One global change I would like to see solved is the eradication of poverty across Africa especially in Nigeria. In the five minutes you’d have spent reading this article, six people would have fallen into extreme poverty. Think about that for a second, these six people are not just random numbers, they are actual humans who used to be comfortable; they are your cook, your cleaner, the bus conductor and your gateman Musa.

Musa earns a monthly wage of 20,000 Naira and out of that money he’s expected to take care of himself, his wife and four kids in faraway Jigawa State.  The derica of rice they used to buy for 600 is now sold for 2000, climate change has affected the yield they get from their farm, and they spend most of their income on malaria and typhoid drugs. Hence Musa can no longer afford basic provisions and now feeds from hand to mouth while going hungry for most days as various things ebb away his little income. His salary can no longer take care of him and his family. Tick tock, Musa is one of the six people that has just fallen into extreme poverty as we speak because their resilience is gone.

About 600 million people across the world live in extreme poverty, more than 70% of that number live in Africa (427 million people) of which 93 million live in Nigeria. I have been very fortunate to work with both the government and international development agencies in creating policies and initiatives that would help us take people like Musa out of poverty so I know first hand what an intentional policy can achieve in helping us reduce our poverty numbers. Last year, the Government approved a National Social Protection Policy that clearly address these challenges. 

This policy lays out specific steps to provide Musa’s wife and kids with free healthcare so Musa spends less money on drugs, monthly cash stipends to cater for her and the kids, free education for the kids, Agric inputs for farming to increase their yield and skill acquisition programmes for Musa so he can learn a skill and get a better job asides being a gateman and encourages state governments to set aside a portion of their budget for their poor and vulnerable population. All these through a combination of coordinated efforts from both Public and Private sector. Currently, only two states have adopted the policy (note: adoption does not equal implementation as you still require the appropriate budgetary allocation). Meanwhile, we have seen this same strategy work in Cambodia, Vietnam and India specifically where they lift about 44 people out of poverty every minute.

Hence, I won’t waste time on this article preferring solutions to our poverty malaise when experts have spent time doing justice to this. But in Nigeria, most policies waste away as mere documents if properly implemented, so I was part of a team that carefully designed a policy implementation roadmap for the Nigerian Govt that has been validated by key players across the social development space. I spent time with the poor men of Jigawa, the malnourished children of Taraba, sick women of Zamfara and I saw how targeted social protection programmes improved their lives over time. I know this because I have been involved but so many don’t due to a lack of awareness, education and execution. 

In Nigeria, our politics is short-term, this is why governors would rather build roads and empty buildings instead of investing in things like policy or education which take much longer term before the impact can be felt.

If Nigeria is serious about poverty, then it must be looked at as a National Crisis, one whose solution is apolitical. Poverty knows no party delineation, it is not APC or PDP, and if we don’t solve this looming crisis, history will not be kind on us.

In August, President Muhammadu Buhari ordered closed Nigeria’s land border with Benin, preventing the import of goods. The move significantly affected trade in foodstuffs, which had already been affected by various past import restrictions. In this article we examine the one positive effect the border closure has brought to Nigerians at large.

As part of an on-going effort to tackle smuggling and associated corruption, but also to spur the domestic agricultural industry, on October 14, 2019, Nigeria ordered closed all of Nigeria’s borders with Benin, as well as those with all other countries, for the same reasons. With the market for smuggled food now restricted, domestic food prices, already high, have gone up and the economy of neighboring countries— a staging area for smuggling into Nigeria has been devastated. Imports into Nigeria are to come through sea ports, where customs duties can be imposed more easily than at land borders. Nigeria’s vital oil exports are not affected.

While Nigeria’s borders reflect late-nineteenth century agreements among the British, French, and Germans, most African borders were similarly created by European colonial powers. The point being, the borders rarely reflect indigenous history or culture. In the case of Nigeria, while there are formal border crossings with customs services along the main roads, there are literally hundreds of others along footpaths and minor roads that are unregulated. The practical consequences of closing the land borders is likely to vary from one part of the country to another, based on government capacity to enforce closures.

So, what have been the positive benefits of the Nigerian border closure?

1. Increased Internally Generated Revenue (IGR): This is a huge fact because Nigeria has imposed customs duties which can be readily imposed more easily at sea ports than at land border. This is a major breakthrough as duties paid by importers are drafted to the IGR. This move is huge because over the years, prior to the border closure there has been no full regulation on duties paid for import. Now, with this strategic yet painful framework deployed by the President there will be accountability from the Nigeria Customs Department in contributing fully their own quota to the Single Treasury, which will best max the IGR for the GDP. To be honest, this move comes with a heavy steep price. This is obvious because many importers will have no other option to send in their goods and they’ll be forced to comply with the directive. It will affect the importers too who do not have enough funding for the duty payment effectively. But to be frank, the increased internal generated revenue will boost due to this.
2. Increased Consumption of Local Products: Nigerians like we know, love the consumption of foreign products. It’s in the blood really. However, to this effect of the Nigerian border closure, there has been a surge in the consumption of local goods. Take example, the locally made rice Nigerians rejected is now the most consumed commodity. As the cost of foreign products increase there comes the reality of Nigerians to use the available when the preferred is not available. According to locally rice farmers, it has been noted that they sell off their products easily these days compared to other times. It’s essential to note that the border closure was a move by President Buhari not to only tackle smuggling and associated corruption, but also to spur the domestic agricultural industry.

In effect, the move has been strategic and painful to numerous Nigerians, but the reality comes in that numerous nations are taking moves to increase their IGR for the benefit of their GDP. Countries like U.S.A are deploying this medium to tackle foreign nations like China from taking over their trading. It’s strategic and hits hard on the average citizens, but then there must be a future for a country to grow independently.

Just like the saying goes: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”. You will agree to the lone fact that the revitalization of Africa’s economy has been attributed to the leading advance in technology. This crucial factor that has played a prime role in this development can be attributed to the rise of tech hubs, especially in Africa. This is eminent as it is on the rise especially in Nigeria and Africa at large. But then: What are tech hubs? How do they work? How can upcoming startups and developers benefit from this phenomena?

What is a Tech Hub?

Just like the computer network hub, a connection point for devices in a network (Webopedia, 2018), the term ‘tech hub’ is simply a physical space (can be remote), a city, a suburb (like computer village Lagos), or a collective suite of offices whose aim is geared to help technology stay companies succeed, and scale up. Tech hubs create an environment specifically targeting the up-build of young technology companies thrive by encouraging: incubation, fast tracking, helping such firms network and collaborate with like minded individuals or enterprises.

The major goal of a tech hub is to grow ideas.

What Do They Need?

For a tech hub to thrive there are a lot of impeding criteria that must be meet so as to establish its relative productivity. One basic factor is a steady supply of permanent and temporary suitable workers, a means of generating revenue, relatively high speed internet access, robust infrastructure, location, transport, relative proximity of access, friendliness of the hub, and total coordinated organization.

Where Are The Best Hubs Located?

Remember, that the best known tech hub is probably Silicon Valley, based in California USA. Here you can find the big boys (companies) in the tech industry: Facebook, Apple, Netflix, Intel, Tesla, and major startups many of these were founded here.

In Nigeria, there are a numerous tech hubs available. The full list is available here, Prosper Otemuyiwa’s really helped in making this task easy, they include some in pictures:

How and Who Can Benefit From Tech Hubs?

While you might feel that only software and web developer are the most prime people to benefit from the establishment of tech hubs, you will be surprised to note that a lot of unskilled individuals are more likely on a ratio of 3:5 to gain immense experience from tech hubs.

Government agencies are really poised to gain knowledge, because tech hubs offer a wide angle of disseminated technologies, backgrounds, work groups, personalities and ideas. The core truth is that even companies seeking for skilled personnel’s to assist their companies can get a handful from reliable tech hubs across the continent.

So its a win-win. Tech hubs are for everyone, and by everyone. As the saying in the introduction of this article: “Rome wasn’t built in a day”, Nigeria has had a decent share of tech advancement due to the increase in tech hub, we have seen more open minded individuals come up in terms of technology challenges and even advocacy groups. The GitHub benchmark is a prime example of how poised and raging Nigeria and Africa is becoming towards the Open Source development and knowledge sharing. In it all, tech hubs are just like the library, you gain resources, experience and exposure.

So next time you think about a tech hub, what comes to your mind? Definitely, you will remark a tech hub as a ‘catalyst’ in crucial development. So find a tech hub around you and innovate!