UK-Nigeria tech to engage startups, ecosystem stakeholders on COVID-19

The United Kingdom (UK), said it is committed to supporting the growth of the tech sector in Nigeria, as a growing and sustainable digital ecosystem, which contributes to economic growth and diversification.

The UK- Nigeria Tech Hub is set to launch intervention programmes to support Nigeria’s Tech ecosystem, following its recently concluded survey in the country on start-ups & investors, to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and other preventive protocols on their businesses.

The objective of the survey was to understand how COVID-19 has affected early-stage start-up revenue, growth, fundraising, and further gain insights on new strategies that would better support start-ups during and post-COVID-19.

According to results from the survey the ongoing pandemic and the lockdown, economy continues to affect start-ups in different ways, forcing them to re-evaluate business models, disrupting the value chain, and re-assess fundraising plans. And on a more positive note, the pandemic has caused an acceleration of remote working.

Country Director, UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, Honey Ogundeyi said: “In April 2020, the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub surveyed the tech-sector to better understand how start-ups are adapting in these unprecedented time. Respondents to the survey, ranged from pre-seed to Series A companies, in tech-sectors including agriculture, education, financial services, health, amongst others. Our goal with this survey was to provide insights to help identify the interventions and support most beneficial to start-ups in Nigeria and to offer more insightful guidance to the Nigerian start-up community and other key stakeholders. The UK will continue to focus our work on three key areas: programmes we can put in place to drive the recovery agenda; how we can create long-term prosperity; and the capacity and digital skills programmes to support Nigeria’s digital sector.”