HUMANS OF KUBATANA MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2022
AFR I LABS
AFRILABS OKUAZUN GIDEON JAYEOLA GENERAL MANAGER THE VENTURES PARK NIGERIA HUMANS OF
WHAT IS YOUR HUB’S MOTIVATION? We have a whole ecosystem. The motivation is to support those who are solving Africa’s most difficult problems. The aim is to ensure that through entrepreneurship, we are able to reduce poverty significantly. Our thinking is that we need to become an innovative, productive nation. That is the only way we can get Nigeria out of poverty. Our population as a country will continue to be a disadvantage to us as long as we are just consuming and not producing. The best, most effective way to do that is through innovation. And at the centre of innovation is technology. WHAT DO YOU DO AND HOW DO YOU DO IT? The hub provides physical infrastructure and access to mentorship. This infrastructure entails physical space, uninterrupted power supply and internet. We have community events every 3 months where we bring renowned persons who are accomplished in one area or the other to speak to our community. We have data banks that we provide for people to support them. We also have a registered office product that people can use as their office address. We provide a pipeline to get access to early-stage funding up to Series A, among other funding opportunities. Also, we leverage our relationships to help startups with minimum viable products, get access to the market.
WHAT ROLE HAS AFRILABS PLAYED IN YOUR HUB’S JOURNEY? AfriLabs organises capacity-building programs which members of our team are always happy to be a part of because it gives us an opportunity to improve, to identify other people who are doing things with us and to collaborate. Everything that a standard community provides, AfriLabs does that and has been very helpful.
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