My<br />
latest hack is to join group trips organized during public holidays<br />
as a way to minimize planning stress and also meet new people.<br />
Most Nigerian travel experience curators have their annual<br />
calendars of group trips published in advance so it is easy to<br />
plan (save money, book, get other friends to join, etc.) ahead.<br />
Travelling Favourites and Non-Favourites<br />
My favourite thing about travelling has to be going to new places<br />
and actually seeing/experiencing things I have read or heard<br />
about. It is always so cool for anticipation/expectation to be<br />
met with reality. Those moments also make me grateful for the<br />
opportunity that I have to be able to touch/see the things I could<br />
only imagine before.<br />
My least favourite thing used to be all the time wasted travelling<br />
but now I actually love it because I do most of my writing when I<br />
am on train rides or flights (a big chuck of this article was written<br />
on a flight from Abuja to Accra). For some reason, a lot of my<br />
inspiration comes when I am in the clouds. To be honest, I think<br />
it has more to do with the fact that I can’t be on WhatsApp than<br />
the clouds themselves, lol. That said, I am still not a fan of airport<br />
security and all that ‘remove your shoes’ business.<br />
Challenges Encountered While Travelling<br />
Gosh, too many – here we go;<br />
Uncertainty – “Abeg, when exactly is the public holiday<br />
happening? Thursday/Friday or Friday/Monday?”<br />
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Visa applications – “Oh no, this country only has an embassy in Abuja!<br />
Why me Lord?” or<br />
“Please where am I supposed to find my grandmother’s birth certificate<br />
that this embassy is asking me to submit now?”<br />
Language – “I am lost in this city but I can’t explain to anyone where I am<br />
going because the only thing I remember from Google Translate is how to<br />
say rice and chicken in this language!”<br />
Cash - “After all the months of saving, I can’t believe that all these my<br />
plenty Naira is worth only 500 of this other currency!!”<br />
Unmet expectations – “Excuse me, but this hotel room does not look like<br />
what I saw on the website o”Hehehe.<br />
Being unequally yoked –“Dear diary, please remind me never to travel<br />
with this my friend again - how did we end up spending more time (and<br />
money) in Zara stores than at the museum?”<br />
I can go on and on about challenges but I think you get the point now.<br />
Travel, just like any other worthwhile endeavour, is not devoid of its<br />
challenges but I have learnt to take them in my stride and laugh about<br />
them. In the moment, it’s usually not funny but hey, we move anyway!<br />
Favourite Spots<br />
I have too many favourite places. My top 3 would be:<br />
1. Japan because my experience in that country was so deep and rich, it<br />
overflowed from my heart into a note on my phone that eventually<br />
became my first ever travel (and the unofficial launch of my writing/<br />
blogging career). Japan opened my mind and woke my fingers up!<br />
2. Lebanon because I had very low expectations (blame it on CNN) and<br />
I was pleasantly surprised by how beautiful the country is and how<br />
similar Lebanese and Nigerians are. I genuinely believe that we are<br />
distant cousins.<br />
3. Rwanda because I was completely blown away by how well/quickly<br />
they have rebuilt the country since the genocide in 1991 and it gave<br />
me hope that Nigeria can be great again in my lifetime.<br />
Advise for Potential Travel Bloggers and Tourists<br />
For a potential travel blogger - write from your heart and be authentic<br />
– don’t try to write like anyone else. Focus on excellence and not on being<br />
commercial – if you focus on the right thing, everything else will be added<br />
unto you. Don’t forget to enjoy your trips – it is easy to get caught up in<br />
documenting everything you see that you end up not enjoying the trip.<br />
Not all trips will be amazing or article-worthy and that’s okay – there is no<br />
wasted experience so remember to enjoy all your experiences.<br />
getting the information to complete immigration requirements (VisaHQ,<br />
relevant Consulate websites and various forums on Google), booking<br />
flights (airline websites, travel sites like Travel Start, WakaNow), securing<br />
accommodation (hotel websites, AirBnB), to discovering and planning<br />
my itinerary (TripAdvisor, Instagram feeds of country tourism sites and<br />
fellow travellers, good ol’ Google), sorting out ground transportation<br />
(Uber, Taxify, GoogleMaps), getting food and staying nourished (UberEats,<br />
Yelp), managing money matters especially on group trips (Splitwise),<br />
documenting my experiences (iPhone camera and IG stories), staying in<br />
touch with family and friends back home (WhatsApp, Facetime) and so<br />
much more.<br />
Long story short, technology provides me with relevant and timely<br />
information and services that make my travel experience simpler, richer,<br />
more efficient and more enjoyable.<br />
Role of the Government in Improving Tourism<br />
There are so many ways we can monetize tourism in Nigeria but I will focus<br />
on just 2 practical initiatives. There are 2 dimensions to tourism in Nigeria<br />
– local tourism (for Nigerians in Nigeria) and international tourism (for<br />
foreigners coming to Nigeria).<br />
For international tourism, we make money when people actually come to<br />
this country, so first things first – invest in making Nigeria an attractive<br />
tourist destination. I fell in love with Lebanon on Instagram. I keep<br />
dreaming about Bali and the Maldives because of the amazing online<br />
photos I have seen of these locations. Countries that are serious about<br />
tourism invest in showcasing their country via dedicated websites and<br />
other online channels. The power of a beautiful photograph and wellwritten<br />
experience cannot be underestimated. Nigeria needs to get<br />
serious about its online presence.<br />
The second practical initiative is more around local tourism. Even though<br />
there are a good number of potential tourist attractions/historical sites<br />
spread across Nigeria, they are either not well-known or well-maintained<br />
and therefore, not visited and therefore not commercially relevant. Believe<br />
it or not, a lot of Nigerians have not really explored Nigeria beyond Lagos,<br />
Abuja and their states of residence or origin, and they are quite keen<br />
to see more of their country. So, what we can we do? Each state should<br />
focus on improving the attractiveness of their tourist attractions because<br />
whatever revenue they make become internally-generated revenue that<br />
they get to keep 100% (if you know how the Federal Government and State<br />
Government treat revenues, you will understand how that is a big deal).<br />
The revenue will not just be from the sites themselves, but from the broad<br />
ecosystem – money spent at hotels where tourists will stay, restaurants<br />
where they will eat, tour guides they will patronize, local transport they<br />
will take, etc.<br />
For the tourist who wants to see the world – Just do it!!!! Don’t overthink it,<br />
just go! Be intentional about travel – set money aside every month for it,<br />
look for deals and packages to help you get more value for money, don’t<br />
tie your travel destiny to anyone – it is very okay to be a solo traveller<br />
sometimes. Enjoy the whole process, be adventurous and don’t go abroad<br />
to be looking for jollof rice and dodo!<br />
Impact of Technology on Travelling<br />
I rely quite heavily on technology (a combination of the internet and<br />
mobile apps) in my end-to-end travel process. From choosing a destination,<br />
“<br />
Don’t forget to enjoy your trips<br />
– it is easy to get caught up<br />
in documenting everything<br />
you see that you end up not<br />
enjoying the trip.<br />
“<br />
34<br />
@thesparkng
www.thesparkng.com<br />
The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve<br />
BrandSpark<br />
MAX Go vs Gokada<br />
As urbanization becomes rapid in African countries, technology has also become one of the key players in providing solutions<br />
to long-standing problems and paving a way for new industries, jobs and a better quality of life. For a State like Lagos,<br />
population explosion means more vehicles on the road, and also, a worsened traffic situation. This edition of BrandSpark<br />
paces two tech-powered transportation companies working to alleviate the problem of traffic in Lagos.<br />
- By Damilola Oyewusi<br />
Transportation is arguably one of the toughest parts of living in<br />
Lagos. With almost 20 million people shuttling to work or school,<br />
the average daily commute for many is as long as three hours.<br />
From private cars to public buses and taxis, gridlocks have become a<br />
picture that quickly comes to mind at the mention of Lagos. To augment<br />
these vehicles of transportation were the motorcycles, popularly called<br />
Okada within the metropolis.<br />
By virtue of the size of the vehicle, an Okada could meander its way<br />
through gridlocks, cutting down travel time for passengers who are<br />
usually trying to beat time and escape the stress of the regular traffic<br />
jams. Unfortunately, a high record of road mishaps, including robbery<br />
and avoidable accidents led to a ban on motorcycles in major parts of<br />
the State. It did not help that many of the motorcycles were in poor<br />
conditions and the riders had little training as to proper riding and<br />
road sharing.<br />
To solve this challenge, these tech startups have reproduced the car<br />
hire model used by Uber and are working to provide an integrated<br />
solution to the obvious and less overt problems of this mode of<br />
transportation.<br />
“<br />
With almost 20 million people<br />
shuttling to work or school, the<br />
average daily commute for many<br />
is as long as three hours.<br />
“<br />
MAX Go<br />
MAX (Metro Africa Express) began their journey as a delivery company<br />
for e-commerce businesses and restaurants. They launched the<br />
MAX Go service in mid-2017 to transport people in a bid to alleviate<br />
transportation headaches. To bypass the challenge of the government’s<br />
ban on Motorcycles, the company only accepts the State approved<br />
models - 200cc motorcycle and provides safety gears for both the<br />
drivers and the passengers. Even more important is the screening<br />
and training availed to riders before they are accepted into the ‘Max<br />
Champions’ pool of drivers.<br />
The company also allows motorized tricycles (kekes) on their network,<br />
providing options for those who remain wary of riding on motorcycles.<br />
To empower verified drivers who cannot afford the specified vehicles,<br />
the company works with the Lagos State Employment Trust fund<br />
(LSETF) to assist with funding.<br />
The MAX Go website is detailed, functional and user-friendly. You can<br />
check your price estimate directly on the platform before downloading<br />
the app as a first time user.<br />
While this service is definitely applauded and welcome, some<br />
commercial users on the app have raised issues with pricing for delivery<br />
services.<br />
Gokada<br />
Gokada is fairly new to the market, having launched in January this year<br />
but have also begun making their mark in both Lagos mainland and<br />
Island environs. While the team still have a lot of work to do on the userfriendliness<br />
and functionality of the application itself, they seem to be<br />
focused on getting drivers out on the road.<br />
With similar business strategies to MAX Go, the company is providing a<br />
rent-to-own plan and comprehensive training for their drivers. However,<br />
they have honed in on providing transportation services to individuals<br />
alone as against partnering with businesses for delivery services.<br />
As any tech-based business soon realizes, the solution provided goes<br />
beyond the intrigues of building an application that works well. Trust and<br />
reliability are currencies for success in the business. Technology works<br />
best when it is matched with or enhances good service. Availability of<br />
vehicles is also an issue at the moment, but with plans like Gokada’s<br />
rent-to-own and MAX Go’s partnership with LSETF, more motorcycles<br />
on the road should ease up that challenge.<br />
Despite the challenges of this teething-stage, MAX and Gokada seem<br />
to have started on the right foot. It will be great to see the successes<br />
they record in the coming years.<br />
@thesparkng<br />
35
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Visit thesparkng.com/freestyle to submit your work of art.<br />
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