Don’t ask for my thoughts on Nigerian tech in 2024, if you don’t want to hear this.
A few months ago, I was on a call with some friends. It was a small group of people in the Nigerian tech ecosystem. Founders, a soon-to-be founder and about two operators.
We had covered the main points of the discussion, and we were getting to that part of the call that typically concludes these kinds of conversations.
You know, that part.
The part where people rant about the challenges of the tech ecosystem, and how it affects them.
On this day, the rants ranged from fundraising challenges to low purchasing power in the country and currency devaluation. After a round of much-needed ranting and stress relief, the conversation transitioned as someone said “I wonder what the way forward is”
“Isn’t it obvious?!”, I asked in my head.
I didn’t say anything, but the “Omo I don’t know oo” chorused in response, confirmed to me, that an idea I believed was widespread wasn’t as popular as I had initially thought.
I’ll explain what I mean.
- English is the official language of Nigeria. About 20% of the world’s population (1.5 Billion people) speak English. Right?
- Reaching people and doing business globally is easier than ever thanks to the internet. Right?
- Incorporating a business internationally is easier and cheaper than ever. Right?
- Building & managing a software product is easier than ever thanks to no-code tools, frameworks, cheaper servers and AI. Right?
- In developed economies, there are clear winners for large software verticals. However, some verticals are too small or niche for them to play in. These markets don’t always have a clear winner. Right?
- And finally, collecting online payments is easier than ever thanks to Stripe, Paystack, Flutterwave and other players in the space. Right?
While I haven’t gone as deep as I would have liked, I hope I’ve been able to paint a picture of interesting opportunities for Nigerians in tech.
To put it plainly, I believe more Nigerians in tech should consider building bootstrapped micro-products for developed countries.
Yes. Indiehacking (sort of) but focused on small niches in developed economies.
It’s a style of lean product development that focuses on independently creating, marketing, and growing a small profitable online business or product.
I’ve been following the movement for about 5 years and I think more Nigerian builders should get involved.
I’ll provide more context.
- Due to the current market conditions it’s hard to raise VC. It’s even worse when you’re in a developing market. The model I’m proposing isn’t focused on scaling via VC.
- You also don’t need a big TAM and you don’t have to solve a big problem. There are a lot of micro products like plugins, web apps etc that make thousands of dollars monthly.
- Running a profitable $5k Monthly recurring revenue (MRR) product can do a lot because of the relatively low costs of living in Nigeria.
- It’s not easy, but if you move fast and you’re lucky, this model makes it easy to build multiple adjacent products in the same industry.
- Exits in this space are easier and more common than in the standard start-up route.
- Attempting to build a unicorn is hard. Building a unicorn is even harder. And that is before considering that 63% of your target population is ‘Multidimensionally poor ’
Am I saying people shouldn’t raise VC or try to build unicorns?! By all means, No!
Unicorns have been built and are currently being built in Nigeria.
What I’m saying is that there are other smaller, but still magical creatures that are not as rare as unicorns. People should consider them too.
The ecosystem will be better for it.
There will be more hands-on tech-business experience, more FX coming into the country, and a few more jobs created.
I also think it will generate more unicorns in the long run. As more people build, grow and exit their small bootstrapped businesses, they will gain transferable skills that will be useful in building bigger tech businesses.
In embracing the possibilities that come with building small bootstrapped projects, we will not only find alternative paths to success but also contribute to the growth and resilience of our tech ecosystem.
The journey may be unconventional, but the impact can be extraordinary.
Notes
- I’m aware that I’ve made some generalizations in this article. It’s definitely not as straightforward as I’ve written it
- I’m also aware that some businesses that can’t work without external funding e.g One that is in a regulated space. Those are not the type of businesses that I’m talking about in the article.
Thanks for taking the time to read this. No, seriously thanks.
It’s a topic I’m passionate about and I appreciate that you’ve taken time to read my thoughts on it. Even if you don’t agree.
I plan to write more on this topic this year. If this is something that you’d enjoy reading about then you should follow me so you get notified about my post on this. I’ll share thoughts on how to find ideas, experiment and what exits could look like.
