Technology Entrepreneurship in Africa: the two-sided market forgotten by giants

Africa is a different place from Silicon Valley, with no venture capitalists and no entrepreneurial mentors.

In Wednesday, the Wharton School's Electronic magazine, "Wharton Knowledge Online," wrote that although Africa's economy is relatively underdeveloped and infrastructure is scarce, it seems to be detrimental to the development of start-ups. But precisely because of these deficiencies, so that entrepreneurs here do not have to face the pressure of traditional giants, fully tap all kinds of market demand.

Opportunities and challenges coexist

Starting a business in Africa is like playing video games--each time a monster is destroyed, a bigger monster emerges. The obstacles may come from all sides, from the potential of regulators to the shortage of labour or the lack of infrastructure. In short, to successfully start a technology company in Africa, it is bound to experience a variety of hardships. However, for those who dare to face the challenge, there is a huge opportunity here. This has become the consensus of various experts and entrepreneurs at the "Science and technology Entrepreneurship in Europe" symposium recently organized by the Wharton Africa Business Forum.

"Incubators are spread across the continent, and building infrastructure is the future." We now have a good opportunity to do all kinds of business, and the latter may lose this opportunity. "Made from cloth, founder of Katherine Pomani (Kathleen Bomani), says her company specializes in encouraging and helping local apparel companies generate income. The problem, however, is that these plans are exceptionally difficult to carry out. Africa is a big difference from Silicon Valley, with neither venture capitalists nor entrepreneurial mentors. But on the other hand, the lack of attention from the Giants, but also to many small enterprises left a broad market.

"It's hard to get a book in Africa and even going to a store is a pain in the neck." "Car Yoize Chika Uwazie said that his role as COO Keejul is bringing digital content to Africa through mobile technology," because of the lack of transmission systems, Amazon has not yet deployed solutions in Africa. Living in Lagos is troublesome, it takes two hours to drive along the street. We want Africans to be able to download e-books. This is mainly confined to primary and secondary school textbooks, but we must create a market for fiction and non-fiction books. ”

Experts say, in developing countries, not only the development of traditional enterprises rely on local relations, network companies can not immune. Fallet Laureni Gao Dan (Farai Lorraine Gundan), the co-founder and CEO of Faraimedia, which was originally focused on the media business, is now developing a travel service aimed specifically at medium-budget African tourists. "As Africa gradually opens up to the world, there should be African voices in the entrepreneurial arena," he said. "We have to deal with African communities and do business with the culture here," Caudan said. If you want to do business in Africa, you must understand the rules of the game here. ”

Experts point out that in relatively developed regions such as South Africa, Ghana and Nigeria, or in the coastal States of East Africa, mobile phone penetration among young people is rising, so there is a huge business opportunity in the field of mobile technology. "In Nigeria, it feels like all 170 million people have blackberries," he said. The country now has three ipads, but none. "But there are a lot of people in Nigeria who yearn for fascinating new things, especially young people," quipped Ick Nivanari Ike Nwaneri, Kojami co-founder of the Convention and event planning company. ”

But it says that entrepreneurs must focus on overcoming the obstacles in the country's e-commerce industry, rather than creating new operational ecosystems. "We need to develop online payment and collection technologies and convince people to use these technologies," he said. You shouldn't worry about whether they're using a BlackBerry or an ipad. African start-ups must consider where the needs are and then provide solutions. ”

Integration into the local market

Experts say the African continent's education system must also be adapted to foster entrepreneurial communities. Universities here offer business and technical courses, but do not encourage innovation and entrepreneurship. The goal of college education seems to be to get students to work in large companies rather than encouraging them to find innovative avenues.

Nick Aussouin (Nekpen Osuan) was born in Africa but grew up in the United States. With his help, Abuja, Nigeria, has set up the University of America (Beni Anglo University) to offer online courses in it and business management, and has opened a new social entrepreneurship course. "The government does not have enough capital to build infrastructure, and all private enterprises must participate in investment." "As more Africans have mobile technology, we see opportunities," he said. It's hard to walk, so they can't go to school in person. There is no need for us to build a large number of school buildings. If they do not want to, they do not have to leave their homes, as long as the internet can attend lectures. ”

Cont3nt.com Community Manager Chica Yumidi (Chika Umeadi) of the Nigerian E-commerce Fair also holds a similar view. He believes that as more Africans have mobile technology, they will also be eager to communicate through this technology. Cont3nt.com encourages users to upload photos and videos they think are newsworthy and then sell them to businesses, including global media companies such as CNN.

"People think their video is valuable, but they can't find a place to broadcast it." Here they will get this channel. "Yumidi said. His company would take a 5% share of the amount of money the photographer and media companies traded. "How are they going to get in touch with a media like CNN once you've made good content?" In the end, Africa, like everywhere else, wants to use technology-and is willing to make money in that way. ”

Caudan added that African consumers also wanted to spend their money on tourism, and her start-up companies offered them travel opportunities. Even with mobile technology, she says, only a line of African hotel and bath centres has enough internet exposure. "Expedia has only about 4,000 hotels listed, but South Africa alone has 10,000 hotels." "We found that a lot of visitors couldn't find a second or a Samsung hotel, and they had to rely on word of mouth," he said. "Lonely Planet" has some comments, but not enough to cover a wide range. ”

Caudan's website aims to target "a bit of money but still want to pick up cheap" European and American consumers. She said the company would visit hotels to persuade their bosses to believe in internet marketing and online payments. The company will also authorize the use of information to travel agencies, but also want to open to the casual. "This is the business of startups-looking for audiences that have not yet been tapped." "he said.

Overcoming Cultural Barriers

But entrepreneurs still face many hurdles in Africa. Each country's government has a different policy, and it will charge. Regulators and related departments at all levels want to get some benefits or bribes. In addition, the local grid is also a major problem, some places frequent blackouts, for the key development period of technology start-ups, this may turn into a disaster.

Experts agree that the key to entrepreneurship in Africa is familiarity with markets. From this point of view, there is no shortcut to go, especially for some niche enterprises. Nivanari pointed out that as a businessman, not to assume that there is market demand, went to the Nigerian countryside to show people how to use the ipad to buy shirts is convenient. "First, will they run away when they see the ipad?" Does he really need to buy another shirt? Who is responsible for distribution?...... Understanding the local culture is a must-do lesson. "said Nikki.

Pomani that it would be best to invite locals to run the company, and her made from cloth took this model. She found that Africans had a great interest in fashion, so they decided to let their companies act as intermediaries, helping designers and manufacturers to promote their work across the internet to Africa and the world.

"We're not going to do anything flashy, but we're looking for each designer to fit in with the business world." "It's a good thing for startups to see the infrastructure improving," she says. Any business can make money. If you start a fashion business, you create a lot of jobs and lots of income ... This will take time, and it is worth the effort even as Africa's mobile technology flourishes. ”