Innovation Growth Hub – Sparking Tech and Business Growth in Nigeria’s South East Region
Usually, great stories of Tech and Startups in Nigeria are set in Lagos, and that has been so for a while until the CEO and Co-Founder of Innovation growth Hub, Daniel Chinagozi decided to change the narrative. With that decision, InnovationGrowth Hub otherwise known as IGHub began its baby steps in 2015 by facilitating and enhancing an ecosystem for Tech and Business enthusiasts in its home state; Abia State. IGHub is dedicated to startups at various stages of maturing by providing Mentorship, Co-Working Space, Event Space, Business Support Services, Warm Community and Network for Entrepreneurs in order to increase the success rate of fresh startups within the region. In light of that, IGHub has been hosting and organizing Startup Weekends in Aba and Umuahia since 2015 till present. StartUp Weekends are the brainchild of TechStars Foundation, where anyone such as Tech and Business Enthusiasts pitch their ideas, form a team and create a Startup all within 54 hours. About 600 people have taken part in the 6 Startup weekends IGHUb has hosted so far; sparking a desire within a lot of people in the region to execute their problem-solving ideas and teams immediately. This year, the winning team at the Startup Weekend – Women Abia Emergency, a Healthcare Emergency solution went on to virtually pitch at the finals in Paris and are currently pivoting on the model and set to launch soon. IGHub has stayed true to the model of Hubs, which involves clusters and ecosystems for similarly-minded individuals. In recent times, the presence of the hub has given enthusiasts assurance on where to get consulting for any of their ideas. Providing solutions such as Digital Marketing, Web Development, and Android Development in form of training and rendered services, Abia and South East, in general, is gradually transforming to its version of Silicon Valley with tiny bursts of innovation sprouting from bright ideas. [bctt tweet=”@ighubafrica is set to begin an Incubation program featuring three startups from the just concluded 2018 #Abia Hackathon” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”] Interestingly, the number of Developers have increased since IGHub began operation with the majority of them admitting the presence of the Hub and the possibilities it opened them to inspired them to take on that path. Bearing in mind the importance of building transgenerational businesses, IGHub has held Basic Entrepreneurship Development Courses (BEDC) which are centered on equipping Individuals with relevant skills for building World Class Brands from their ideas. Going further on this initiative, IGHUb is set to begin an Incubation program by the third quarter of 2018 featuring three startups from the just concluded 2018 Abia Hackathon. The 12-weeks incubation program will provide Startup Teams with Business Development Training, Mentoring and Seed Funding to prepare them for the journey ahead. IGHub has embraced Social Media for broadcasting latest activities and opportunities among its ever-expanding community. It also relies on local media for its Tech Evangelism as it runs a regular radio program on Magic FM in Aba. This channel has served in converting the older demographic into believers of the Innovation Journey. Due to the nature of the clime and seeing a need for supporting Business that are not Tech-based but require tech services; IGHub has also started providing Technical support and Web Development Services to these Businesses in order to position them for Global advancement. Slowly but surely, IGHub is driving economic growth and competitiveness in South East of Nigeria. Located at the 5th Floor of the second tallest building in Aba, IGHub is set to continually ignite Tech and Business Success Stories in South East and Nigeria in general. Join the IGHub community, follow them on Instagram and Visit their website. Sponsored Post.
5 Things a Motherland Mogul Leader is Not
Leadership is an art. It means taking courage to maneuver a group of people with common intentions, goals, and objectives in an organized manner. Not everyone can be a good leader! Of course, you have to bear in mind your follower’s individual strengths and weaknesses while walking on eggshells trying not to annoy this group of people – even when they throw their frustrations and aggression at you! With all these pressures, leaders quite often fall into bad habits as they struggle to achieve their goals. To avoid this, as a Motherland Mogul and leader, you are probably asking, what is a leader not? Bossy There is a wide difference between being a boss and being bossy. A bossy person is a maniac! They operate like a machine put in place to juice their subjects in order to extract what they want for the company. A great leader is none of these. They are diplomatic and understand that more is given willingly than forcibly. A good leader is compassionate. They do not exclude others from contributing their part towards the common goal. Nepotist Yes. We all have that cousin or friend that we think would be the best at this job. But what would your followers think if this was the case? Would they be committed to your family company? It is very sad that nobody nowadays values meritocracy. Leaders give more attention to those who massage their ego, than those who tell them like it is. However, true leadership requires building the right team that will challenge you and helps you grow your organization. A jolly old person The truth is, great leaders do not try to keep friendships with others by satisfying their needs at the expense of their followers and the common purpose. When you start pleasing everyone, you start compromising. This then causes your standards to get a tilt and you’re not the same leader anymore. It doesn’t hurt to make friends, but don’t let your friendships compromise your value and your objectives. A Narcissist. Have you ever heard the tale of Narcissus? According to Greek Mythology, he was cursed by a God to look at his reflection in the water and fall in love with it every day. He fell in love so much that it actually ruined him! As slay queens, we need to love ourselves. But we shouldn’t let our self-love turn into overconfidence, self-adulation, and self-centeredness at the expense of our followers and the common purpose. A prejudiced discriminator. In 1949, sociologist Merton illustrated prejudice and discrimination with four categories of people: Unprejudiced non-discriminator Unprejudiced discriminator Prejudiced non-discriminator Prejudiced discriminator The prejudiced discriminator is the worst kind of leader to experience. They are a chooser and not a trainer. This kind of leader doesn’t believe that followers of a particular sect, religion, ethnicity or region can offer the common purpose any productivity due to insufficient justification and undue prejudice. Great leaders do not just build visions, but they also build people. If one doesn’t avoid these habits of bad leaders, they end up attracting the wrong crowd, or no crowd! As Motherland Moguls, let us strive to make sure we are not bad leaders. Build your dreams on the right and with the right attitude. Let’s make Africa better with the advent of good leadership and fellowship. If you’d like to share your story with She Leads Africa, let us know more about you and your story here.
What you should know about co-working
Co-working has been a growing trend around the world, a trend that is spreading across Africa as well. If you’re in charge of a business, particularly a small startup, you know that running your own office space can be seriously distracting. “The internet is down! What should we do?” “This place is dusty, was the cleaning done today?” “Are we making sure all our visitors are taken care of?” With all this headache, you may end up forgetting what your business is actually all about! Not everyone has time to deal with all these challenges! If you can relate to this, then you should consider moving into a co-working space! Abuja has Ventures Platform, Lagos has Stranger, Johannesburg has the Hub and Nairobi has Nairobi Garage which has been at the forefront of the co-working scene in Nairobi for more than a few years now. If it isn’t yet a no-brainer for you, here is a list of reasons why co-working is a great option for your business. Networking You already know that networking is an essential part of growing your contact base. This is something every professional has to go through. Expanding your network is something that you always have to go out of your way to do…unless you’re in a co-working space! When you co-work, you don’t have to go out of your way to meet people, they’ll simply come to you! Take a look at the sort of people you could be sitting next to. YOLO Renting out your own office space can seriously break the bank. Then, you may find yourself having to choose between fast broadband internet and better furniture. Which one will you let go? Co-working is great as access to Wi-Fi, office equipment, a kitchen, a lounge area, and meeting rooms are all included in a package. You’ll have many great amenities at your disposal that you otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford on your own startup budget. All this without any serious investment on your part. Meet new people Co-working spaces usually consist of people from a wide variety of different companies. This means lots of new ideas can be found everywhere! Being surrounded by small-scale startups means beings surrounded by innovators like you, so you’ll definitely be inspired by different people on many occasions! Some co-working spaces also host seminars, panels and workshops. Nairobi Garage for example hosts cool bi-monthly events. We are one! Last but not least, the main thing a co-working space has to offer is the feeling of community! Thanks to the range of different companies in these spaces, companies aren’t directly competing against each other. This means you won’t get entrenched in any internal politics that plague usual working spaces. You’re part of a family, a big one where people help each other out. THAT is the essence of co-working!