Research On Rivers State Tech Ecosystem in comparison to Lagos State, Nigeria. Part 1

by Louis Whyte Jonah, Jacia Ebubechi, Isaiah Esuuk-nte, Sophia Enoch, Stella Nteirien, Dora Theodora.

Rivers State has been known as the second most industrialized state in Nigeria and is one of the biggest suppliers of income to the nation, rich in natural resources and known for its oil production.

Never lacking relevant resources and talents, the unique state has quickly adapted to the mantra “tech is the new oil” and has produced many fine tech startups and digital businesses Nigeria can boast of, in addition to her abundant resources.

Despite this growth, Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State, and home to several startups along with tech innovation hubs, still exists in obscurity. Regardless of the groundbreaking achievements, Rivers State is still relatively unknown in the Nigerian tech community also in terms of tech development, investment and talents.

Understanding both Cities:

This contains statistics of Lagos state and Rivers State so that we can fully understand the difference and weight of both cities.

Research Methods:

Survey:

As part of the research conducted by our team, google forms were distributed amongst individuals within the Rivers State tech ecosystem, from founders to developers, designers, CEOs, community advocates, etc. The idea behind this research was to determine the main issues from different points of view and come to a visible conclusion and statistic.

Using the data that were obtained from this survey, we were successfully able to denote various views and see how we could provide solutions for challenges as well.

Also Note:

This research wasn’t made to offer a tech product such as an app, website, or product in general, because of the kind of problem we are trying to solve. But we are using a product research approach while skipping some design processes.

Qualitative Research:

Our team conducted an interview and asked nearly 40 people about their views of the Rivers State tech ecosystem and the comparison.

The questions include:

• What is your occupation?
• Do you belong to any organization or community?
• How long have you been in tech (years)?
• What is the difference between Lagos State Tech Ecosystem and Rivers State on a scale of 1/100?
• In your opinion, what has been the reason for this number above?
• What do you think Lagos is doing that Rivers State is not doing or what is Lagos doing better?
• What do you think is needed in Rivers State to grow and expand?
• And lastly, what do you suggest can be done to bridge this gap?

Quantitative Research:

The survey is aimed at identifying various issues of the people to better understand the problem from different perspectives and views.

The results of the survey suggested that there were several types of users with diverse needs. The accumulation of the different insights and common patterns that came from the users’ answers helped us suggest and propose solutions to differ

The results of the survey suggested that there were several types of users with diverse needs. The accumulation of the different insights and common patterns that came from the users’ answers helped us suggest and propose solutions to differ

Competitive Analysis:

Unicorns:

The term Unicorn refers to a company that reaches a $1 billion valuation in fewer than ten years, although it is debatable. Lagos State Houses about 7 tech unicorns.

Rivers State is yet to get a “Soonicorn” which refers to a mini-unicorn business founded in the last five years with amassed funds of more than US$100 million that has a high potential to become a unicorn enterprise.

These are a few popular soonicorns and minicorns that we can list, there are way more in Lagos state. Compared to that of Rivers State, we have yet to see or get. Although they are amazing tech companies still doing amazingly well like Dantown, Cinfores, Egoras, flitaa, etc in Rivers State, we hope to see them expand.

Tech Headquarters/offices:

In terms of tech development and innovation, it is wise to say these things are also impacted by the number of big tech companies that have offices in these cities, Lagos especially that has Microsoft ADC building, Google Office, and Meta Office. Rivers State having none.

Technology Startup Accelerator: Ycombinator

Companies Funded by YCombinator in Africa: A technology startup accelerator that has made a record-breaking tech investment in startups has made a total of 77 Investments in Africa, 50 of the startups are in Nigeria.

Advanced learning:

When it comes to development and innovation, the centre of this is universities and polytechnics. Here is a list of several Polytechnic and universities in both states.

Tertiary Institutions are a founding block of innovation and development in every city, and the nation at large. It drives massive innovation from within.

According to The book “Trends in the Innovation Ecosystem: Can Past Successes Help Inform Future Strategies? Summary of Two Workshops (2013)” posted in The National Academies Press, Washington, DC.

Universities are important sources of many of the new ideas in science and technology that contribute to innovation in the United States. By producing new knowledge and exposing students to that knowledge, they not only generate new ideas but prepare knowledgeable, inventive, and motivated graduates who can carry those ideas into businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and governments. In addition, faculty members sometimes play a direct role by consulting with existing companies or even starting their own companies. A majority of the first workshop was devoted to considering the role of universities in the innovation ecosystem. Some of the common themes are cited in Box 4–1.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Trends in the Innovation Ecosystem: Can Past Successes Help Inform Future Strategies? Summary of Two Workshops. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18509.

Futher More:

The culture of a university influences its success in producing innovation and can influence the culture of a region.

• A university does not merely prepare young people for the wide variety of roles in an innovative economy; its higher mission is to “discover and invent the future.”

• The technology transfer policies of universities may be in need of rigorous review and assessment.

• Universities might benefit from examining the rules governing the amount of time faculty can devote to outside activity.

• Faculty members and students can have conflicts of interest and conflicts of commitment that need to be understood and properly managed.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2013. Trends in the Innovation Ecosystem: Can Past Successes Help Inform Future Strategies? Summary of Two Workshops. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/18509.

The only University that has an Innovation Hub in Rivers State tends to be Rivers State University and it’s known as Accelerate Innovation Hub. While in Lagos we can see many institutions having innovation hubs in the school environment. This is not tied to tech communities like Microsoft Ambassador Student programs, Google Developer Student Groups, Github Student ambassadors, and others. A physical innovation centre where students can grow, develop, learn and solve problems in their communities using technology.

Affinity Mapping:

Summary:

Although Rivers state is known to be the second most industrialized state in Nigeria, this industrialization specifically narrows down from various oil and gas activities to Technological events and opportunities going on within the state.

To a reasonable extent, the Rivers State Tech ecosystem has grown over the years with boys and girls venturing into tech with each passing day, and some making fortunes out of it.

In addition to this, many tech groups, startups, tech hubs, and tech-related enterprises have hosted major Tech conferences, Fest, hangouts, and hackathons over the years in Port-Harcourt thereby creating undeniable awareness for people who are unaware or not in the tech-related fields or courses.

Furthermore, Port-Harcourt has more than 100 startups and tech communities excluding the Google developers group (GDG), with close to 30 Functional Tech Companies channelled to software engineering training/mentorship and software development. It can be said that the positive growth of the tech society has successfully produced all these achievements and activities, there has however been a visible lag and technological stagnancy in the ecosystem which called for this study, aimed toward guiding the production of a tech-friendly State.

According to the write by Adeyemi Adepetun in the Vanguard on ‘Lagos State technology ecosystem valuation’. It is said that the Lagos state technology ecosystem is valued at $ 9 billion. In the quote he stated:

Though the average global technology startup ecosystem is valued at $28.6 billion, Lagos, which represents Nigeria, is valued at $9 billion and far ahead of cities including Cape Town (South Africa) at $2.8 billion; Nairobi (Kenya) at $2 billion; Johannesburg (South Africa) $962 million and Accra (Ghana) $259 million.

This was contained in the 382-page Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2022, which also disclosed that the early stage funding seen by Lagos from 2019 to 2021 was $529 million against the global average of $687 million. The state also earned $1.8 billion in Venture Capital (VC) funding between 2017 and 2021. It takes between 6.3 years for a startup to exit the stage as a startup as against a 9.4 years global average.

Fact:

The common opinion was the fact that Lagos Tech communities bag more partnerships and endorsements than Port-Harcourt Tech communities. In other words, they get funds from international companies, government personnel, and individuals and this is because Lagos seems to be the heartbeat of the country.

Also, they highlighted that there are more effective collaborations in the Lagos tech ecosystem and this has helped them push technological products and services to the world in a more fabulous and authenticated way than the divided interest witnessed in the Port-Harcourt ecosystem.

They encouraged individuals to invest or rather fund Rivers State Tech communities and partner with startups and hubs to give tech scholarships and quality internet services for learning.

The growth of Lagos state is also tied to the fact that there is a strong Tech Innovation Hub that is focused on investing in the lives of people and the community. Yes, there are hubs in Rivers State, but not of the same scale as CCHub, Ng Hub, etc. All have major partnerships with big companies like Meta and Google. With the likes of Microsoft, having their ADC centre in Lagos, added to the Tech Silicon valley that is being built by Lagos State Government in Yaba, the rate of development tends to increase by a huge margin making Lagos State The Silicon Valley in Africa.

One of the issues affecting the Nigerian Tech ECosystem is Government Policies and laws which are not favourable to tech companies and investors, but we hope for the best.

Action:

To build a sustainable and better Tech community in Rivers State that will foster development, a better economy, and more jobs, there need to be different actions by individuals, private sectors, government,t and also tech communities and organisations.

They are:

• Build more solutions.
• Collaborate more.
• Have tech institution
• Build more partnerships
• Focus on the Business in Tech
• Create more awareness for Tech startups
• Build more solutions to problems in Nigeria and Africa at large
• Governments to invest more in Innovation at all levels.

Proposal:

To conclude this, after the project research, we came up with 4 proposals and solutions that will bridge the gap between both States. It is acknowledged that Rivers State might not be equal to Lagos state because of several factors, but we can drive innovation and development that would not only promote the city or state but increase tourism, create jobs, improve better living, solve problems, provide more income for the state and bring investors.

Our proposals are targeted toward individuals, tech companies, governments, and organisations.