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Two Startups Win at CFA’s Startups Hangout as speakers pass on valuable nuggets to Startups

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By peter oluka

The last edition of CFA’s Startups Hangout for 2017, was held on Friday, November 24, 2017 at Adna Hotel, GRA, Ikeja. The edition featured a Pitch session two Startups pitching.

Before the Pitch session, however, the invited speakers at the event, John Obaro, MD, SystemSpecs, (Remita) and Jane Egerton-Idehen, Country Manager, Avanti Satellite Communications , gave the attendee Startups some nuggets on what and what not to do, if they want to successfully run their Startup businesses.

First to speak was John Obaro, MD, SystemSpecs, (Remita). John was full of praises for the CFA team for organising the Start-ups Hangout.

He gave a vivid illustration of the power of technology, when he revealed that he had to resort to the use of the Google Map to guide him through the heavy traffic to arrive at the venue of the Hangout event, way ahead of some members of his staff that left the office earlier than he did, but we’re still stuck in traffic.

John, then, gave the Startups 19 nuggets that can assist them to run a successful business and also, to scale.

Some of these nuggets, as analysed here, include the fact that the Start-ups should be ethical in their approach to doing business and also have integrity. He admonished the Startups not to cut corners if they want to play for the long haul.

John also emphasised the need for the Startups to respect their employees, even though, they pay their salaries, as they cannot do the job alone.

He also stressed the need for the Startups to learn to work hard, stating that, being an entrepreneur calls for giving 24 hours attention to the business and they should not see it as an 8:00am to 5:00pm job schedule, if they want to succeed in it.

Another critical nugget that John passed on, is the fact that the Start-ups should get legal advise, all the way through the journey of their business, so as not to run into problems along the way. He also advised the Startups to learn to walk away from business deals that, in the end will make them lose focus of their objectives and goals and then, bring problems to the business, sooner or later.

“Not all jobs are for you, although, they may look attractive”, he stressed. He, however, agreed that this could be a tough call for a budding Startup, who needs to keep body and soul together as well as keep his business afloat, but he advised that they should be smart in choosing.

Startups should pioneer their own solutions, according to John. “It’s nice to copy, but it is better to be a pioneer. Pioneer your own solutions. Learn to carve out something distinct”, he encouraged the Startups.

Jane then, took the stage. She gave a different perspective to the whole scenario, when she stated that she was going to talk about her failure story, so that the Startups could learn what not to do. “Many successful entrepreneurs, always talk about their success stories and say nothing about the business they tried out, but failed in”, she stressed. “I am going to talk about a business I tried my hands on and failed in, so that you can learn what not to-do from it”, she explained.

Jane said that she started a business with some of her friends some years ago, called Moma, a fashionware outfit that pregnant women can patronise to get fitting wears for themselves during pregnancy. The first blunder that she and her partners made, was that none of them knew about fashion design processes.

She stated that, not until she started negotiating with factories in China and in India and she started to hear some fashion designing terms that were strange to her, that she now had to attend a Fashion Design school to keep herself up to date. According to Jane, the first lesson to learn, therefore, is to know the business you want to go into, in and out.

Jane also stated that, when the business was failing and there came a time to make a choice as to whether to source for more funding or wind down the business, she realised that her friends who were her partners were not interested in acting on any of the options and she stated that she just had to walk away from the business, preferring to lose all her investments instead of destroying friendship.

The lessons to learn here, she stated include the fact that, no matter who  you are going into business with, whether they be your friends or whoever, always have a Memorandum of understanding drawn before you commence the business. Do not overlook the legal aspects of your business as this could be crucial in defining a lot of things in future.

Jane ended by saying that, as an entrepreneur, Startups should carve out time for their business and not just leave it solely for their Managers to run.

Out of the three Startups that were shortlisted and invited to participate in the pitch session, only two showed up. The two were Touchabl.com and wokkaholic.com.

Touchabl, according to Gabriel Eze, the Founder/UX Designer, is a platform, where you can instantly search for anything in a picture by touching it. He explained the attributes, traction, income and profit potentials, etc., of the business as well as what the business will be needing to move on to the next level.

Likewise, Victor Tams, Founder/CEO of Wokkaholic.com, explained that the platform is one, where professional skill-based services, such as graphic artists, etc., can be sourced. He also explained the modus operandi of the business, attributes, traction, income and profit potentials, etc.

At the end of the day, it was decided that the two Startups, who incidentally both came all the way from Port Harcourt, be given the opportunity of featuring in an interview with me on Tech Trends on Channels Television.

Ehi Braimah, the chairman of Neo Media & Marketing Limited, graced the November 2017 edition of the CFA’s Startups Hangout with his attendance.

The November 2017 edition of CFA’s Startups Hangout was sponsored by TAMS and Remita.

The organizers thanked the Media partners, Guardian Tech, NigeriaCommunications Week, Connectnigeria, ITPulse, Cyber Africa and Technext.ng for their continued support in publicising the event for the benefit of the numerous Startups.

Watch out for the next edition of CFA’s Startups Hangout @ http://startups.cfatech.ng

 


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Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

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AXA Mansard Empowers Female SMEs with Financial, Digital Skills

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AXA Mansard, a member of AXA has empowered 200 female Small and Medium Enterprises with financial literacy and digital business skills.

In collaboration with SME 100 Africa, the two-day training, which was held in Lagos, is part of AXA’s lined-up programmes to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day.

Speaking, Olusesan Ogunyooye, Head of Marketing AXA Mansard, said the training was aimed to empower female SME owners with skills to improve business output and position them for the increasing economic opportunities available in an increasingly digital marketplace.

Ogunyooye noted that the move was in line with AXA Mansard’s sustainability agenda, explaining that the company was convinced that support for women through its inclusive protection programmes was pivotal to its purpose of acting for human progress by protecting what matters and its mission of moving from being a payer to a partner.

He further said that focusing on digital skills was important because the company realised the importance of digital skills to the growth of the SME sector in Nigeria and wants to ensure that women were empowered enough to be a consequential part of that growth.

“It’s almost trite to say that SMEs are the engine for economic growth, especially in developing countries like Nigeria, where over 45 million adults are business owners. What needs to be continually discussed is how Nigeria is going to unlock that potential for economic development and how much of that potential will be unlocked by women and for women.”

“For us at AXA Mansard, we are aware that digital will play a major role in unlocking these current opportunities and Nigeria’s economic future. So, to ensure that women are equally represented in unlocking these future potentials, that’s why we have collaborated with SME 100 Africa to support them in developing the required skills”.

“Our choice of digital and financial literacy skills is deliberate. We understand the power of the duo. We understand that helping these SMEs with the skills to attract more customers will be a faster means to empower them.

“We see that they have amazing products and services, but they need to understand how to attract value for themselves by attracting the right customers, and you will agree with me that virtually all customer segments are online in one way or another today.

“So, if we can empower them with digital business skills, we would have helped them with the heavy lifting of trying to find and attract customers”. Ogunyooye explained.

According to him, AXA Mansard believes that for the world to experience progress truly, there must be an equitable distribution of creation and access to opportunities for men and women. This quest for balance informed the SHE for Shield initiative, a women-centred inclusive protection programme of AXA Mansard.

SHE for Shield is a group of initiatives designed for the Nigerian woman. The goal is to see them grow, add value, and help them mitigate risks at every step.

According to the company, research has found that access to health care is one of the most important things to Nigerian women, regardless of their economic segment. They desire to be financially independent, secure, and respected in the community.

 


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IFC Invests in New 4DX Ventures Fund to Support Tech Startups in Africa

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IFC is investing $10.5 million in a new fund by 4DX Ventures, a New York-based venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage African technology companies across a broad set of sectors, including fintech, e-commerce, edtech, climate tech, and health tech.

IFC’s investment in 4DX Ventures Fund III will come from IFC’s $225 million venture capital platform, which was launched last year to strengthen emerging VC ecosystems and invest in early-stage companies in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, and Pakistan.

Africa is among the regions least served by venture capital, receiving just 2% of global venture deal volume in the third quarter of 2023. Access to capital on the continent has been further exacerbated by a slowdown in global venture capital investment.

Tech ecosystems are nascent, or even nonexistent, outside of more established markets such as Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa.

“IFC and 4DX Ventures share the commitment to supporting tech entrepreneurs with innovations that will help Africa leapfrog in critical areas such as climate, health care, fintech, e-commerce, and education,” said Walter Baddoo, Co-Founder and General Partner of 4DX Ventures.

“We look forward to partnering with IFC to help promising tech startups build transformative businesses and realize sustainable development impact on the continent.”

4DX’s new fund will invest in companies with tech solutions that can improve productivity, efficiency and competitiveness across Africa. The firm’s first two funds invested in companies such as Egypt-based e-commerce platform MaxAB, an IFC portfolio company; Ghana-based health tech firm mPharma; and Kenya-based B2B e-commerce platform Wasoko, formerly known as Sokowatch.

“By supporting the development of tech ecosystems in emerging markets, IFC’s venture capital platform aims to improve access to key services, boost business competitiveness, and promote job creation through digital transformation,” said Mohamed Gouled, Vice President of Industries at IFC.

“Our investment in venture funds such as 4DX Ventures will help African entrepreneurs access more financing and resources they need to scale tech innovations and bolster sustainable growth across the continent.

In addition to providing capital, IFC will work with 4DX Ventures to implement their environmental and social management system.


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Climate Action Africa Announces CAAF24

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Climate Action Africa (CAA) has announced the inaugural convening of the Climate Action Africa Forum (CAAF24). This international event brings together stakeholders from across the world who drive thought leadership insights on how to encourage collaboration, catalyse actionable solutions, and urge governments, businesses, and individuals to invest in climate-smart initiatives.

The climate-focused event was announced at last week’s Friday international press conference held at the prestigious Transcorp Hilton Abuja. This marks a significant milestone in Africa’s journey towards a sustainable future. A precursor to the upcoming Climate Action Africa Forum scheduled for June 17-19, 2024, at the Landmark Events Centre in Lagos, Nigeria, this press conference brought together leaders, experts, and stakeholders from across the globe. The gathering’s main goal was to discuss the urgent need for sustainable development plans and climate-smart investments in Africa.

Framed by the theme “Green Economies, Brighter Futures: Innovating and Investing in Africa’s Climate-Smart Development,” the international press conference became a vibrant platform for insightful discussions, strategic collaborations, and impactful engagements. It convened an esteemed gathering of leaders, experts, and stakeholders to explore solutions for Africa’s pressing environmental challenges.

The event kicked off with a welcome address by the Executive Director and Co-founder of Climate Action Africa, Grace Mbah, who having announced the commencement of event registration as April 2nd, 2024, made the call for tech-driven solutions and innovations in the fields of emissions reduction, transportation, agriculture, energy, circularity and building and construction to apply to participate in the deal room.

Providing insights to attendees on how innovative approaches and collaborative action is at the heart of CAAF24, she extended an opportunity to like minded organisations who would like to partner by hosting side events and finally, a call for volunteers from across the continent.

“It’s no news that the world stands at a critical juncture, where decisive action is imperative to mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change. Against this backdrop, CAAF24 serves as a pivotal platform for key stakeholders to engage in meaningful discourse, and forge collaborative pathways towards a greener, more sustainable future.

The essence of CAAF lies in its commitment to shaping a climate-resilient Africa through co-creation, innovation, and sustainable investment. Through this initiative, we aim to catalyse solutions that enhance the sustainability and prosperity of the continent’s natural resources, people, and economies,” Grace stated.

During the International Press Conference, distinguished speakers and thought leaders emphasised the urgent need for collective action in tackling Africa’s climate challenges.

They delved into critical topics like renewable energy, sustainable agriculture, biodiversity conservation, and climate finance, offering practical insights and inspiring initiatives.

Jummai Vandu, representing the National Council on Climate Change, expressed optimism about the initiative’s outcomes. “Today’s discussions,” she said, “underscore the urgency of our collective efforts to combat climate change. The National Council believes working together is key to driving meaningful action and creating a more sustainable future for Africa and beyond.”

With the International Press Conference complete, the stage is set for CAAF24. Stakeholders will converge to translate ideas into action, forge partnerships, and drive progress towards a climate-smart Africa.

Mrs. Taiwo Fashipe, Head of Media for the Presidential CNG Initiative (P-CNGi), echoed similar sentiments, stating: “The theme of this year’s Climate Action Africa Forum aligns with our goals, vision, and mission at the Presidential CNG Initiative.

“We look forward to using this platform to advance interest in and investment in greener and cleaner energy sources like CNG.”

Standing at a crucial juncture in Africa’s quest for sustainable development, CAAF24, convened by Climate Action Africa in partnership with the National Council on Climate Change, Channels Media Group, and Founder Institute, emerges as a beacon.

It brings together the private and public sectors, guiding the continent towards a future marked by resilience, prosperity, and environmental stewardship.

 


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