GideonG: None! Don't re-invent the wheel.

naijatechworld:

But thats what competition is all about. Before Google, there was Altavista. B4 Facebook, MySpace.

matrixme:
So I Guess saying don't reinvent the wheel is a lame excuse for not wanting to make a difference at all costs.

dhtml: ^^^^naija people always want to take the easiest way out.

dhtml: ^^^^this remains to be seen, i wish you luck if you succeed with them clones.

matrixme:
I just love that! it's the guerrilla spirit that makes Samsung a dominant tech company today, getting a big slice of the action from Apple that creates the innovation. Of course we all know Samsung clones Apple products basically. Another similar example is Dreamworks/Disney-Pixar. So I Guess saying don't reinvent the wheel is a lame excuse for not wanting to make a difference at all costs.

dhtml: ^^^^naija people always want to take the easiest way out.

Awoofawo:

Seun of Nairaland
I wan chop ban

digitalafrica: I think the main problem is that not enough people from 9ja or Africa are on the internet. I mean its suprising to me how Nairaland only has 1.2 million registered members, when the population of 9ja is 140 Million. Like what are the 139 million doing? Why arent people on the internet and what can we do to fix that?

Also another thing is instead of making clones of abroad tech companies in 9ja, why won't do the opposite and make clones for USA (or the world) of tech companies in 9ja? Like what is NairaLand of the world? What will you consider NEPA of the world? What is Dealdey of the world? Jumia of the world?

What are the main problems that internet or technology can solve in 9ja? Or in Africa? What does Naija/Africa desperately need, that if it drops, everybody will want it? Is it stable electricity? Is it cheap internet? Do 9ja need cellphone or laptops or desktops, like what do they need?

naijatechworld: Is there a PayPal of Nigeria/Africa? What about Craigslist?

asalimpo:
hey dude, you crawl first bf u run. Else u'll crash nd burn.
If a 9jn startup succeeds in its territory then it can venture out into d world.
The environment and infrastructure for a global tech company just isnt there. Microsoft,apple,hp,dell employ hundreds of thousands of TOP NOTCH professionals. They draw on labour from india,china,russia. In d nigerian situation, there isnt a ready pool of professionals in tech, not artisans but pros . The stable environment just isnt there. Theres always politcal wranglings,
wanton lawlessness. See the spate of kidnappings and assasinations and bombings , poor telecom netwrks etc. Executves will b operatg at fear for their lives. Server and data wharehouses would have to situated in say south africa cuz of wanton acts of vandalisation, electricity outage, community demands.
Apple sued microsoft for certain infringements, u.s,e.u investigated microsoft for anti-trust practices. Yes,corruption is everywhere but
the case was executed with speed, openness and impartiality.
Could such hav been d case over here?
See the nonsense flagrancy with which some chinese and lebanese ,indian businesses operate in this country because they can get away with it.

asalimpo: @naijatech
our problems are diverse and deep rooted so it cant vanish in a decade. It go tey.
9jas problem is confidence. Yes.
Naijans dnt blv in their products,the market thnks u.s made is superior so they wnt patronise. Nigerian rappers/muscians actors emulate westerners too much - we just dnt blv in ourselves enuff. But a 9jan clone of google,youtube,facebook,2go etc once registered in d youths and nigerians consciousness and is successful will increase our self worth and identity among ourselves. Which will make us bolder still to aim for bigger higher things. Yeah,u'll mention irokotv etc. Iroko founder,wasnt based here,its not incorporated here, heagquarters is outta here and business men are proud to tell you their business is incorporated in u.s,u.k etc (its a no confidence thing).
Compare china, huawei, was incorporated in china,operated in china to become worlds largest (or maybe second/third) in tech devces. Its not really about talent,drive etc. Its inferiority complex on a national/continental scale.
E.g
nigerian developer peaches idea for an app , requires incubator funding -say 20k usd- which investor will chip in? Where is d VC base? But say u want to buy and sell crude oil, or land - money will appear.
1 person cannot start and sustain a startup. Growg a startup into a company requires serious fundg: google,linkedin,youtube,facebook had million dollar fundg. They operate the servers from the u.s b4 spreadg. Public Reception was very strong. In naija, public reception to tech strtups is lukewarm. Strtups can survve in dull lukewarm markets. Aprt frm youths, most older folks dont dig d net beyond email. A housewife wold hold a flashy high end phne with all d gadgets but wnt logon to google to research a new cookg recipe! Same for guys. The problems are myriad but surmountable but it will take a lotta time and mental de-programmg.

Urine: This thread is for dreamers, solve the numerous problems in your locality first, that's the way to go about it.

naijatechworld:
Yeah I feel the same way. Like why is that Asians are know for producing and cloning and Africans are only known for consuming. Can't we have hardware manufacturers as well? Can't we make our own cars? Our own cellphones? What about all those e-waste products at the dump. Can't we put 2 and 2 together to make 4?

digitalafrica: I think the main problem is that not enough people from 9ja or Africa are on the internet. I mean its suprising to me how Nairaland only has 1.2 million registered members, when the population of 9ja is 140 Million. Like what are the 139 million doing? Why arent people on the internet and what can we do to fix that?
Also another thing is instead of making clones of abroad tech companies in 9ja, why won't do the opposite and make clones for USA (or the world) of tech companies in 9ja? Like what is NairaLand of the world? What will you consider NEPA of the world? What is Dealdey of the world? Jumia of the world?
What are the main problems that internet or technology can solve in 9ja? Or in Africa? What does Naija/Africa desperately need, that if it drops, everybody will want it? Is it stable electricity? Is it cheap internet? Do 9ja need cellphone or laptops or desktops, like what do they need?

naijatechworld: Many of us can't even watch videos on YouTube because of data consumption and slow internet. If there was a startup that worked on compressing data for faster download/upload, as well as, making these web apps not use much data, I think that startup will grow. Just my opinion. How does everyone else feel?

asalimpo: @davidsmith
when i say nigerians must succeed in their domain,i'm statg a simple business method for success. Mobil,walmart,microsoft,ibm were all local players b4 expandg their market base to a global scale.
A 9jn strtup has to successful in its home country first.
If d strtup cannot conquer its home market tht it is familiar with ,how will survve in a different culture.

On confidence, the market has to be excited about d venture. This isnt d case. Nigerians blv in things wen it is very successful not bf. Low patronage will kill d brightest strtup. E.g take NL for example, talk of twitter,facebook 10+million nigerians ,NL ! How many? Create a nigerianized facebook,twitter etc Without heavy in-your face advertsg (smthg outof d range of strtups) you maynt b patronzed. Dealdey, is using tht but in strups in d u.s most grew virally because the ppl were excited about d idea And adopted it. This is d confidence i'm talkg about. Napster,gnutella,yahoo,grew by early adoption.
Some apps tht a nigerian dev would b struggling to sell here ,he may not struggle to sell in the west.
Imagine u wrote an erp solution and ur company tried to sell it to nigerian big corporations would they consider you? No. Except mayb u hav a foreign degree . If u attended ekiti state university ,nobody will listen to you.
If u did same in china, a chinese investor will expand ur idea and grow it to become the national alternatve to sap,ms dynamics and other foreign brands . Bf u know it tht chinese company will begin competing globally against the big wigs. In nigeria, companies will focus in traing an army of ppl in how to use the foreign software. How to certify in it. Again, its a confidence issue.
We are suffering from national scale inferiority complex period.
Dyu know there's chinese apple competitor by xaomi ltd. Honda is an asian car, samsung is asian etc
now as d asian companies succeed so will confidence of citizens grow in tht area. E.g nigerian music has advanced more thn its movies in quality,so some nigerian youths are now confident and proud to identify with our local musicians.

Our work ethics are poor. At d core of successful nations are hard wrkg ethcal ppl. The chinese ,japanese,americans are more dedicated and focused and humane . How dyu employ som1 for peanuts and want him to work well, want him to work even on sundays , livg to wrk 4 you no time 4 himself, this is d nigerian situation.
Bcs som1 is employg u he expects to insult you at will and u shd smile and lick it up . (see how lecturers treat students. No respect. ) . They want to tell u,tht ur nothg cuz u dnt have the kind of stuffs they hav(cars,gadgets etc).
Add all this together and u know why 9ja nothg to reckn with in d tech world,globally.
I know som strtups hav receivd fundg,but honestly, this strtups are not creatg ground breakg products tht can cause d kinda emotional reaction the likes of their western counterparts have experienced. Y, because tech isnt a mindset but a means to an end here(make money).
Compare:
mindset:
search can b done better,
the search engines available just
aint getting it right. I'll research search in my phD thesis.
Result = google.

Copyrighted software vendors infringe on users rights to use software as the wish.
I'll do somthg about it.
Gripe about it with my friends at d pub.then continue with my life-wrkg for this evil corps?no.
Outcome = free software,open source movement ,Linux.
In 9ja rchrd stallman wouldve been convcted and sentenced on spurious charges for going against the status quo.
Computers are ugly, i want computers tht are quiet, and insanely great.
I dnt care wht d engineers thk , this is wat i want.
Outcome = apple
the typcal 9jan mindset wud b , just do it any how any how as far as its wrkg . Hurry up and ship it!
Summary: our wrk ethics and mindset, acceptance of mediocrity as a modus operandus is killing any hope of creatg globally impactg entities

GideonG: Every body please watch out for me, I am the real African dream.

GodMode: The problems are site security, the amount of servers u'll need to keep on check. Making sure users info is safe. The major problem is electricity supply cos it won't be wise to run an internet company using generators.