Eberechi Obinagwam
Despite all the challenges Nigeria faces, the State Ministry of Germany has said it is the biggest growing economy with so many potentials.
Managing Director of Baden-Württemberg Development Corporation Foundation, (SEZ), Philip Keil, stated this at his visit to Nigeria to support small businesses through an outreach program tagged: Start-Up Afrika, an international non-governmental organization, Lead Africa, which is funded by the ministry of Baden-Württemberg, through the foundation for Development Corporation, (SEZ), recently in Lagos.
He said that their coming to Nigeria to host the 2021 edition of Start-up Afrika is because Nigeria has so many potentials so they want to help some Africa’s top social entrepreneurs and pioneers in diverse fields who are creating prototype solutions across both tech and non-tech divides, to help Africa solve its critical challenges around digitization, fashion industry, cleantech, and climate change, education, etc with the support of hundred thousand Euros, (100,000€), with 1,000€ for each qualified 20 selected companies.
About the initiative, Philip explained that Start-Ups are small companies but playing a key role in economic growth, creating more jobs that will lead to more employment and consequently lead to an improved economy. ” It’s a program designed to support innovative start-ups through intercontinental exchange and network plus funding.
“It’s a key role to create a social and ecologically transformed economy in Africa and Baden-Wurttemberg, which is needed to accomplish the UN Agenda 2030 and the agenda 2063 of the African Union,” he said.
Adding, Business Development Consultant and African Development Enthusiast, Timi Olanrewaju, said that Nigerian market is so big, that the innovation coming out from it is so much they can not ignore, looking at the youths the nations have.
So, he explained that they aim to bridge the gap between Africa and European regions together in business, to be able to know how they can collaborate through a start-up Alumni that will create room for business interactions, sharing of ideas, and mentorship.
