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At the just ended Abuja edition of the final selection at the GITEX 2023 Expand North Star Pitch Competition which held Tuesday May 2, 2023 inside the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), one of NITDA’s [National Information Technology Development Agency] special purpose vehicles created to promote research and development in emerging/emerged technologies, IT Edge News.Africa, TRACY YEKAGHE, spoke with NITDA’s Director, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Dr Aristotle Onuma. He gave some insights into the startup pitch event and why NITDA is in partnership with the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) to promote Nigeria’s startup ecosystem at the GITEX GLOBAL arena.
What are your thoughts on this GITEX Startup Roadshow, Abuja edition?
The Abuja Edition of the GITEX Startup Roadshow has become a catalyst towards mobilising the entire youths or young innovators to take active participation in preparation to compete and have international exposure as regards to GITEX.
As we all know, GITEX is a global event that creates a platform for young people who are within and beyond the tech industry to have the opportunity to showcase what they are made of.
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Pitching before an international audience gives you the confidence that the product you are building, even if local could also have international relevance. So the past edition, last year, helped to catalyse the entire ecosystem and about 30 startups were able to participate in GITEX GLOBAL which was the largest we ever had since we started partnering with Dubai World Trade Centre in 2013.
Not only did the largest contingent of startups that we ever took to GITEX happened in 2022, we also came back with an award.
That reminds me of one of the startups that participated in that particular North Star event, the Supernova competition, in Dubai that eventually also came back with an award. The same person who came back with an award had the opportunity of having a Nigeria support via seed fund by the President of Nigeria which was about five million naira.
For me, this particular road show is exciting, inspiring and also creates a platform for people to also prepare for what is ahead.
“Truly, if you look at our strategic growth map and action plan, our key imperative in terms of achieving our goal is that of partnerships and collaborations.”
Considering your office in Corporate Planning and Strategy under NITDA, do you see this batch of startups that have pitched making a positive impact on Nigeria’s economy?
I see a future in the startups that pitched so far, this could be because sometime in 2021- I saw one of them who was also part of the people that NITDA supported with a grant of N50million in partnership with Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC).
Thus, if the product was not viable he would not have gotten the grant that he got at that time. I saw him pitching again this time which implies that there is great enormous potential that already exists among the youths of our generation.
It is indeed glaring from what we have seen thus far, ranging from agritech to payment solutions and even the efforts to solve the problem of cashless challenges happening due to the introduction of cashless policy by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Most of the solutions that have come up at this event go to show that these startups have what it takes, in terms of quality, to go far in the competition.
“Pitching before an international audience gives you [startup] the confidence that the product you are building, even if local could also have international relevance.”
You mentioned a startup that already pitched and won a grant in the past, and pitching again here at this event. Do you see the winners of this pitch competition having measurable impact in terms of the spread of their solutions or are they simply pitching to pitch another day?
If you listened to the young man’s pitch, you would notice that he mentioned that he had founded one company before and currently is part of another company. This only goes to show that the ecosystem is truly expanding with diversity of interests to ensure it thrives.
This means that more people are doing their best to find solutions to different social problems. These are my takeaways from all those who have participated thus far in the pitching competition.
Onuma: “Our key imperative in terms of achieving our goal is that of partnerships and collaborations. Looking at GITEX for instance, we are in partnership with Dubai World Trade Centre and as a result of that partnership we organised this edition of the Road Show. DWTC is sponsoring a total number of 8 startups. If we sponsored them ourselves, it could have certainly cost us a whole lot of money. This implies how much of an edge our partnership with DWTC has given us.”
Could you share any of the success stories that might have been recorded in the past edition?
There are quite a lot of success stories even though the tech industry is an open industry. There was this startup, ShapShap, who won an award in the past. The interest he is creating across board is contributing to catalysing many people and expanding people’s interest.
Another clear example was how one of the competitors mentioned the number of persons that had been employed thus far and the number of people he hoped to employ thereafter. In that regards, you would discover that the startup ecosystem is benefiting maximally from the success that the young people are making.
Could you also share about the role of partnerships in Corporate Planning and Strategy as it pertains to what NITDA does?
Truly, if you look at our strategic growth map and action plan. And we have been able to achieve this across board as there is no way we could have been able to achieve our mandate alone. Indeed, it would have been impossible for us to be able to achieve so much within our focus areas alone.
It was important that we partnered with others and this have given rise to a lot of success stories. For instance, we have a digital skills program that is currently on-going. We are partnering with a lot of other non-governmental agencies such as Microsoft, Google and other agencies to be able to deliver on those services, especially the areas where they have the competence.
We may not have the entire necessary infrastructure to deliver in certain areas which is why we partner with those who have what it takes in those specific areas.
Looking at GITEX for instance, we are in partnership with Dubai World Trade Centre and as a result of that partnership we organised this edition of the Road Show. DWTC is sponsoring a total number of 8 startups. If we sponsored them ourselves, it could have certainly cost us a whole lot of money. This implies how much of an edge our partnership with DWTC has given us.
Hence, these 8 sponsored startups would be in addition to the other startups we are able to mobilize and support ourselves.
The same thing is available and applicable in other areas both in digital skills, other areas of service delivery and local content which is also a key strategic road map and action plan.
It is also through partnerships that we work with those who provide local solutions, provide them with guidance, mentorship and also provide them with infrastructure and platform to enable them excel and expand on their business.
Partnership, collaboration is a key to succeeding and achieving our strategic road map and action plans.
