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Speakers At CFA Startup Hangout Urge Youths to ‘Stay & Invest’ in Nigeria

By Justice Okemgba
The October 2017 Edition of the CFA’s Startups Hangout really lived up it’s expectation, as the Startups were fed with priceless nuggets on how to run their businesses successfully and improve on their lives and uplift the nation.
CFA’s Startups Hangout, is an event that brings Startups together to learn how to run and grow their businesses from invited successful entrepreneurs, as well as network with each other.
The two invited speakers for the October 2017 edition, which was held at Adna Hotel, GRA, Ikeja last Friday, were Mr. Wale Ajisebutu, vice-chairman, 21st Century Technologies and Dr. Nkiru Balonwu, Managing Partner, RDF, a Consultancy outfit.
First to speak, was Dr. Nkiru Balonwu. She stated that Startups need to be determined and stay focused, as these are key to achieving what they want to achieve. “Be sure of what you want to do and set milestones for the achievement of goals”, she emphasised.
She admonished the Startups to note each achievements as they are met and also know why they are not met and fight to see that they are met in the end.
She made it known to the Startups that, from her own experience at starting her own business outfit, not everyone will encourage them in their quest, but they should not be deterred. She advised them to seek for sponsors and mentors, but should also be ready to give them something in return.
Nkiru stated that Startups should ensure that whatever it is that they are doing, should be centered around solving a problem for their clients. She gave the example of her own experience, where her personal need to track the income and expenses of her income and expenses, prompted her to develop the Bukkipa App, a simple accounting solution, but she had to ask for inputs from those who are also in need of such a solution, so that they can patronise it.
Wale Ajisebutu, in his presentation to the Startups, gave the narrative of Nigeria as a country blessed by God, with lots of opportunities, which, unfortunately, the citizens are only seeing and complaining about as problems.
He advised the Startups to stop complaining about what the government has not done and see all the problems that we have in Nigeria in the areas of inadequate water supply, bad roads, poor transportation, scarcity of food and agriculture, etc., as opportunities they can key into and start a business on, because the government cannot do them.
“You cannot see all these kinds of opportunities in England, for instance, because they have light, they have houses and they have roads, etc. You don’t need to run there. If you go there, you will just go and wash toilets and plates”, he observed.
“It was individuals that developed America and not the government”, he stressed. He gave the example of Cornelius Vanderbilt, who invested in and built railroads, John D. Rockefeller Snr, who invested in the oil and oil pipeline business and J. P. Morgan, who invested in the banking industry, all in America.
He stated that a good example of such individual, doing a similar thing in Nigeria, is Aliko Dangote, who invested in problem areas in Nigeria and is today, the richest African in the world.
Wale advocated for the adoption of a four-tier government, namely, Federal, State, Local government as well as Youth and Entrepreneurs, to take care of the interest of SME’s. He advised Startups to work hard, be consistent, dream big, think big, start small, be open, be curious and take risks. “If you do the right thing in your business in Nigeria, you will become a multi-billionaire in any currency”, he assured.
Wale further advised the Startups to build great teams, have good business concepts, build wide network of mentors and cover their costs to stay relevant in the business world. “You are in Nigeria for a purpose. Take advantage of it. The country is for you. You have to build it”, he concluded.
Other attractions during the October 2017 edition of the CFA’s Startups Hangout, include presentations by officials of The Bridge Clinic, who took the Blood Pressure of the Startups that attended the event and TAMS on Time Management, Payroll and Human Resource solutions for the Startups.
The event ended with the networking session, where the Startups interacted with each other to form alliances, friendships as well as synergize their operations.
The November 2017 edition of the CFA’s Startups Hangout, which will be the last for this year, also promises to be an exciting one. Watch out for details @ http://startups.cfatech.ng
News
FG Unveils AI Public Services Platform

Federal government has launched GovGuideNigeria, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered digital platform designed to streamline access to public service information through WhatsApp and the web.

The platform consolidates information from more than 35 federal ministries and over 60 government agencies, marking a significant step in Nigeria’s drive to expand AI-enabled public infrastructure and digital government services.
According to Bosun Tijani, Nigeria’s minister of communications, innovation and digital economy, the initiative aims to simplify interactions with government services, particularly for underserved communities that often face challenges navigating complex public-sector systems.
Developed in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Meta, and Publica AI, GovGuideNigeria uses conversational AI to provide real-time responses via WhatsApp and a web interface in English, Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba.
Sade Dada, head of public policy at Meta, said the multilingual rollout highlights the growing use of natural language processing within African public institutions to improve digital inclusion and broaden access to services.
Ignatius Willie, chief executive of Publica AI, said the platform demonstrates how Africa’s next generation of digital public infrastructure can be developed locally using African languages.
GovGuideNigeria is intended to address longstanding challenges in Nigeria’s public information system, where citizens often struggle to access reliable guidance because of fragmented government websites, poor communication channels and the expense of travelling to physical offices.
Through AI-driven automation, users can obtain information on immigration procedures, documentation requirements, public programmes and agency-specific services through chat-based interactions.
The launch also reflects Nigeria’s broader ambition to integrate AI into digital governance, while strengthening partnerships between government agencies, global technology companies and local AI startups to modernise public service delivery.
News
Elon Musk to Become First World’s Trillionaire with SpaceX Historic IPO

Elon Musk is poised to become the world’s first trillionaire after SpaceX, his company, confirmed plans to go public.

Elon Musk
Because Musk owns the majority of the shares, it could push his net worth over the trillion dollar mark.
The entrepreneur is known for his leadership of Tesla, SpaceX, X, and xAI.
Musk has been the wealthiest person in the world since 2025; as of May 2026, Forbes estimates his net worth to be $788 billion.
SpaceX has filed for a blockbuster public listing in the United States, paving the way for what could become the largest stock market debut in Wall Street history.
The company, formally known as Space Exploration Technologies, announced plans to begin trading under the ticker symbol “SPCX” as early as next month.
The listing values SpaceX at about $1.25 trillion, with Musk’s majority ownership potentially worth more than $600 billion alone.
Combined with his existing holdings in companies including Tesla, the IPO could push Musk’s personal wealth above the $1 trillion mark.
The long-awaited filing also offered investors a rare look into SpaceX’s finances.
The company reported $18.6 billion in revenue last year but recorded a net loss of $4.9 billion. In the first quarter of this year, SpaceX generated $4.7 billion in sales while posting a $4.3 billion net loss.
Financial disclosures showed the company holds $102 billion in assets, including rockets, launch infrastructure and satellite systems, while carrying debts totalling $60.5 billion.
Despite the losses, analysts suggested investors were unlikely to be deterred given SpaceX’s dominance in commercial space launches and satellite internet services.
Ruth Foxe-Blader, managing partner at Citrine Venture Partners, described the planned flotation as “extremely exciting.”
“SpaceX is just an absolutely sprawling, enormous project with so many different selling points, and so many points that really point to the future,” she said.
SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite internet network and also owns Musk’s artificial intelligence company, xAI.
The IPO filing revealed that xAI recently reached a major commercial agreement with rival AI company Anthropic, maker of the Claude chatbot.
Under the arrangement, Anthropic will reportedly pay $15 billion annually to access data centre infrastructure linked to xAI operations in the American South.
The filing also disclosed that SpaceX expects to incur more than half a billion dollars in legal costs from multiple ongoing lawsuits and regulatory disputes.
Among the cases listed were claims alleging that xAI’s chatbot Grok had been used to create sexualised deepfakes of women and girls, alongside patent infringement disputes, music copyright claims, data breach allegations and investigations into compliance with European Union content moderation rules.
Musk has previously said he plans to dissolve xAI as a standalone company and pursue his AI ambitions directly under SpaceX.
The filing came shortly after Musk lost a high-profile legal battle against OpenAI and its chief executive Sam Altman.
Musk had accused OpenAI of abandoning its non-profit mission after shifting towards a commercial model, but a jury dismissed the lawsuit, ruling that he had waited too long to bring the claims.
News
Moniepoint Boosts UK Payments Security

African financial services platform Moniepoint has partnered with open banking software-as-a-service provider tell.money to deploy a transaction security system in the UK market.

The companies said the partnership will allow Moniepoint to implement Confirmation of Payee, an account name-checking service designed to verify recipient details before payments are processed.
The integration will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s UK remittance subsidiary, as part of the company’s broader European expansion strategy.
Tell.money will provide the underlying verification technology, which the companies said is intended to reduce misdirected payments and help protect users against cross-border fraud.
Ravi Jakhodia, CEO of Monieworld, said: “Our goal with Monieworld is to build financial services for Africans in the diaspora.”
He added that tell.money was selected because it manages compliance and accreditation requirements, allowing the fintech company to focus on customer service.
Moniepoint is entering a competitive UK-to-Africa remittance market that includes established providers such as Wise, WorldRemit and Remitly, as well as African fintech firms including Flutterwave’s Send App.
According to data from the World Bank’s KNOMAD programme, remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries are estimated at about $620 billion annually, with digital -first platforms capturing increasing market share through open banking integrations and automated compliance systems.
The rollout reflects a broader trend of African fintech firms expanding into developed markets by adopting local regulatory and open banking standards.
Industry analysts expect diaspora-focused platforms to evolve beyond money transfers into services such as multi-currency banking, credit and investment products.
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