Until Chiniki Guard won $10,000 in Dubai at a technology event known as GITEX last year, many Nigerians did not believe that it was possible to employ artificial intelligence (AI) to any sphere of the nation’s life.
But the platform, founded by Abdulhakim Bashir, uses AI to prevent thefts in retail stores from employees and professional shoplifters. It does this by monitoring and alerting shop owners about shoplifting and suspicious behaviour in real time.
Chiniki Guard is just one out of hundreds of innovations that have bestridden the Nigerian start-up landscape in recent times, as economic crunch and high unemployment force young Nigerians to create solutions for emerging challenges.
Virtue Oboro has designed Crib A’Glow, a solar-powered, foldable phototherapy crib that uses LED lights to help treat jaundice in new-born babies. She has made the technology available to hospitals and health centres in rural and semi-urban communities in Nigeria, leading to the treatment of over 600 babies. She was selected in September 2019 alongside five other start-ups in Africa by Africa Innovation Challenge (AIC) to receive $50,000 in funding and technical mentoring.
“It takes a lot of grit and determination to do business in Nigeria, and many young entrepreneurs are defying all the odds,” Fola Adeola, chairman, Fate Foundation, said at the 2019 Fate Foundation Annual Celebration held in December 2019 in Lagos.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun, founder and CEO, LifeBank, a start-up that works with hospitals to find lifesaving medical products, came to continental limelight in November 2019 after winning Jack Ma Foundation’s Africa Netpreneur Prize Initiative’s $250,000 in Ghana.
LifeBank has saved many lives, providing blood and other health services during emergencies. The start-up has an app that connects hospitals with available blood supplies, and has developed what is known as SmartBag tag, a blockchain-powered system that tracks the safety record of the blood. It likewise has an app that allows blood donors to register and book appointments at blood banks closest to them. It has distributed over 16,000 units of blood, registered more than 3,500 donors, and worked with over 400 hospitals to save more than 4,500 lives, BusinessDay found.
“I look forward to continuing my journey to solve problems and make a significant impact on the future of Africa,” Giwa-Tubosun said after the prize in Ghana.
Babban Gona franchises thousands of mini farmer cooperatives across Northern Nigeria, trains them, and provides them with credit and inputs, including market access. It has provided 55,000 different loans and has made healthy food available to 280,000 Nigerians.
“Our goal is to make 1m farmers richer by 2025,” Lola Masha, executive director for corporate services at Babban Gona Farmer Services, told BusinessDay in an interview.
“We have succeeded through our model to significantly increase the profitability of smallholder farmers 2.5-3 times more than the recorded average farmers produce in Nigeria,” Masha said.
In 2019, Sim Shagaya, a serial entrepreneur, returned with a new edtech start-up after raising $3.1 million seed round from TLcom Capital.
The platform, known as uLesson, integrates mobile platforms, SD cards, culture-specific curriculum and a network of tutors to close educational gaps for secondary school students in West Africa. It is expected to start fully next month.
“We are adding more babies in this country nominally than all of Western Europe. Even if the government was super-efficient, it could not catch up with the educational needs of the young people that are coming up,” Shagaya said.
Nigeria’s entrepreneurship landscape is growing and is attracting funding from various types of investors.
Nigerian start-ups raised $178m in funding rounds in 2018, according to Techpoint Africa. They further raised $17.6 million and $24.7 million in the first and second quarters of 2019. But challenges of harsh business environment hurt the growth of many start-ups.
“Multiple taxation remains a major problem in Nigeria,” Toki Mabogunje, president, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), told BusinessDay in an interview.
“We keep hearing of streamlining of taxes, but businesses are still on the receiving end of public officers who want to raise internal revenue,” she said.
Access to Nigerian seaports has become a major challenge as Apapa and Tin Can seem captured by trucks and containers.
“There is need to address observed port-related challenges: dilapidated infrastructure, inadequate space, weak trade facilitation infrastructure, poor road network and the associated gridlock to enhance competitiveness,” the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) said in a third quarter 2019 CEO survey.
Energy is the biggest headache as start-ups and small businesses face high running costs with 40 percent of their expenditure dedicated to fuelling their generators.
Ede Dafinone, chairman, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG), said the closure of Nigeria-Benin Republic border has caused humongous losses to exporters and a lot of businesses.
A number of businesses have been relocated because of insecurity, and analysts say except this is addressed, especially in the north-east, more businesses will shut down.
ODINAKA ANUDU & GBEMI FAMINU
