Startups and social entrepreneurs with solutions that can help shape the Lagos of the future are invited to participate in the very first Lagos Urban Innovative Challenge with $ 10,000 in prospect. Set up by Utopian jointly with Future Africa, Business Insider, Skoll Foundation, the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation, Lagos Innovates and Rain Tree. The challenge aims to give startups the financial means to find ideas that can help solve critical urban problems in Lagos, in areas such as energy, food and water, government technology, mobility, infrastructure and public health and safety.
According to a press release from Emmanuel Adegboye, Managing Partner of Utopia Lagos, the company is very pleased to support the entrepreneurs who are now working to build the future that Africa deserves while setting the continent on the path of a new model. of urban growth. He further added that “shaping the urban future of Lagos will require innovative approaches and collaboration between government, citizens, innovators and businesses”.
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Some of the main challenges that directly limit the growth of the Nigerian technological ecosystem include lack of funding, poor infrastructure, insecurity, lack of confidence from security agents, among others. Compared to the value of the country, the Nigerian government has not done enough in recent years to support the growth of technology in the country. There is no concrete system in place to encourage and empower tech startups with additional skill sets that could help them compete favorably on the world stage.
In August 2019, a 9-year-old tech genius, Basil Okpara Jr, was discovered somewhere in Lagos. At the moment, he invented 30 games with his parents’ laptop. According to Okpara, he learned how to create games in a training camp and currently builds whenever he gets bored. Likewise, Jerry Isaac Mallo, 25, made Nigeria’s first carbon fiber sports car in December 2019 and a fan invention in March 2020 to help fight the coronavirus. He asked the federal government to help him access raw materials and funds to improve his inventions, but that was how far it could go. Nothing more is known about what the government is doing to support these geniuses.
The latest brain drain in Nigeria is in its tech industry. Many Nigerian technology developers are beginning to emigrate to countries like Canada in search of a better quality of life and income because the country’s system is not lucrative enough for them.
In 2019, machinery, including computers, cost Nigeria $ 9 billion worth of imports, which represents the largest import slice of 18.9%. The Nigerian government must take proactive measures to make the technological space truly conducive to its technological innovators. Infrastructure such as constant power supply, affordable Internet services and access to raw materials should be among its top priorities. If not taken into account, the country would continue to spend more on importing technologies while losing its future technological geniuses to other countries.
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Utopia is the first urban innovation group in the world that focuses solely on the use of innovation to transform emerging cities and their slums. The company aims to support startups with solutions that can help solve Lagos’ critical urban problems. Contest winners would have access to a virtual urban accelerator, over $ 10,000 in resources and a support network of challenge partners.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer who has advised startups across Africa on issues such as startup funding (Venture Capital, Debt financing, private equity, angel investing etc), taxation, strategies, etc. He also has special focus on the protection of business or brands’ intellectual property rights ( such as trademark, patent or design) across Africa and other foreign jurisdictions.
He is well versed on issues of ESG (sustainability), media and entertainment law, corporate finance and governance.
He is also an award-winning writer.