Why Nigeria May Become Home to the Next Disruptive Innovations – Part 2

Again, I must emphasise that the theories of innovation disruption, though controversial of late, are the basis for this topical statement. Nigeria may truly become the breeding and nurturing ground for “whats next” in the innovation scene.

The first part of this argument is documented in my previous post, see here.

Is this just a mere propaganda of hope? No, I don’t think so.

Although, beyond the conclusions that a careful analysis of the market and innovation landscape may bring, there are clear indicators of what has been done despite the seeming lack of resources that is often talked about in the country.

If the influence of the growing innovation ecosystem is anything to go by, then I would dare say that the visible presence or development of the “made-in-Nigeria” phenomena may be the biggest influencer of a new innovation pool in the west african country.

An article chronicling some innovation  achievements within the country pointed out the emergence of new solutions in the areas of technology, biology and engineering in general.Read here. Think about the made in nigeria cars , the hardware and accessories that have been developed by nigerian tech entrepreneurs (BBC article about a low-cost tablet made in Nigeria back in 2012).

If you feel that these are big and too mind-buggling to be done by the individual innovator, then you may need to read about the simple innovations that are turning around the way people do normal things in Nigeria. Read more here. I will explore this further in my next post.

Well the point here is that the growth of the ecosystem itself is an indication of the tech-savinnes and vibrancy of the nigerian population.

How does this help disruptive innovation?

Again, I will like to reiterate that new-market disruption is categorically a key indicator of the possibilities here.

Adapting the conditions of human need to the skills needed to meet those needs as well as developing a brilliant model around it to disrupt incumbent alternative solutions.

In Nigeria, the tech startup scene is growing, the ecosystem is being developed by determined entrepreneurs, the population is welcoming and budget conscious and the entrepreneurs themselves are forced to use lean approaches to surmount the biggest obstacles.

A key question that has been asked to test for the tendency for new market disruption is: Is there a large population of people (call them -customers/coonsumers/users) who historically have not had the money, equipment, or skill to adopt a new innovation?

You will agree with me that the answer is yes.

More than half of the population have become more tech-savvy, have increased purchasing power and are far more aware of what is happening elsewhere than they were 10 years ago.