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Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by nwoke37: 4:11am On May 06, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiqERIAbIH4

Sleek desks, casual dress code, free lunch – it's what you'd expect to see in Silicon Valley. But you can also find them in Lagos, Nigeria, where money from U.S. investors is being used to train a new generation of software engineers. Africa is attracting more and more tech startups and in 2017 alone attracted more than half a billion dollars in startup funding.

Hannah Masila is a developer at Andela, one of the continent's top tech startups. She grew up in a rural village in Kenya, where options seemed limited.

"My mind was just revolving around farming and, well, kids were married off as early as 12," she told CBS News' Kylie Atwood. "So it was just like where life will take me I will just go. ... It is shocking like younger me would be like, 'Wow, how did you even do this?' ... I feel for the kids back in the village, like, 'You can do this.'"

Forced to leave her village when ethnic clashes broke out, Hannah went to high school nearby and decided to become an engineer. Until finding Andela online, she was set to become the problem solver at home.

"Fix my dad's TV when it crashes or just help out in the neighborhood. I didn't really think that big," Hannah said.


Seni Sulyman, the company's president of global operations, recruits talent across Africa. He returned to Lagos after 11 years in the United States, where he attended Harvard Business School and worked at big tech companies.

So why is he back?

"This is the future," Sulyman said. "I think ultimately we are creating an economy in the technology industry which is going to spark a massive revolution on the continent. And I am seeing it happen every day. So the impact we have and the impact I can have as an individual is just so tangible and so meaningful being here. And it's home, so like, who doesn't want to change home!"

In 2016 the company got a $24 million infusion, led by Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg, who followed up with a visit.

"When you have someone who is probably considered the most important person in tech physically standing in your office telling you about how he believes in you, it has a way of just validating everything you are doing," Sulyman said.

The coding done by Andela's developers helps American tech companies innovate from New York to Pittsburgh to San Francisco. With almost 1,000 coders so far, Andela is looking to expand.

"Our idea is that we started in 2014 and we said in 10 years we would have helped to empower 100,000 developers in Africa which takes us to 2024," he said.

In that same amount of time there is projected to be a shortage of almost one million developers in the U.S. domestically. So American companies are going to be looking. Competition for a job at Andela is fierce. Its acceptance rate of applicants is about .7 percent – less than one percent. For some perspective, Harvard's acceptance rate is higher.

Changing conceptions about what a coder looks like and where they come from is igniting enthusiasm and Hannah Masila wants her story to inspire younger African generations.

"It doesn't have to be programming but just believing in yourself."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/andela-one-of-africas-top-tech-startups-has-local-and-global-impact-lagos-nigeria/

11 Likes 2 Shares

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by orisa37: 5:03am On May 06, 2018
Good for Lagos and Nigeria.

8 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by dadavivo: 6:12am On May 06, 2018
We would have gone far, until Buhari came in, so many tech companies started shutting down in 2016.

Thunder fire Buhari dry yansh


Showroom.ng

The showroom platform started with the lofty goal of making millionaires of up to 100,000 Nigerian carpenters. Carpenters were to display their works and get connected to customers also shut down. But after 12 years of trying without success to scale its operations, CEO, Sheriff Shittu, announced in 2016 that it was shutting down.

Easy Taxi
Easy Taxi began in Brazil but was one of the first Rocket Internet companies to launch in Africa in 2013. Despite an additional funding of over $10million from Rocket International for its expansion into Asia and Africa, the news of its exit from the African market still shocked many. The company packed up when its Nigerian co-founder, Bankole Cardoso, stepped down in April 2016.

GoMyWay
It wasn’t up to 2 years into its operations, when this ridesharing platform announced that it would be bowing out of the business. Investors came to a conclusion to shut down operations because of lack of resources to run the business. But perhaps, the real reason would have been that the platform was reduced to a place for introductions as users tend to take transactions off the platform after contact.

Camplus
The startup which was founded by David Edet in 2016, was aimed at connecting students and student entrepreneurs across Africa through e-commerce. It had a promising start and made more than N4 million in sales revenue in just a month after launch. But according to its founder, Camplus’s shut down was due to recession prices and the high cost of running a business in Nigeria.

Efritin.com
The classified ads platform recently shut down its operations, barely 16 months after it was founded. The founder and CEO of Saltside Technologies, Nils Hammar disclosed that it was due to the platform’s inability to generate the desired returns on investment (ROI). Hammar added that the high cost of Internet and data and internet also informed the platform's decision to scale back on its investments in Nigeria.

PASS.NG

Samson Abioye was CEO of Pass.ng until his death on July 28, 2017. He was 25. The LAUTECH Alumni was using his work at Pass.ng to push his dreams to help young Nigerians perform better in their WAEC, JAMB, and Common Entrance Examinations.



meanwhile under the terrorist Buhari 271 firm shut down in one year - MAN

Manufacturers and other private sector operators on Tuesday painted a gloomy picture of how the foreign exchange restriction placed on 41 items by the Central Bank of Nigeria had affected operations in the business sector.

They said that since the restriction order was placed last year, about 272 firms had been forced out of business, 50 of which were manufacturing companies.



While some of the affected manufacturers have relocated to neighboring countries, according to Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, at least 222 small-scale businesses have closed shops, leading to 180,000 job losses.

56 Likes 4 Shares

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by ELgordo(m): 6:22am On May 06, 2018
Ovoko! Na lie

1 Like

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by heskeyw(m): 6:24am On May 06, 2018
you know you are lying, but continue.

5 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Robbin7(m): 6:28am On May 06, 2018
Okay, will does that leave us?
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by heskeyw(m): 6:29am On May 06, 2018
we still have a long way to go. maybe in the next 50 years.
do you know how tech giants (am not even referring to all those SMEs in the valley) are in the valley? if u have watched the series ( silicon valley) , you will understand that lagos still have a long way to go. we cant wven compare ourselves with bangledash and singapore.

16 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by gerrardomendes(m): 6:29am On May 06, 2018
Phosphorus mountain nkor?

18 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by heskeyw(m): 6:29am On May 06, 2018
Robbin7:
Okay, will does that leave us?
sir u say? grin
Robbin7:
Okay, will does that leave us?
sir u say?

6 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by directonpc(m): 6:30am On May 06, 2018
Maybe - But tech is changing Nigeria for Good even more than FG, Buhari and APC chsnge.

Extra
This Nigerian tech startup helps you to buy clothing and gadget from the USA without stress!
check them here: http://7rl.in/shopA
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Alejoc(m): 6:30am On May 06, 2018
Thanks for not running away forever from 9ja



Go out there acquire the skill and possibly money n come back to plug it to make a difference..... Don't be selfish!


I love tech guys from Femi Ajibulu, to Femi Geophysics to Joshua UNIJOS..... these guys give me joy practically with their can do spirit. I am a more knowledgeable person for meeting these rising stars!

5 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by rozayx5(m): 6:32am On May 06, 2018
Nice one



Wall street loading in the south
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by kenx1(m): 6:33am On May 06, 2018
Youths making things happen.... Yet the president is not appreciative of our efforts rather he calls us "lazy"

3 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by paranorman(m): 6:33am On May 06, 2018
Yes we can, but we still have a long way to go. We shouldn't even expect support from the federal government. LASG can still be supportive in the nearest future though.

First, we need stable electricity. Goes a long way in tech dev.

4 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Nobody: 6:35am On May 06, 2018
-

17 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Landforce1: 6:37am On May 06, 2018
The last part got me... "I wonder whether there are more men coding or women coding" does it even matter at all undecided undecided

2 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Blackfire(m): 6:43am On May 06, 2018
What is silicom valley?
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Nobody: 6:45am On May 06, 2018
bold claim...

1 Like

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by dbynonetwork: 6:49am On May 06, 2018
You mean the no man's land?...
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by GavelSlam: 6:50am On May 06, 2018
Blackfire:
What is silicom valley?

Is where breast implants are ...did you say silicon?

11 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Nobody: 6:53am On May 06, 2018
gerrardomendes:
Phosphorus mountain nkor?
Funny you.... "Platinum rock" follow.

1 Like

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by aribisala0(m): 6:53am On May 06, 2018
heskeyw:
we still have a long way to go. maybe in the next 50 years.
do you know how tech giants (am not even referring to all those SMEs in the valley) are in the valley? if u have watched the series ( silicon valley) , you will understand that lagos still have a long way to go. we cant wven compare ourselves with bangledash and singapore.
That is your own believing

10 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by shine12: 6:55am On May 06, 2018
heskeyw:
we still have a long way to go. maybe in the next 50 years.
do you know how tech giants (am not even referring to all those SMEs in the valley) are in the valley? if u have watched the series ( silicon valley) , you will understand that lagos still have a long way to go. we cant wven compare ourselves with bangledash and singapore.

Tech revolution is an exponential one Bro.

Trust me, when Nigeria youths catch the fire, even the north of Nigeria that people talk down will be producing coders.

Israel has one of the slickest tech industries in the world and also one of the most valuable tech exporting countries in the world and they are young in the game too when compared to the US.

14 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by ZarahBuhari: 6:58am On May 06, 2018
Very possible but it's going to take quite some reasonable amount of time to become the next Silicon Valley.
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by LotusFan: 7:07am On May 06, 2018
More specifically, Sabo/Yaba could be the considered silicon valley of Nigeria.

Andela’s office is there, Cocreation Hub is there, Konga have or had and office there and olx were there too. I’m sure I can think of a few others too...

5 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by martineverest(m): 7:10am On May 06, 2018
who wrote this rubbish article...do they know what silicon valley means at all?

2 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Exciton(m): 7:11am On May 06, 2018
Haha. They think learning how to code is sufficient for a high tech environment.

Naija na delusion paradise.

7 Likes 1 Share

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by martineverest(m): 7:12am On May 06, 2018
Blackfire:
What is silicom valley?
it's a region in united state that is known for chips, computer and technological innovations

5 Likes

Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Xxpress(m): 7:16am On May 06, 2018
Check my signature for the best ICT company that offers the best and affordable software development training
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by Xxpress(m): 7:17am On May 06, 2018
LotusFan:
More specifically, Sabo/Yaba could be the considered silicon valley in Naija.

Andela’s office is there, Cocreation Hub is there, Konga have or had and office there and olx were there too. I’m sure I can think of a few others too...
Andela in Yaba?
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by thesicilian: 7:25am On May 06, 2018
.
Re: Could Lagos, Nigeria Be The Next Silicon Valley? - American Media by LotusFan: 7:27am On May 06, 2018
Xxpress:

Andela in Yaba?

Yes, Yaba but I think they moved to Ikorodu road last year. I no dey Naija so I’m a bit out of date but I try to keep abreast of these things.

3 Likes

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