Bamidele Famoofo
Versecom Limited, a smart city infrastructure company, has entered into a partnership with IHS Towers Limited, for the construction of the first, out of the five low – cost hub initiative.
The initiative is a partnership between Versecom Limited, Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, Leadspace and Cisco.
The low-cost hub initiative was created to tackle the cost of office and barriers to business entry faced by most MSMEs and freelancers in the country.
“This Hub offers a seat at N1000/day, 50 per cent to 80 per cent lower than current market rates. This hub is targeted at idea stage – pre seed startups and freelancers around Lagos. The hubs will be located within different public parks around Lagos, one might be coming up near you,” Versecom disclosed.
A statement from Versecom hinted that IHS Lagos Innovates Centre (The Energy Hub) would be officially launched on the 1st of November, 2019.
“The hub is the first of its kind, making IHS Towers Ltd the premier sponsor of this Initiative. The telecoms infrastructure giant provided all the funds required to build the hub in its support for Energy and Environment causes; one of IHS’ CSR pillars,” it added.
The hub would be open to everyone, but the community events, challenges etc. will be tailored only towards Energy and Environment start-ups. In addition to the 500-seat capacity dome, IHS Towers has funded the construction of an energy laboratory with equipment like transformer winder, oscilloscope etc. in a bid to remove the barriers inhibiting innovation within the sector.
“Versecom Limited birthed this initiative while performing the due diligence required to provide free wifi in Lagos parks but then realised the park’s footfall was low during weekdays which is unsustainable for free wifi business. In order to boost park usage during weekdays, the idea of building an open floor low-cost co-working space using semi-permanent infrastructure was born,” it added.
