This is an incredible idea actually. If we keep hoping on blockchain for big transactions, you’ll have to wait until CBN drags its obstinate self around with regulations and all. Regular fintech (cards, wallets and direct debit) don’t work very well for micropayments because of transaction charges.
This really makes a lot of sense!
Just checked. This company has made it in this life. Imagine how easy life would have been if we had proper power infrastructure.
i think its a high end market, hence the drop in its TAM. you’d spend a lot of money educating uneducated women about its importance(also, how it doesn’t go against their religion) that could have been put into marketing the idea #mythoughts
church business model. any idea that sells hope in Africa/Nigeria is a billion dollar opportunity. nairabet, baba ijebu, churches etc
A “Grocery” brick and mortar retail chain, focused completely on low prices. This is the only way to solve the problem of scale. From my point of view the problem with Nigerian Agriculture will persist as long as “the traditional open-air markets” is still the dominant retail platform in Nigeria. My amateur brain has concluded that Agriculture is suffering in Nigeria because of our extremely fragmented and inefficient retail platform (which has always been dominated by the traditional open-air markets)
There is a billion dollar opportunity in Africa regardless of the industry or sector. All we need to do is DISRUPT.
For instance, Lagos house rentals need a complete overhaul. A monthly payment plan can be a game changer within this sector. Fibre is doing well but they are only targeting the affluent Nigerians. A start-up like ToLet should be the driver of a monthly house rent plan in Lagos. A month-to-month income on ToLet book would attract huge foreign investments in Lagos. This, in turn, would provide good funds for Urban housing development.
When a Nigerian wants to Travel abroad, the western countries often require us to provide all our life history and yet they still reject us. The travel startups such as WakaNow and TravelBeta can merge to create a Global Visa Application for Nigerian citizens. What this means is anyone vetted (with proper due diligence) by this startup should have a lower chance of being rejected a Visa provided applicant information were correctly provided without deceit. This, in turn, would minimise reoccurring rejections and fear of staying back when Nigerian visits the western countries.
Instead of finding a rigid birth control plan (or cure for HIV), we could create VR’s that allow us to have the same level of excitement experienced just like when we have physical intimacy with our loved ones. This, in turn, reduces the birth rate, STDs and optimises long distance relationships/affections.
In addition, big disruption can never be accomplished by one startup. We need to lobby at the federal government agencies, collaborate with other startups, build things that have the ability to expand other businesses. Of course, this will require a lot of selfless efforts but that’s the beginning.
For instance, a big chunk of Lagos traffic can be minimised with planned working hours for certain industries. 6 - 2 pm, 10 - 6 pm and 2 - 8 pm depending on the level of importance of course. This, in turn, would minimise traffic jams, better and reliable transportation network, translating to better logistics, happy citizens, and several opportunities not yet imagined.
Talking about contraception, active collaboration with federal govt could simply mean increasing taxes for any family with more than 3 children. This, in turn, would minimise the level of the budget required for the accountability of every Nigerian citizen.
A lot can be achieved but those that have the money and power should start…we will address the “in turn” side of the business.
Cheap solutions for electricity in Nigeria and making profit from retail sales of product …
Cancer Treatment.
The amount of carcinogens humans get to deal with everyday is growing at a tremendous rate. From environmental pollution and food preservatives, hormone based contraceptives, performance enhancing and recreational drugs, to hyper-level amounts of radiation around us and cosmetics.
Humans are brewing a perfect storm. Every year, I know more people dead from cancer or treating it.
It’s tragic but this presents an opportunity that dwarfs the term ‘billion dollar’.
Well, combine that with accurate, spot cancer diagnostics. In addition, the world’s richest medical doctor, Patrick Soon-Shiong, who sold his two cancer biotech startups for $9bn, is trying to make cancer treatment like that of an infectious disease where you run drug sensitivity tests to choose the best drug for a disease-causing microorganism. Through his current biotech startup called NantHealth, he is using supercomputers to analyse the blood samples of thousands of cancer patients for what we call specific cancer molecular signatures and then running them against hundreds of approved anti-cancer drugs. The result is some patients with cervical cancer have a molecular signature that is most sensitive to breast cancer drug rather than a cervical cancer drug because all cancers at the molecular level have a similar architecture, they just differ in subtle ways. This approach minimizes side effects, hospital stay and improves the overall outcome of treatment because a cancer patient is treated with a drug that his or her cancer is most sensitive to.
Another area is gene editing technology. Yeah. It’s possible to specifically edit any human gene the same way you can edit your documents. This technology was pioneered by molecular biologists at University of California Berkeley, the Max Planck Institute in Germany, Harvard University and MIT, and it is called the CRISPR-Cas9. It is so game-changing that Harvard University and MIT under their joint program, the Broad Institute, went into a 2-year legal patent battle with the University of California Berkeley over who owns the patent rights for its use in human cells; the final decision of the court early this year went in the Broad Institute’s favour. With the CRISPR gene-editing technology, scientists can edit out very easily disease-causing gene mutations behind sickle cell, cancers and other diseases in humans and replace them with healthy ones; intensive research is going in animals around the world where it is being trialled on the embryos in the wombs of these animals. In agriculture, it can safely introduce disease and drought-resistant genes into farm produce, in the petroleum industry, it can be used to engineer oil spill-cleaning bacteria, in the nuclear energy industry, bacteria that can biodegrade radioactive waste can be engineered. The technology is still at the earliest phase of its limitless applications. And one of the pioneers from the Broad Institute, 34-year old Professor Feng Zhang, has already established a biotech startup called Editas Medicine that will further develop the technology for safe use in humans and license it to companies around the world; while one of the pioneers from the University of California Berkeley, Professor Jennifer Doudna, has also established a biotech startup called Caribou Biosciences to further develop the technology for safe use in animals, crops and license it to companies around the world.
In the next 10 to 20 years, this technology will birth a multi-trillion dollar economy on its own.
Generic pharmaceuticals.
Wait for drug patents to elapse in Europe/US and produce it en masse at lower cost for the world.
Easy saying it though.
No be lie…plus most people don’t like condoms. Birth control will be huge for its investors in Naija.
Cheap internet access.
A possible route would be fibre optic cables, this at first will be capital intensive but
partnering with telecoms to setup WiFi hotspots where a mast is located will go a long way.
I can’t begin to list the problems this would solve.
I think the fashion industry (Local Traditional Attires) Especially, every Saturday is a wedding event, aseobi things making and exporting trad attires. Visit our product, and tell me what you think.
