Olatunde: Weak Institutional Infrastructure Hampering Digital Entrepreneurs
Founder of Knowledge Digest Africa and Digital CEO, Tribe International, Samson Olatunde, speaks on some the challenges hindering digital entrepreneurs in the country. Oluchi Chibuzor presents the excerpts.
It has been said that entrepreneurs drive any nation’s economy, how through in this saying?
Yes, this is absolutely true. Entrepreneurs are not just solution providers to an array of problems; they boost any nation’s economy. No nation can completely solve unemployment issues without market-creating innovation. To begin with, entrepreneurs strongly create new businesses that directly respond to the unmet demands in the market. For instance, before this moment, it was seemingly difficult for Africans in the diaspora to send remittance through their phones, except by using western union and others. Send WAVE came into the picture and therefore allows senders from Europe and North America to send money to their loved ones in Africa. This is not just an innovation; it has also responded to the unmet demands in the market. Also, entrepreneurs are job providers. Just imagine that you have a billion-dollar business idea! You obviously can’t execute it alone; you need people to work with you. By hiring people, you are supporting a nation through increasing the quality of life and reducing the unemployment rate. I can say this for free: no nation can succeed without entrepreneurs.
Why is it that the nation is yet to have fully home-grown digital entrepreneurs?
In my opinion, we have home-grown digital entrepreneurs. The challenge is just that they are few and struggling to survive in Nigeria’s harsh social condition. Let’s first understand who a digital entrepreneur is! A digital entrepreneur deploys the internet power to offer products or services to gain profit. By this definition, one keyword requires emphasis: the internet. Thus, it simply means that you need the internet to survive as a digital entrepreneur. The questions are: how do you survive in a country where the internet access subscription is pretty expensive. Also, as a digital entrepreneur, because you deal with the internet, you need a constant power supply. Another question begs for an answer: how do you survive when there is a low power supply in the country? These are the reasons why we have a few home-grown digital entrepreneurs in the country?
With the sector bedeviled with policy summersault as a result of various interplays of government interventions, how easy is it to excel as a digital entrepreneur in the country?
Undoubtedly, Nigeria’s government policies have caused weak institutional infrastructure, social issues and lack of payment online. Recall that the government once banned Twitter! This policy affected many digital entrepreneurs who rely on the platform as a source of getting clients. As per the weak institutional infrastructure, the government’s fin-tech regulation is also affecting the payment system of most digital entrepreneurs. Some who work for international clients struggle to get their money in Nigerian currency due to this challenge. I think the government policies are not just affecting digital entrepreneurs; other entrepreneurs have received their cake. Remember, in recent years, that many start-ups folded up because of Lagos’s policy on motorcycles.
Despite the fact that the nation’s tech hubs have been attracting FDI worth millions of dollars, the country is still heavily dependent on western software and hardware. Why is it so?
I concur that the nation’s tech hubs have been attracting FDI worth millions of dollars. There is no doubt that this will continue. Most of the tech hubs in Africa are based in Lagos, Nigeria. I foresee Lagos as the Silicon Valley of Africa.
On the aspect of being heavily dependent on western software and hardware, I won’t call it digital colonialism; rather, I feel tech hubs are relying heavily on where they can get the best of the products. I think Nigeria is growing. We will surely develop to a stage where we have software and hardware at our disposal.
As one of the nation’s digital entrepreneurs helping businesses to expand and become more profitable, can you share how you have been on this for over a decade?
I would describe my experience as creativity and change adaptation. Digital entrepreneurship is not a robotic mechanism; it is a combination of art and science. I am always ready to learn the art of creativity and adapt to change, as social media is evolving day by day. My experience has also made me understand that digital and traditional entrepreneurs possess the same characteristics: vision, determination, persistence, and creativity. The major difference would be that a digital entrepreneur needs to be tech-savvy and more open-minded.
Some of the businesses you have mentored and coached digitally are doing well especially in Ghana, Kenya, Benin Republic and of course Nigeria. How are you able to achieve all these?
To succeed, one needs to have a growth mindset and do a PESTEL analysis that can hinder growth in every business. I do my best to understand the micro- and macro-environmental factors that are capable of hindering a company’s growth (I do this because what works for Peter may not work for Paul). Once I have done this, I then proceed to provide the right digital strategy.
I would like to add that the internet is at our disposal. I easily carry out extensive research about any business model or industry in minutes. Also, I can be here in Nigeria and begin to provide digital solutions to businesses in the Benin Republic. It seems so easy to work for any organization anywhere.
Can you explain the various platforms that you have used to help business owners leverage technological tools?
One of the platforms that I have used to help business owners is Knowledge Digest Africa, which is Africa’s one-stop digital knowledge bank. I provide much-needed content on technological tools in the twenty-first century and up-to-date tech- and business-related news for business owners in different industries. Another platform is The Digital Entrepreneur Series, an initiative of Digital CEO Tribe. I, alongside my colleagues, provide a weekly learning and virtual session in diverse industries so business owners can stay tuned and understand the future of business and technology.
With The Digital Entrepreneur Coaching Program, I educate, empower and equip business professionals, C-Suite executives and business leaders with hands-on training on the latest digital technologies in their industry.
How can the sector become better positioned to help local digital entrepreneurs like you to become successful considering the enormous impacts people like you make in driving productivity?
The digital sector, just like other sectors, needs to be more professionalized. This will not only create a network of local digital entrepreneurs but provide an avenue to share ideas and learn. Having said this, I am currently creating a digital community to see how we can be more organized and all be in one hub for productivity. This is anchored through one of my babies (SMILES), one of the organizations I founded, Digital CEO Tribe.
You recently launched a new digital platform called Knowledge Digest Africa. What is this all about?
Knowledge Digest Africa is a data bank for African businesses to expand their capabilities with the aim to help professionals draw a pool of information to generate massive market trends and bridge resilience. Everyone in this world needs refined knowledge and innovation to live and make an everlasting impact and the knowledge ecosystem platform aims to educate and inspire business leaders and youths on the shore of Africa.
Knowledge Digest Africa is an online learning platform that has different pillars which is called the 5M’s- Mandate, Masterclass, Mentoring session, Marketplace, Membership subscription, conferences and so on. Knowledge Digest Africa mandate is a one-stop digital knowledge bank platform that seeks to educate and empower one million African business leaders and enrich professionals with substantial and up-to-date careers in entrepreneurship and technology know-how for wealth creation.
The masterclass pillar of the platform is to show many Africans practical wealth creation ideas, opportunities and skills that exist online and offline. The Mentoring series is more of an exclusive weekly interview with captains of different industries who have done over 20 years in the business ecosystem. The uniqueness of the knowledge Digest Africa is the digital Marketplace where lots of African writers can sell their knowledge products like e-books, podcasts, online courses and others.
Knowledge Digest Africa platform has an array of online meet-ups, conferences and many benefits for those who sign up for Membership to be part of Africa’s community of Digital Savvy Professionals. For stakeholders present, there is a need for disseminating knowledge on entrepreneurship, technology and business solutions so that young ones can read resource materials at their own pace.
In summary, the 5 M’s components of this platform give endless possibilities to Africans. It’s a platform built by African for Africa business solutions. Knowledge Digest Africa Platform will further help businesses to stay longer than their founder. I, urged businesses to seek information, innovation and places from knowledge data banks that can help them develop products to solutions.” So with this information you can see ways to reduce cost, improve market delivery and bring other people’s expertise you do not have on your own.
