JOS COULD BECOME A SILICON VALLEY IN A FEW YEARS
On Sunday, 25 June 2017, I was in a ride with a prominent software developer/techie in Jos, Plateau State en route a relaxation centre. At his house where we were coming from, he had said he plans to transform the city into one known for technology - at par with Silicon Valley (SV) in the United States.
SV needs no introduction, especially if you’re into tech and all. It is home to the best startups in the world today – Facebook, Google, Twitter and the likes all have presence there. What most people probably do not know however (or maybe everyone knows now) is the city wasn’t built with the intention of making it a startup/technology hub. It grew organically through a combination of factors to become what it is today.
Across the world, several SVs are emerging too with most doing remarkably well, giving the original SV a run for its money. Others are struggling to keep up - the necessary ingredients needed to reach that level aren't in place yet.
So, as I was being driven that cloudy and wet Sunday afternoon, I was wondering what gives this techie so much confidence he could succeed in this quest. Minutes later, something Paul Graham said in an article about reproducing SV elsewhere came to mind: You need the right people.
By virtue of what he has done, what he's currently doing and what he intends to do, I couldn't help but believe David Daser, the founder of nHuband my "driver", has what it takes to achieve this.
In a short period of time, David Daser has done loads to grow the technology ecosystem in Jos. One of such things is turn young boys with little or no programming background into kick-ass software developers, because what’s a technology ecosystem without them?
These devs develop useful products for the hub's clients both home and abroad, fetching millions of naira for the hub in the process, and some have even gone on to launch tech startups of their own. The hub isn't resting on its laurels: this explains why it started a Fellowship Program to train more software developers for free. Its Women in Tech program is also training young ladies to become coders. The aim is to build an army of quality software devs to meet today's, and tomorrow's, demands.
Another thing David and the hub is doing for the ecosystem here is incubate and accelerate startups. It provides a conducive environment for the startups and also tools to enable them grow. The end game is for these startups to become successful in every sense of the word, thereby attracting more talents and startups to the town.
Talking about growth, angels and venture capital (VC) firms are needed to grow an ecosystem. In Jos, they're nearly non-existent, and this could be a hindrance to the growth of the tech ecosystem here. The hub is doing something about this by taking the initiative and becoming an investor in startups. I mean what better way to grow this important component of a technology ecosystem than to become one?
The hub recently invested in one of its incubees, Terminus.ng. This c-commerce startup uses WhatsApp to connect customers to businesses, and goes the extra mile of doing deliveries at customers' residence or their place of work. The seed funds will enable the startup acquire tricycles for deliveries and do other things.
As we were driving out of Rayfield to our destination, David Daser told me the grandest plan to turn Jos into a startup/technology hub. According to him, Jos offers some things that are luxuries in other parts of the country such as constant power, amazing weather, really cheap food and decent, affordable houses, almost traffic-less roads, a local airport & quick access to an international airport - Nnamdi Azikiwe Int'l airport is just 4 hours away, et al.
While these are good incentives to attract software devs and tech startups to J-Town, they are sure not enough. According to David Daser, an amazing infrastructure will bring in the software devs and tech startups and turn Jos into a startup hub.
I'm not allowed to say much on this infrastructure - some of the necessary components are already in place - but when all is said and done, software devs and tech startups will have access to fiber-level Internet (devs and startups will definitely love this), constant power and other necessary components for them to thrive and grow.
It will take effort, money, partnerships with various organizations within and outside the tech industry and government, and time before this can happen, but one thing is sure: it will definitely happen. I know this because I'm witnessing first hand the job being done here. David Daser and his cohorts have planted the seeds already and are reaping the benefits. More harvests will be done in the near future as they are carefully and aggressively planting and watering more seeds.
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