The latest edition of the Lago Startup Expo is due to begin soon, and it gives Nigeria’s entrepreneurs a chance to show their new services and products to the world. How does this event help us to see the importance of startups to the country’s economy?
Full Details of the Expo
The event will start on May 20 and start with an opening speech by Ifeanyi Ndiomewesem, who is the chief technical officer at Techpoint Africa. This is followed by product demos, networking opportunities, and workshops through the rest of the day, with the closing comments coming from Múyìwá Mátùlúkò, also from Techpoint Africa.
The location for the Lagos Startup Expo is the Landmark Center in Victoria Island, Lagos. Many of the country’s top startups and most innovative new products are expected to be on show here, giving them a chance to get seen by customers and potential investors.
The Importance of the Startup Scene
Nigeria is home to many exciting startups that are looking to help grow the economy while they provide useful new services. With Nigeria’s total debt currently standing at over N46 trillion and debt servicing in 2022 taking up close to 100% of the total revenue, a new approach is needed and there are many entrepreneurs with fresh ideas looking for the chance to bring their ideas to life.
These companies have been helped by the fact that the Nigeria Startup Act was introduced last year, as a way to help innovative new companies to grow. Incentives like tax breaks and easier access to funding have been designed to let the best new ideas flourish.
This is also an important point for investors who look at the upcoming economic calendar to find out about areas such as industrial production, retail sales, and the balance of trade across different countries. A country with a strong startup scene will see this reflected in its economic data, which gives investors a reason to believe in the future of that country and invest there.
Some Nigerian Startup Examples
An example of an up-and-coming startup, Storspay recently raised US$320,000 during its latest funding round. This company has a decentralized platform for retail lending purposes and their success to date means that they’ve been chosen for the Techstars NYC accelerator program which is backed by JPMorgan.
Other examples include Metro Africa, which plans to introduce electric vehicles into several African countries this year. Figorr is a solution for moving products that need to be temperature-controlled and its name was recently changed from Gricd following a successful seed funding round that brought in US$1.5 million.
The last-mile logistics industry has also seen some successful startups that have helped businesses to boost sales and improve customer trust by delivering goods speedily and safely. Gokada has raised over US$12.5 million in funding while Kwik delivers items in two hours or less around Lagos and they’ve raised US$4.7 million so far.
These examples help us to see how some startups are making a real difference to people and other businesses, as well as boosting the Nigerian economy with their success stories.
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