Of start-ups, UN 2030 agenda of sustainable development goals

THE action or process of setting something in motion has been described as a start-up. This can happen in any sector with individual founders or entrepreneurs, who are searching for a repeatable and scalable business model. More specifically, a start-up is a newly emerged business venture that aims to develop a viable business model to meet a marketplace need or problem. This model is brought to life using the human design approach. Founders design start-ups to effectively develop and validate a scalable model. Hence, the concept of start-ups and entrepreneurship are similar. However, entrepreneurship refers to all new businesses, including self-employment and businesses that never intend to grow big or become registered, but Start-ups refer to new business that intends to grow beyond the solo founder, have employees, and intend to grow large. Therefore, in discussing start-ups it is imperative to talk about how they face high uncertainty and have high rates of failure, but the fact remains that the minority that has gone on to be successful companies have become large and quite influential.

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At the heart of the United Nations, 17 goals and 169 targets lies goal 11 which is about building sustainable cities and communities that are inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable which is what Startup South4 is also about, gathering the biggest Star-tup/Entrepreneurship focused conference in the South-South and South-East. The event started in 2015 brought together startup Leaders from across the globe, Africa and Nigeria in a city within the South-South/South-East to discuss ecosystem interventions, development, business and investment. With the main objective to educate, connect and attract investment to Start-ups and Founders in the regions. It is a fact that building a virile economy in the South-East and South-South begins with encouraging Start-ups for they are at the heart of expanding individual states’ IGR and network. Take last year’s edition of Startup south that was held in Aba for instance, this singular event gave birth to the Made in Aba Hackathon. The Hackathon, in partnership with Ford Foundation earlier this year encouraged SMEs and bridged the gap between funders and business owners to find innovative solutions to the manufacturing done in the area. The intervention alone, has given rise to about $150,000 in investment and grants to Start-ups in the region.

In November, Owerri, the Imo State capital, will play host to Start-ups outh as the event returns with even more juicy offers. It will highlight the need for states in the regions to focus on their areas of comparative advantage. It will spotlight the emerging Hospitality industry in Imo State and discuss possible interventions and ramifications for the region and Nigeria at large. In addition to the conference, there has being mini-conferences in 10 other cities in the region as the build-up to the main event. Since #Start-ups outh3, the concept has evolved to become destination focused.  The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) present a historic opportunity for corporate sustainability movement engaging small business owners and start-ups in the South to key into the global goals is a way of introducing them to the international business community. From building more inclusive value chains to developing sustainable technologies and solutions, from business organisations to making essential contributions towards the realisation of true global sustainable development. As the main interface between the United Nations and business, start-ups are the ones helping reduce the rate of unemployment, and bring speedy development that will not only consolidate sustainable cities but strategically position them for business. They are uniquely placed to strengthen business engagement in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

During the past three editions, over 5000 people have attended a training physically and online and over $350,000 has been raised by the #Start-ups outh founders. It has also featured some notable names in tech/startup entrepreneurship. It as a movement aims to collaborate with several city-based clusters, hubs, tech founders and startup group leaders to create a structured startup ecosystem employing the SDGs as a guide which is what the United Nations former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hailed as a universal, integrated, and transformative vision for a better world. The startup community is in 100 per cent agreement, each of them contributing in its own way to make sure we reach agenda 2030 and all we can do right now is to support them because there are capable of unlocking the full potential of responsible (and accountable) business towards an economically sustainable world.

• Odigwe is radio, TV and social media content developer