Broadcasting
CNN’s Inside Africa meets Nigeria’s Techpreneurs
On this week’s Inside Africa, CNN International showcases Nigeria’s entrepreneurial spirit, meeting four start-up stars who are improving the world from Africa’s largest tech hub.
Firstly, the programme meets Olatunbosun “Bosun” Tijani, the brains behind one of Africa’s biggest networks of tech talent. Tijani founded the Co-Creation (CC) Hub in 2010 as a meeting place for innovators in the heart of Lagos. He speaks about his inspiration, “Science and technology can leapfrog development across Africa and there are so many smart people on this continent, we just need to build a platform that will enable them to create.”
Some of CC Hub’s successful partnerships include a healthcare logistics company that delivers lifesaving blood, a digital security platform promoting internet safety, and Google-sponsored ‘Pitch Drives’ that help introduce African start-ups to Asia.
Tijani discusses the Hub’s strategy, “I believe that Africa is going to be a lot stronger if we start to see the continent as one. How do we leverage the expertise and resources that you may find in a country like Kenya and lay eyes on the creativity and energy that you find in Nigeria?”
Tijani’s latest venture is the STEM café, an imaginative space dedicated solely to children. He tells CNN about the project, “I want to help build a generation of people in Africa with a strong belief in science, people that are comfortable in science, that can apply science to change things. So, it’s a maker space for kids. It’s a space where we don’t use curriculums. It’s a nonlinear way of teaching so we actually don’t teach but we encourage kids to build.”
Featured next is Odun Eweniyi one of the founders of PiggyVest, a financial technology company that is teaching young people the value of their money, by helping them to save it. Eweniyi explains the business,
“PiggyVest is an automated savings and investment platform that helps young Nigerians put aside little amounts of money daily, weekly or monthly towards their targets or their responsibilities and eventually gives them access to micro-investments to get competency returns.”
According to Eweniyi, PiggyVest now has more than two million registered users. Despite the coronavirus shutdown and the disruptions it has caused, Eweniyi says she remains committed to her original mission of helping people save small in order to achieve big results, “Whether we’re in a crisis or out of a crisis the mission remains the same, to get them to a place where they are financially free with the power to continue to manage their finances.”
The third techpreneur is Chika Madubuko, the co-founder and CEO of Greymate Care. This healthcare start-up is a pioneer in providing on-demand care in Nigeria and Madubuko details the concept, “Before Greymate Care was launched, you would normally find someone who was a caregiver or an auxiliary nurse signing up with the hospital or an agency, but then they stayed for so long without jobs. With Greymate Care they got more jobs quickly, and they got the appropriate jobs that matched the kind of services they could provide.”
Madubuko’s company is one of many start-ups revolutionising the healthcare industry. She speaks about differentiating her product, “I knew we had to be very innovative, we have to make our processes different, we have to differentiate ourselves in the market.
“We added a training curriculum, which was the best in Africa, training our caregivers to make sure that they can provide adequate care to our service users. Running background checks on our caregivers to make sure that service users feel safe letting them through their door.”
Finally, Inside Africa meets documentary filmmaker Joel “Kachi” Benson. As the founder and CEO of VR 360 Stories, Benson works as a virtual reality storyteller. He speaks about his first time using the technology, “I think it was February 2018 that I wore a headset for the first time. And my experience was a Coldplay concert. It was like I was there.
“And I remembered what the guy was trying to tell me two years before about putting viewers in the midst of the action. All I could see was the IDP camps that I’ve been filming in northeast Nigeria, the places that I had been to, and that I felt I did not properly express with my 2D camera. You know, what a tool for storytelling.”
Benson’s 360-degree immersion into the lives of internally displaced people was a first for a Nigerian filmmaker and it influenced another project focusing on the families of the Chibok schoolgirls. He recalls the aims of the film, “With the Daughters of Chibok, what I wanted to do was to take people to Chibok and show them this reality that was almost unreal. It’s so far away, so distance, we’re so detached from the story. I wanted to put people in that space. But I also wanted to amplify the voices of these women that I saw.”
Nigeria’s techpreneurs are innovators across multiple fields of industry and are putting in the hard work to build businesses that both help and inspire.
National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has said that Nigerians will no longer pay annual Digital Access Fees under the renewed Digital Switch Over (DSO) project.
Charles Ebuebu, director-general, NBC, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja,
Ebuebu said viewers only need to purchase an approved decoder and satellite dish which cost below N20,000 to enjoy free television permanently.
“Previously, users paid an annual digital access fee of about N1,500, described as an administrative charge.
“The new system removes that annual fee. It provides free access to free-to-air television channels without any payment.
“Premium channels will be introduced later. Viewers who want those additional channels will be able to access them through paid services.
“Nigerian content on free-to-air channels remains free to watch. Unlike Pay TV, this platform does not require monthly subscriptions for its basic service,” he said
Ebuebu said approved decoders for the FreeTV will cost less than N20,000 and authorised sales outlets will soon be announced.
He urged Nigerians to wait for official information on approved dealers for the DSO decoders, warning that unauthorised sellers are exploiting growing public demand.
He reiterated that people only need a free-to-air decoder, along with a satellite dish instead of the old antenna system to receive the DSO signal.
“Once the equipment is installed, viewers can access all available channels across the country without paying any subscription fees,” he stressed
The DG dismissed claims by some retailers that there are different categories of decoders sold at varying prices, stressing that such sellers are not authorised by the commission.
According to him, the NBC will soon publish the list of approved dealers, official prices, and locations where genuine decoder boxes and accessories can be purchased.
The NBC boss said the DSO project is designed not only to improve television broadcasting but also to stimulate economic growth by creating jobs, attracting investment, and opening up opportunities for businesses that support the broadcasting industry.
Ebuebu noted that content producers and broadcasters stand to benefit significantly from the nationwide reach of the DSO platform.
Unlike the previous system, where many stations had limited regional audiences, he said the new platform will make their channels available to viewers across Nigeria.
He added that the introduction of audience measurement technology will provide scientific and reliable data on television viewership.
Ebuebu added that audience measurement technology will give advertisers greater confidence in placing adverts and enable broadcasters to demonstrate the true size and reach of their audiences nationwide.
Uchenna Mbunabo, Nigerian filmmaker, has raised concerns over the alleged unauthorised broadcast of Nollywood films by some Ghanaian television stations, calling on Ghana’s National Film Authority (NFA) to strengthen the enforcement of copyright laws.
Uchenna Mbunabo, Nigerian filmmaker
Mbunabo made the remarks during a conversation with James Gardiner, deputy CEO of the National Film Authority (NFA) of Ghana.
He questioned whether it was permissible for television stations in Ghana to download Nigerian movies from YouTube and air them without obtaining permission from the producers.
“I noticed that Ghanaian TV stations, the way they are stealing our films and showing them for free with impunity. Is it legalised in your country for TV stations to go on YouTube, download people’s sweat and show it for free?”
According to Mbunabo, some Ghanaian television stations have been downloading newly released Nollywood films from YouTube and broadcasting them without authorisation, depriving producers of revenue generated through the platform.
He also stated that he had not witnessed Nigerian television stations engaging in similar practices and questioned what measures Ghana was taking to protect filmmakers’ intellectual property.
Responding to the concerns, Gardiner acknowledged that the issue exists and said the National Film Authority had begun engaging relevant stakeholders to address it.
He disclosed that the NFA has held discussions with the Ministry of Communications, the National Communications Authority (NCA) and the National Media Commission (NMC) on improving copyright enforcement.
Gardiner explained that while Ghana has copyright laws, enforcement remains challenging because many television stations now operate digitally and may not have physical offices within the country.
“There are copyright laws, but they are not effective because a lot of the TV stations don’t have offices. Most of them are now digital, so they operate from anywhere. They can even have a Ghanaian TV station but be operating from Austria simply because it is digital.”
He added that authorities are considering a new licensing framework that would require broadcasters to undergo a fresh licensing process to improve monitoring and enforcement.
According to Gardiner, television stations found guilty of illegally broadcasting copyrighted content would be required to compensate affected producers through fines.
He added that repeat offenders could face suspension of their broadcasting licences, while a third violation could result in the revocation of their licences.
Although he did not provide a specific timeline, Gardiner said the reforms were already underway and expressed hope that significant progress would be seen next year.
Mbunabo welcomed the proposed measures but urged the National Film Authority to expedite the process, stating that unauthorised broadcasts continue to affect filmmakers’ ability to recover production costs through legitimate distribution channels such as YouTube.
He also stressed that his comments were not directed at Ghana’s film industry, noting that he has worked with several Ghanaian actors over the years and supports collaborations between Nollywood and Ghallywood.
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