General News
Technology, Others Cost Nigeria $2.5Bn Tourism Revenue- Robinson
Cherae Robinson is the founder of Rare Customs, a company focused on embedding American SME’s in emerging market tourism trends. Originally from Brentwood, NY, she is a traveler and connector interested in emerging markets, particularly Africa.
Rare Customs was recently selected as the inaugural winner of the She Leads Africa startup competition for its new consumer product ‘Tastemakers Africa, a multi-platform brand, revolutionizing travel on the continent.
Cherae has spoken at different fora, engaging audiences on African economic trends, African-American issues, travel, diversity in international careers and balancing motherhood and global ambition. In this online interview with peter ugwu, she shared Rare Customs’ vision for the African market.
Rare Customs & TSTMKRS App
Tastemakers Africa (TSTMKRS) is still in its early stage, we only came up with the concept of launching an app just 6 months ago.
Before then, Rare Customs spent 6 months putting together a plan for engaging African tourism boards and potentially consulting for them. Once we pivoted towards TSTMKRS we were able to bring a couple of the best minds in the African startup scene on board as advisors.
Additionally, we immersed ourselves in case studies, data mining, and studying our competition in order to find the right business model, planting seeds for partnership, and making data-based decisions that we knew could last through a challenge.
While it’s certainly a boost for me to receive such a big honor from the United Nations Foundation, the real honor will be gaining the trust and interest of investors so that we can scale the business.
If I had to think of some things we’ve done differently, I’d focus on our ability to be nimble (we have already pivoted some parts of the business), be open (we share our process not just our successes), be connected (we are building partnerships at the outset, particularly on the continent), and most of all be user-focused.
‘She Leads Africa Entrepreneur Showcase’ First Place Winner
It’s interesting; I’m actually new to the tourism industry. I’m not new to travel, I’ve been to 30 countries and counting, but traveling and the business of tourism is very different things.
In Africa, I think my status as a parvenu so to speak is beneficial, it allows me to really create whereas working through the system might not.
Our team gets to experiment, take risks, and disrupt the notion that any conversation involving tourism on the continent must involve an elephant or a lion.
Entrepreneurship in the tourism industry, particularly when Africa is growing in might economically, requires one to have a long strategic vision of how tourism links into this growth and be able to take that vision and turn it into a tangible business model.
You have to have the tenacity to follow-through crises like Ebola which disrupt the industry or scare off investors (that happened to us), the foresight to understand and even predict trends in traveler behavior, and the fearlessness to go against the grain and remain committed even when the gatekeepers in the industry don’t want to let you play in their sandbox.
Assessment of Africa’s Tourism Sector
The sector is ripe for growth and investment but is not without challenges. Issues around infrastructure are well documented but above infrastructure I would put attention to the customer experience.
This December, our team is giving a social media and customer experience training to tour operators in Accra, Ghana (#DecemberInGhana).
We believe that strong digital narratives paired with top tier customer service upon arrival will really help change the conversation. Once this happens, and the number of arrivals increases even in new hotspots, the investment will come. I think there are some really interesting hotspots that are cropping up.
Namibia is doing an excellent job of grouping it’s offering into specific themes like adventure tourism, “glamping”, and really promoting its biodiversity. Senegal is rising high up on the must-visit places with its capital city, Dakar reaching the top 10 of GOOD Magazine’s “Most Inspiring Cities In The World” list. These are good signs.
The next step is for governments to move beyond entrenched ways of operating in the sector and to embrace new players on the scene. Private sector is ultimately what will drive the industry but support at the government level can make the road a bit easier.
Rating of Nigeria’s Tourism Industry
I would place the Nigerian tourism industry as approaching average. The head of the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation seems to be doing the right thing in thinking about ways to increase domestic tourism in addition to attracting international visitors.
This is key; last February while I was visiting Lagos for Social Media Week, a Nigerian friend and I visited the Badagry point of no return.
My friend hadn’t been to the site since he was just a small child, and his friends almost ridiculed him for taking the time to go.
There’s a lot of work to be done in getting the average Nigerian to see the value in visiting some of the national treasures available to them.
This is similar to what has been done in the United States with respect to new efforts to increase visitors at our national parks. Lack of technology inclusion and infrastructure concerns due to a lack of consistent power or internet in many places is definitely causing significant revenue loss.
The industry is valued at $7 billion and less than 20% of attractions are online. This is not in line with consumer expectations and is hurting the industry. According to Forbes magazine 82% of consumers trust a company more if they are involved with social media.
More than 148.3 million people use the Internet to make reservations for their accommodations, tours and activities. That’s more than 57% of all travel reservations each year according to Statistic Brain.
When you apply this number to Nigeria’s industry where there is a 37% differential in online presence, that’s a loss of $2.59 billion annually.
Tastemakers Africa App
Tastemakers Africa lets users find and buy hip experiences in Africa. The beta version of the app launches on Android and iOs in early 2015 and features 10 cities in Africa.
We chose the launch cities based on where the most cosmopolitan offerings were, where smartphone penetration was the highest, and where tourists are already traveling.
The app is like having a cool friend on the ground who knows all the best parties and restaurants and things to do except it’s an app and all of these things are now at your fingertips. The thing that makes the app special is that it not only lets you browse cool experiences, you can actually purchase them in advance.
Whether it’s dinner for two at a trendy restaurant, a VIP table at a nightclub, or Skydiving over Table Mountain, the Tastemakers Africa app lets users build their own African experience through a distinctive, visual interface.
Tastemaker Africa App Footprint
Partnership is at the core of who we are and we intend to continue building relationships with the right companies and organizations on the continent, international brands that speak to millennial and urban sophisticates are also key for us.
Beyond this we believe in our marketing and user acquisition strategy. We lead with compelling, visual content but are also producing a product unlike anything anyone has ever scene as it relates to Africa.
Existing Gaps in the Market
The primary gaps we see are encouraging domestic tourism, underestimating the diaspora market, and underestimating the power of the millennial generation. Tastemakers Africa will address all of these through the entire platform.
Sustaining The App’s Penetration
Our target user on the continent can see themselves in our product. We tell their stories, we work alongside of them, and we value their contributions.
The version of Africa that Tastemakers is focused on is something people take pride in. Brands like Okay Africa, Applause Africa, and others have tackled this from a media level and we intend to go one step further in bringing “Aspirational Africa” to the tourism space.
App Content
This statement is so true – that’s why we built TastemakersAfrica.com a companion to the app. The website follows the same categories as the app [Eat, Drink, Do, Rest] but it wraps this within featured content on creatives in the world of film, music, art, etc.
We feature events on our page, plugin to user Instagrams, and really push the envelope on what’s happening.
The App Launch
The app launches in beta mode in Q1 of 2014. You can signup at www.tastemakersafrica.com to be the first to know.
NLNG and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) have commenced the construction of a research and innovation centre at Rivers State University, aimed at strengthening indigenous capacity in computer and electrical engineering.
The NLNG Research and Innovation Centre for Computer and Electrical Engineering (RICCEE), which was inaugurated yesterday, is the company’s largest Human Capital Development Institutional Strengthening project to date.
The centre is expected to provide specialised training, advanced research facilities and technological solutions for challenges in Nigeria’s energy and industrial sectors.
It will also house a professorial chair and operate as a research and development centre where industry-focused solutions, particularly for NLNG, can be developed and potentially commercialised.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, NLNG’s Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Adeleye Falade, described the project as a strategic investment in the country’s future and evidence of the company’s commitment to sustainable human capital development.
Falade, who was represented by NLNG’s General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Sophia Horsfall, said the facility would improve the university’s ability to produce highly skilled professionals while ensuring that research responds to industry needs.
He said the centre would also help bridge the gap between academic knowledge and practical industry requirements by creating opportunities for researchers and professionals to work together on innovations with commercial and developmental value.
Felix Omatsola Ogbe, the Executive Secretary of NCDMB, represented by the Director, Capacity Building, Abayomi Bamidele, said the project marked an important step in advancing the Board’s Human Capital Development objectives.
According to him, the centre is part of the Board’s Institutional Strengthening Programme, which seeks to build lasting partnerships with higher institutions through infrastructure that supports teaching, research, innovation and practical skills development.
Ogbe challenged the centre to emerge as a hub for discovery, creativity and technological advancement, where students can develop innovative ideas, researchers tackle real-world problems and industry can find reliable research and development partners.
The Vice-Chancellor of Rivers State University, Prof. Isaac Zeb-Obipi, said the project aligned with the institution’s 2026–2030 strategic plan, particularly its focus on research collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurship.
“We envisage the Centre as a world-class hub where researchers and students can develop practical solutions to engineering and technological challenges, where university-industry collaboration can flourish, and where innovative ideas can be transformed into useful products, technologies and services,” he said.
The centre will occupy about 9,336 square metres within the university and include specialised laboratories for electronics and signal processing, robotics and embedded systems, software engineering, and digital forensics and cybersecurity.
The facility will also feature solar energy provisions, energy-efficient lighting and other environmentally responsible systems designed to reduce operating costs and support reliable research activities.
RICCEE is one of NCDMB’s Institutional Strengthening Projects designed to improve learning institutions through modern infrastructure, research facilities, technical equipment and training aligned with industry needs.
General News
NITDA Seals Strategic Deals with Goose FL and Fireflies AI to Power $1 Trillion Digital Economy Vision
In a significant step toward expanding Nigeria’s tech footprint on the global stage, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has signed strategic Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with Canadian tech companies Goose FL and Fireflies AI.
The signings took place during the Nigeria–Canada Investment Forum and the Nigeria Investment Economic Conference in Toronto, Canada, witnessed by NITDA’s Director-General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi.
The strategic partnership centers on three core pillars designed to accelerate the nation’s digital roadmap:
- Expanding Financial Inclusion: Developing innovative technology solutions to broaden access to digital financial services and create sustainable economic opportunities for underserved communities.
- Deploying Local AI Infrastructure: Establishing indigenous Artificial Intelligence infrastructure and services to strengthen Nigeria’s internal capacity to build, manage, and benefit from AI technologies locally.
- Building a Stronger Digital Economy: Driving long-term economic growth through strategic global partnerships, technology transfer, innovation, and digital capacity development.
This international collaboration directly aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s vision to grow Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy by 2030, anchored by innovation, digital technology, and human capital development.
By forging key global ties, NITDA continues to position Nigeria as a rising leader in the digital economy, ensuring that emerging tools like AI deliver real, tangible value for local citizens and businesses.
Anambra State Government says it is exploring partnerships with the Federal Government and other stakeholders to extend digital connectivity to underserved rural communities across the state.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Anambra State ICT Agency, Mr Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, disclosed this during a virtual media engagement with journalists on Thursday.
Agbata said rural connectivity remained a major challenge because telecommunications operators were often reluctant to invest heavily in communities where network deployment might not be commercially viable.
He said the state was willing to explore opportunities to leverage Federal Government infrastructure and the Universal Service Provision Fund (USPF) to extend connectivity to underserved communities.
“We understand what digital inclusion means because we are dealing directly with these communities,” Agbata said.
According to him, the objective is to ensure that rural residents are not excluded from the benefits of digital government and the wider digital economy simply because of where they live.
Agbata said the effort formed part of the state’s broader digital transformation agenda, which is targeting deeper digitalisation of government services and a more digitally enabled business environment by 2030.
He said the second phase of the agency’s digital transformation agenda would focus on e-governance, digital infrastructure, smart government and the use of emerging technologies to drive development.
“My core vision is that we would have digitised every single government entity in Anambra State,” he said.
The ICT boss said the digital transformation agenda would extend beyond government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to businesses and residents across the state.
He said the agency was already developing websites for government MDAs and transforming them from mere information platforms into channels for delivering government services.
“We are building websites for all the MDAs. We are also automating them to be able to carry out services and give government support and government services through their websites,” he said.
Agbata said the initiative would reduce the need for citizens to physically visit government offices to access basic services.
He said the Smart Anambra platform had already demonstrated growing demand for remote access to government services.
According to him, the platform recorded about 14,000 visits between July 9 and July 29, averaging approximately 700 visits daily, despite limited publicity.
He said the data indicated that residents were interested in accessing government services online, including applications, permits and identification-related processes.
“What the data is already showing us is that we really need to build a system that allows people to actually get government services remotely,” Agbata said.
He explained that the objective was to allow residents to initiate processes online, complete forms remotely and only visit government offices where physical presence was eventually required.
This, he said, would reduce the time and cost citizens spend travelling to Awka or other government offices to access services.
Agbata said services in areas including hospitals, schools and other government processes were being connected to Smart Anambra.
Anambra Targets 2030 for Digital Government
Agbata said the state’s 2030 target was to deepen the digitalisation of government services and create an environment where businesses could increasingly operate within the formal digital economy.
He said the agency was working with the Ministry of Commerce to promote the formalisation of businesses, particularly SMEs and businesses operating in major markets.
“One of the biggest challenges that we have is that SMEs are not formalised enough,” he said, adding that the agency was exploring partnerships to address the challenge.
The ICT agency boss said the transformation would be gradual because major government initiatives required the necessary approvals and resources.
On the possibility of making Anambra completely paperless, Agbata disclosed that the State Executive Council was already operating a paperless system.
He, however, said the entire civil service might continue to operate a combination of digital and paper-based processes for some time because of the complexity of government operations.
“What might happen is a dual situation,” he said, adding that selected MDAs could be used as pilots for deeper digital transformation.
Agbata also disclosed that the Anambra State ICT Agency had commenced the deployment of a locally trained artificial intelligence (AI) system to automate its operations and explore applications in governance, revenue management and public-sector productivity.
He explained that the agency did not develop a frontier large language model from scratch because of the huge computing and financial resources required.
Instead, he said, it adopted an open-source model, modified it and was training it for specific local use cases.
“We have started doing our own local AI system. It is an open-source system, so we didn’t build our own frontier model. We basically looked at open source and modified it, and we are training it,” Agbata said.
He said the system had already been deployed to automate the agency’s operations end-to-end.
“We have used it to automate our agency end-to-end. Everything that we do now is currently automated,” he said.
Agbata said the agency was exploring how the model could be applied across other areas of government to improve productivity, address revenue leakages and strengthen governance.
He said the AI initiative formed a major part of what he described as the agency’s “2.0” phase following his reappointment by Gov. Chukwuma Soludo.
According to him, the second phase would build on achievements in infrastructure, capacity development, e-governance and smart government while placing greater emphasis on AI and emerging technologies.
Agbata also said the state’s free public Wi-Fi initiative remained operational, stressing that the programme was introduced before the electioneering period.
“The free Wi-Fi didn’t start as a political thing, a campaign thing. It started way before the campaigns,” he said.
He explained that the strategy was adjusted during the campaigns to enable residents to follow the governor’s activities and participate in live engagements while on the move.
According to him, existing Wi-Fi locations, including facilities at the state Secretariat, remain operational, although occasional downtime occurs, particularly during periods of adverse weather.
“There are downtimes now and then because with the rains and all of that, these things have their uptime and their downtimes, but it is still very much available,” he said.
He disclosed that there were currently no plans to establish additional Wi-Fi locations, noting that existing sites were still providing services.
Agbata said the state would continue to develop digital skills and education programmes, including Smart Schools and other capacity-development initiatives.
He also called for stronger collaboration among government, technology companies, telecommunications operators, local technology manufacturers and other stakeholders to accelerate the state’s digital transformation.
He cited the procurement of about 2,000 computers supplied by indigenous technology company, Zinox, as an example of the state’s engagement with local technology providers.
Agbata said the agency would remain open to partnerships capable of supporting Anambra’s technology agenda.
He said the ultimate objective was to build an Anambra where residents and businesses could increasingly interact with government digitally, while technology becomes a central driver of economic development across the state.
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