Tales from CcHUB - A Six-month Journey.
Hola Amigos!
I’m Onyinye and I recently started working at a super cool social innovation centre, Co-Creation Hub Nigeria (CcHUB) in Lagos. My first interaction with CcHUB was a couple of years back with my love and use of ‘Truppr’- a fitness app that helps you connect with other fitness enthusiasts and discover fitness events around you, it was the motivation I needed to become physically active again. So with enthusiasm and admiration, I followed them across all social media platforms with the hope to work with them in the near future.
Through this same Truppr community, I heard CcHUB had job openings and I applied. Imagine my excitement when I got the email saying I got the offer to join their elite team as the Partnerships Manager. Wheew! At least one thing is off my bucket list.
This was a new chapter in my life, a company I had so long admired and hoped to work with employed me, I was finally taking charge and getting involved in something that I love; I was finally happy.
It’s been a whirlwind since April and so far I’ve been exposed to so much. My first official trip in April was to Benin Republic to discuss possible collaboration with a hub there and how we can work together to strengthen both ecosystems. This was my first official trip outside Nigeria, I went with my CEO, ‘Bosun Tijani and I was super excited to go. It was insightful as I learned about how to engage prospective clients/partners, that there is no business growth without strategic partnerships and that Africa will not get to where it needs to be technologically if we don’t strengthen strategic cross border partnerships.
We are without doubt making progress, Africans are more informed about the endless possibilities technology offers, even more are creating ground breaking tech solutions and it feels good to know that these efforts are not going unnoticed. According to Partech Ventures’ report, it was estimated that “African start-ups raised a record-breaking total of $366.8 million in investment in 2016 with the top 10 destinations being Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Cote d’Ivoire, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Morocco, Tunisia and Uganda”.
It wasn’t too long before I was handed another project, PitchDrive. Now PitchDrive was unlike any project I had ever handled and I was excited, and nervous, I admit. PitchDrive by CcHUB, sponsored by Google for Entrepreneurs was a European tech tour of 5 cities (London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich and Paris) by 14 carefully selected African start-ups, providing them an opportunity to pitch to investors, explore global opportunities and learn from frontier markets. This was huge for me and I was more than happy to put in the work.
On this trip, I got to travel across five European cities (London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich and Paris) with an amazing team (‘Bosun Tijani, Femi Longe, Tunji Eleso, Gbenga Totoyi, Shelby Mathews-Read, Toun Tunde-Anjous, Chioma Enwereji, Mayowa Alabi and Early Attoh), 14 wonderful start-ups from across Africa and a dedicated camera crew to film all the action. I met some of the most brilliant tech ecosystem actors and entrepreneurs from across Africa and Europe who are passionate about Africa’s growth and development - It was refreshing to listen and learn from them. The selected entrepreneurs were great and all our partners were supportive. It was a unique learning experience and I’m glad I got the opportunity to be part of it. Oh, and I also got my name on ‘THE Facebook’ wall.
PS: Chioma, Mayowa and Early were the virtual travelers who ensured that our #TalesFromPitchDrive reached a wider audience. Watch some of our videos here
What I Learned?
1. Africa’s tech ecosystem needs collaboration between all ecosystem players to get to where it needs to be.
2. Technology is bringing about more connectedness in Africa.
3. Money isn’t everything in business, building strong networks and relationships is just as good.
4. As an entrepreneur, every opportunity to pitch your business is one that should not be taken for granted. Have your ‘One-Minute’ pitch ready at all times, it will definitely come in handy!
5. London is busy, very busy.
6. They don’t check for your bus tickets in Zurich (Ensure you always have them).
7. Amsterdam has a lot of ‘Coffee shops’ and pretty much everyone here owns/rides a bicycle.
8. Berliners love dogs and Sparkling water.
9. Paris is a tourist city.
10. Senegalese Jollof rice is delicious.
Thank you for taking the time to read all the way down to this very last line.
