Denis Opudo
The drastic increase in African development is highly attributed to small and medium scale businesses. Furthermore, the success goes to the African startups. Startups are working tirelessly to offer solutions to most of the African problems. On the other hand, SMEs are acting as the source of income to many African individuals. For one to carry out business at any time in any region currently they need the necessary skills. Digital skills are placing individuals above their counterparts when it comes to running a business.
Naija Startups started by Aramide Abe offers value-added services to ventures. It also helps businesses to access investors and get various training apart from sharing services. Abe got a degree in Computer Science from the University of Nottingham in the UK. She qualified with an MBA from INSEAD. Furthermore, she came out of Kellogg School of Management with a certificate. The startup initially started as an Instagram platform that offers advises for businesses. It, later on, grew to be an online platform offering the required resources for businesses. It majors in areas of strategy and digital marketing. The startup offers its services through its newsletters, workshops, and webinars. Currently, it has more than 50,000 members. A total of 85% of the members falls within the millennial age group.
The founder had an urge to help consumers in bridging the information gap that was there. But the reception Abe received led her to her current position. She realized that many entrepreneurs in Africa lack digital skills. Furthermore, they lack the knowledge of marketing through social media. Therefore, they are not making good use of the high internet penetration that is there across Africa. From this, she came up with Naija Startup to help solve the problem.
The startup aims at helping in the growth of small businesses both in Nigeria and Africa as a whole. Therefore, the startup has partnered with world giants Facebook and Google. The partnership helps to offer digital marketing training to many African entrepreneurs. Abe had knowledge in strategy, marketing and technology when developing the startup. This helped in the growth of the startup within a period of not more than three years since the launch. The Naija Startups Instagram page offers information and resources for small businesses. Moreover, it acts as an inspirational center for entrepreneurs and startup founders. It does that by the use of inspirational quotes and daily tricks and tips as well.
