The government of Ogun State has partnered with GetFundedAfrica to unlock the $34 billion innovation opportunities in the information communication technology industry available in Africa.
Kunle Somorin, the chief press secretary to Ogun State governor, at the weekend that the partnership is expected to, over the next 36 months, develop no fewer than 400 startups from across Africa to help Ogun to unlock billions of dollars in innovation.
The state’s bureau of information communication technology (BICT) is deeply involved in the efforts, which are geared towards ensuring that the state benefits from the huge venture capital flows into Africa.
According to him, the move is in fulfilment of Governor Dapo Abiodun’s developmental initiatives in leveraging technology and innovation to build Nigeria’s first Silicon Valley.
GetFundedAfrica is a pan-African venture service platform that matches startups, investors, corporates and governments. It helped African startups raise over $150 million in 2021.
The head of BICT and the special adviser to the governor on ICT, Dayo Abiodun, was quoted as saying that Ogun was focused on unlocking a $34 billion innovation economy and happy to partner with GetFundedAfrica to achieve the ICT objective set by the governor.
The chief commercial officer of GetFundedAfrica, Tunji Oke, said the first batch of 20 startups that will come cut across verticals such as fintech, agritech, healthtech, software development, as well as training and talent recruitment. They are made up of startups from Nigeria, Uganda, UAE, Kenya and Germany.
GetFundedAfrica will assist with fundraising, mentorship, coaching, corporates, media and more, while the state will support with visa, insurance, office spaces, utilities and other critical business needs.
“Startups can apply to be considered to access funding and be incubated in the tech hub using this link- https://forms.office.com/r/HXQ0vgQrdi”, Somorin added.
