Technology

We had an insightful time at the Roundtable. See you at the next one.

Flora Fabyan, Managing Director, BOI Investment & Trust Company Limited, is moderating the first ever thealvinreport.com roundtable on AI and Human Intelligence with Dr Tope Fasua, Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters and Wale Adedeji *internationally regarded AI innovation expert. 

Watch closely

By Dr Tope Fasua

The other day I had cause to share a thought on social media about the superiority (yet, and probably forever) of human over artificial intelligence. A few folks found the post hilarious and someone actually typed something like ‘I used to think you were smart’. Well, I lay no claim to smartness, but I just follow logic. Today, Artificial Intelligence is everywhere more than before. It’s always been around in subtler forms though. Every time your phone suggests words for you, or your word document does autocorrect, underlines an error in your typing or grammatical construction, that is already artificial intelligence at work. Anytime a computer, phone, or other devices act as if they were human, that’s it. Techies went further to not only get machines and devices to act logically based on what they’ve been programmed to do and the data inside them, but to acquire new knowledge independently, and to process new knowledge in independent fashion devoid of human interference. That is what they call Machine Learning.

Scientists say a day is coming when everything will be connected to the internet. Everything! Not only computers, and phones, and your curtains in your house. But even trees will be connected to the internet. The shirt on your back. Your shoes. The grass on your lawn. How will this work? This will be when inanimate objects communicate with each other and the internet, taking decisions on their own – the lawn can order a lawnmower to come and trim it based on set criteria. Your shirt can refuse to be worn based on a load factor of germs on it if it’s dirty. Your fridge will order directly from the grocer based on depletion of supplies. And the grocery owner has to do nothing as robots select the order, package them, charge your account and deliver them to your house. Maybe you can purchase another robot that helps you take the groceries to your fridge and arrange them perfectly. Why do you have to do anything at all? After all, intelligent houses already exist where apps and robots wakes you up, makes your breakfast, tunes the TV to your favorite channel, cleans your house, starts your car and drives you to work. There’s that joke about when Google ends up acquiring every company – including fast food companies – and when that day arrives, you couldn’t order a burger because the system has all your health details and will refuse you before you kill yourself from eating junk food.

A very interesting future beckons. And I see already an overreliance on AI, without a proper understanding of what exactly it does and how it does it. Take for example ChatGPT. This is an advanced chatbot, the type that springs up when you visit your bank’s website, asking you questions about how it can help you today. Only that this time, you can ask ChatGPT logical questions that are more complicated and give it other tasks such as to write up your CV or a business plan and whatnot. You can even set the number of words it should come up with, by typing in questions such as; such as ‘Write a 2,000 essay on Nigeria’s economy’. And in a matter of seconds, it delivers. There are advanced versions of this of course. And there are several brands out there, with new ones coming up every other week. Of late Gemini has been interrupting my work on my phone and laptop, suggesting ideas and often distracting me. There is also Copilot which pops up on my PowerPoint presentations and many more.

The problem I’ve begun to see, which prompted this article is how people are ready to cede the task of original thinking to these devices, bots and apps. When you ask ChatGPT to tell you how to manage the Naira for example, don’t go shouting wows when the reply pops up. What it has simply done is to scour the internet for related articles written by real humans (and maybe in time, written by robots themselves based on ideas from real humans). In fact, if you pay attention, the sources are usually referenced and the numbers of write-ups scoured are listed. In short, at least for now, Artificial Intelligence does not have the ability to think entirely outside the box, or to discover its own Eureka moment. That realm, and serendipity, is left to humans.

Let’s take an example. The other day, the online news site Nairametrics did an article Titled ‘We asked ChatGPT to tell how to save the naira from depreciating in 2025…see the response’. In summary, these are the suggestions that AI came up with; 1. Boost FX Reserves, 2. Maximise Oil exports. 3. Increase incentives for exporters of goods and services (non-oil), 4. Streamline FX policies – meaning to close gap between official and parallel rates. 5. Attract foreign investments 6. Leverage diaspora remittance. 7. Increase benchmark interest rates to attract foreign portfolio investors, 8. Control money supply, 9. Combat inflation (again by tightening money supply and raising rates, 10. Combat fx speculation, 11. Institute fiscal discipline, 12. Subsidy removal and investment.

There is nothing in the above suggestions that is outside the box or ingenious. Indeed, nothing that the average Nigerian pundit with a bias for financial markets hasn’t spoken about on TV or written in articles in the past. Yet what we are looking for are not necessarily the old ideas we have always churned about but something shocking about which we will exclaim ‘why didn’t we think about this?!’. Look at how the Central Bank of Nigeria has been able to tackle foreign exchange volatility in recent times. The introduction of the Electronic Foreign Exchange Market System (EFEMS) module in the Bloomberg package has made a difference especially with the transparency it provides. All Nigerian banks have always subscribed yearly to the Bloomberg module. But it took brainstorming sessions by human beings to decide on that option, and all of a sudden, the bogeyman of scarce fx supply was slayed – at least for the official market. Now, on that screen, every time dealers log on, they are able to see the total supply and total demand.

The danger is that the overreliance on AI and a misconstruing of how it works, its limitations, and its strengths may limit even further the abilities for genuine thought among men. Africa (Nigeria) being still very vulnerable in this stage of development cannot afford to slow down due to this likely misstep, even though it is natural for human beings to be lazy and seek the fastest way out at all points in time. We cannot afford not to use our brains and come up with our greatest ideas because it suddenly looks easy for AI to do the job. Yes, AI tools must be maxed out for what it is good for – enhanced efficiency, relative accuracy, speed. This means that the situation is even more dangerous for countries like Nigeria that are used to importing every innovation. How do we limit the reliance on this innovation so that our people can think hard to solve their own problems? How do we bring our peoples’ attention to back to real, deep thinking that actually makes a lot of difference in the lives of nations?

Ritvik Nayak, writing in January 2025 in an article titled ‘10 Shocking Myths About AI That You Probably Believe”, lists the misconceptions that most people have about AI. Among what he pointed out are the myth that AI thinks like humans, that AI will take over the world, or that it will replace all jobs, or that it’s never wrong. As a fairly early adopter myself, I have seen a great many erroneous articles written by ChatGPT. It has got better over time, but errors still exist. Folks should therefore be wary about absolute dependence. You’ll hurt yourself if you ask AI to write important documents for you and you don’t proofread. Proofreading for factual correctness presupposes that you actually have real knowledge about the subject. I, for one, could actually tell an article written using AI. Usually, that profundity that comes with human thinking isn’t there. But indeed, it is efficient. Imagine purging out 5,000 words in barely two minutes. No human can measure up to that! And people will make a lot of money with AI. It’s a genius idea that can bring billions of people in the world up to speed. In fact, we are at that epoch where you really don’t have to know a lot of things. Just ask the right questions.

And this brings up a big problem that AI has already gifted to the academia. In a survey conducted in the US, about 95% of students stated that they used AI a lot, with 50% admitting that they have cheated using AI in the past. Innovations to catch up with this problem have not caught up yet. Academia is in a state of flummox. Turnitin is inadequate to detect what is what. So, plagiarism is hereby redefined. And a few errors have been made, where a writeup done organically has been misjudged as AI-written. How do we know if people actually qualify for the certificates they carry? Or is there any need for anyone to prove that they can actually do any work when AI is by the corner, beckoning on anyone to use it? At this rate, what is the point of attending any school whatsoever? Thankfully though, there are still tons of work that AI has not mastered. I doubt that it could actually build a house as yet, but it can design one perfectly. The back up robots required for many physical work have not been made, or are very scarce. In all, the INSIGHT that humans can come up with has not been replicated by AI. As regards the problem with academia, I have suggested that perhaps more emphasis should be placed back on written exams. AI cheating is much easier with assignments, typed-out thesis and dissertations.

Back to my argument about human intelligence being superior to AI. Yes, that same one that some folks think is quite asinine. A few weeks ago, the financial markets were thrown into turmoil when a Chinese company announced the arrival of their own version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It is called DeepSeek. Those who have tried it say it is even better, faster, and more accurate compared with the current King of AI; ChatGPT. But embarrassingly for the Americans, the creators of DeepSeek say they built the entire resource with a mere $5 Million, as against the billions usually spent by the Americans. When the Americans had the brief monopoly, the cost of putting something similar together was supposed to be the greatest barrier to entry. Now, all that is gone through the window. What caused that? Human intelligence, that’s what. In the face of much fewer resources but with human insight and ingenuousness, somebody – or a group of people in China – shocked the world. With the way DeepSeek was put together with 1/1000 the same resources used by the US for a similar project, I became sure that money wasn’t the biggest barrier to our country’s turnaround. Perhaps someone or a group of people here could compete with these geniuses in spite of lack of resources. Perhaps one brain, some brains, will deliver. We shall overcome.

Finally, as powerful as AI will get, we must never forget how to create real things. For example, AI could help a rookie engineering company to write a fantastic profile that secures a major project. But AI will not help you in doing that real project. It is left to humans to interpret the engineering project as conceptualized by AI. So, not all jobs will be gone. Some that has to do with hands-on approach, leadership, emotional intelligence, nuanced communication, will remain.

Highlights 

• In Africa, a gender gap exists in tech entrepreneurship that needs to be bridged, for the development of more inclusive and sustainable societies and economies
• There are very few women tech founders and executives in sub-Saharan Africa.
• The gender gap in tech entrepreneurship is gaining more attention due to its impact on personal wealth development and societal growth.
• African governments need to put in place policies and initiatives to promote female tech entrepreneurship
• Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Rwanda are some of the African countries that have policies and regulations that promote gender parity in tech entrepreneurship.
• A more comprehensive approach is needed, including enhancing access to finance, entrepreneurship education, awareness, networking, and digital literacy training.

Introduction

Gender equality is both an economic and moral imperative (OECD, 2020). Reducing gender inequality is critical to the development of more inclusive and sustainable societies and economies (Miric et al., 2022). Unfortunately, gender equality attainment has remained elusive, with a recent report by the World Economic Forum (2022) showing that it may take another century to close the gap. As one of the fastest-growing industries, tech requires more investment and labor supply to thrive (Mare, 2021). In 2023, the UN’s Women’s theme is “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” (UNCTAD, 2023). It recognizes the women that are leading in transformative technology and digital education. 

Tech entrepreneurship is a possible way of women participating in the digital economy (UNESCO, 2023). In Africa, although many women have gained skills and opportunities, they have not joined the tech industry as expected (Neneh & Welsh, 2022). Currently, women only account for 30% of the tech industry in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This article explores the policies and initiatives African governments have put in place to bridge the gender gap in the tech industry, and to give recommendations to further improve the conditions that promote female tech entrepreneurship. 

Female Entrepreneurship in Africa

Africa has a thriving female entrepreneurship culture that is characterized by economic dynamism, creativity, and innovation (Irene, 2019). Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally, with females more likely to be self-employed than males, and 27% of female entrepreneurs in the world are in SSA (McKinsey, 2020; Mastercard, 2022). However, many female-led organizations are small with limited opportunities for growth in several African countries, and disproportionately fewer women work in startups, particularly in the technology sector. Gender inequalities hinder women from scaling businesses, leading to less profitable enterprises compared to those owned by men (Brixiová et al., 2020). To close these gender gaps, individuals, development actors, the private sector, and the government all have roles to play (Irene, 2019).

In SSA, women constitute more than half of the population, but only less than 33% contribute to GDP (McKinsey, 2020). If countries in Africa match gender parity, there will be an additional $ 300 billion added to the GDP. It means that there would be an additional 10% GDP by 2025 if women’s inclusion is considered (Corrêa et al., 2022). Besides, there is a nexus between women inclusion and reduction in poverty. According to research, women invest more than 80% of their income in their families as compared to men’s 35% (Aparicio et al., 2022). 

Female tech entrepreneurs in Africa

As noted in the study by McKinsey (2020), SSA has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship globally. Numerous innovative projects are being carried out by women in SSA, and they have the potential to improve communication, household nutrition, agriculture productivity, and livelihoods while also inspiring change (The World Bank, 2020). The tech startup ecosystem in SSA is rapidly growing (Ball, 2017). Across the continent, there are many innovative entrepreneurs that leverage tech to change obstacles into opportunities. Sadly, women are being left out of this equation, as is the case in many startups around the world. Only 9% of the businesses assessed in VC4Africa’s analysis of the African startup ecosystem were headed by women (VC4A, 2019).

Due to a lack of trained workers, the gender gap in tech entrepreneurship is a problem for developing countries in Africa (Hilbert, 2011), which limits their ability to progress (Ball, 2017). Despite their potential to help close the gap, women’s underrepresentation in the sector exacerbates the issue. Closing the gender pay gap has been a priority in developed nations, but developing countries, where there is a growing need for ICT skills, have received less attention (Aparicio et al., 2022). For instance, an analysis done by Partech (2019) shows that Nigeria,  with $747 million in capital investment, attracts almost a third of all venture capital tech start-up funding, making it the top destination on the continent. However, only 15% of Nigerian tech start-up co-founders questioned were female, underscoring the need for more gender diversity in the vibrant and fascinating digital economy (Partech, 2019).

African Governments’ policies/initiatives promoting women in tech entrepreneurship.

In recent years, there has been improvement in how African governments address the digital gap. Governments have made commitments to gender equality through the “Protocol to the African Charter on Rights of Women in Africa,” and the “Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa.” Many of these nations have implemented policies aimed at promoting the participation of women in tech entrepreneurship (Corrêa et al., 2022). However, others continue to face challenges in the implementation of the policies. Some examples of successful female tech entrepreneurship policies and initiatives are highlighted below.

1. Kenya

The National ICT Master Plan of Kenya, 2013-2017 had provisions for inclusion of marginalized groups and women in the technology sector. Besides, in Kenya, there is a Women Enterprise fund, which gives financial support to enterprises led by women. Kenya’s Women Enterprise Fund has assisted more than 180,000 women-owned enterprises, some of which are in the tech sector (Mulu-Mutuku et al., 2015). Moreover, female entrepreneurs in the ICT sector have seen an increase in business because to Kenya’s 30% rule for women and youth in government procurement, which has helped them win more bids and contracts. Due to the leveling of the playing field and more chances for women-owned firms, the industry has experienced tremendous growth (Lock & Lawton Smith, 2016).

2. Nigeria

In Nigeria, the National Policy on Science, Technology, and Innovation (2012) has provisions that promote gender equality and the integration of women in the science, technology, and innovation fields. Female participation in STEM is also supported by the establishment of technology innovation centers. Recently, in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), the government has established a fund that supports tech for women and youth to spur growth of innovation (Gilbert, 2023). Besides, there is an Assisted Skills Training and vocational Education Project, also in partnership with the AfDB, which helps to train women in STEM education.

3. Ghana

Another example is Ghana, which has launched a number of programs to encourage female entrepreneurship. The Ghanaian government introduced the Presidential Pitch initiative in 2019, which offers cash and mentoring to aspiring business owners. With more than 60% of the 2019 winners being female, the program has had a tremendous impact on female entrepreneurship. The National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Plan (NEIP), which offers funding, mentoring, and training to young entrepreneurs, was also formed by the government of Ghana.

4. Rwanda

When it comes to empowering women in technology, Rwanda is one of the top nations in Africa. The Women in ICT (W@ICT) project, which aims to boost the proportion of women working in the ICT sector, was introduced by the government in 2016. The program gives women business owners in the ICT industry access to funding, mentoring, and training. The W@ICT project has led to a 50% rise in the proportion of women employed in Rwanda’s ICT industry. Additionally, more than 1,000 new positions for women in the ICT industry have been made possible by the project (Ijeh, 2022). 

Besides, Rwanda’s Girls in ICT initiative offers young women training and mentorship opportunities to entice them to seek jobs in technology. Rwanda has received praise for its effective programs to encourage women’s involvement in technology and entrepreneurship. The “Smart Rwanda” plan, which intends to convert Rwanda into a knowledge-based economy, was introduced by the Rwandan government in 2016 (Corrêa et al., 2022). The government has built innovation hubs like kLab and FabLab as part of this strategy, which offer training and mentorship to entrepreneurs and inventors (Ijeh, 2022). Many of the tech start-ups created as a result of the campaign are headed by women

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Recommendations for empowering female tech entrepreneurs in Africa

In order to empower female tech entrepreneurs in Africa, a multifaceted strategy that fosters an environment that supports their development and success is necessary. A gender inclusive tech industry will need particular regulations that give more women the opportunity to pursue jobs in computing from the time they are young girls to the time they are professionals, given present trends (Irene, 2019). To guarantee that women in Africa are given the same opportunities as men to pursue jobs in technology, all stakeholders have a critical role to play. Collaboration amongst stakeholders is essential for addressing resource and policy gaps. In order to build a gender-inclusive tech industry, the following policy ideas stress the roles of African development organizations and governments, private sector actors, and community people. There is a significant possibility for quicker economic growth and social advancement if these steps are implemented and more women are able to participate in tech as creators and consumers.

1. Fostering an atmosphere that allows female tech entrepreneurs to succeed

 Existing regulations make it difficult for women to own property or register their businesses. Governments can address this by enacting policies that protect women’s property rights, simplify business registration processes, and incentivize private sector organizations to support women-led businesses. Governments must foster an environment that allows female tech entrepreneurs to succeed. This entails setting helpful legislation and regulations, granting access to affordable and dependable internet connectivity, and encouraging a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship. Female entrepreneurs will be inspired to launch and expand their firms in a supportive business environment (World Bank Group, 2019).

Governments can create gender-inclusive procurement quotas, whereby they promise to buy a specific proportion of goods and services from female-owned tech enterprises, such as 30%, in order to support female entrepreneurs (Mulu-Mutuku et al., 2015). In Kenya, this rule has already been put into effect, helping female company owners and encouraging economic expansion (World Bank Group, 2019). To ensure their inclusion, these quotas can also take into account the requirements of other excluded groups, such as those with regional or religious distinctions.Moreover, the problem of lack of access to markets can be addressed by governments creating platforms that connect women entrepreneurs with buyers, suppliers, and distributors, such as the SheTrades initiative in Nigeria and the AFAWA program by the African Development Bank (Ukwueze, 2022).

Legal impediments in the tech sector that disproportionately disadvantage female entrepreneurs must be removed. Women frequently have to abide by stifling rules that make it difficult for them to open and use bank accounts, register businesses, and move about freely. These rules can be repealed or changed to level the playing field for women in the industry and provide them more freedom to launch and expand their firms. This may result in a more inclusive and diversified tech sector where everyone has an equal chance of success (Irene, 2019). 

2. Addressing the gender digital divide

For the development and success of female tech entrepreneurs, addressing the gender digital divide is essential. This can be done by giving women and girls, especially those in underprivileged and rural areas, training in digital literacy and skills. Initiatives that improve women’s access to digital tools and resources should be given top priority by governments and private sector stakeholders. Increased female entrepreneurship can be achieved by incorporating entrepreneurship instruction at all educational levels with a focus on exposing female students to female role models (Lyons & Zhang, 2017). A success case in this regard IS the Coding for Employment initiative by the AfDB, which was implemented in 2018 in five countries, Rwanda, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Kenya, and Nigeria. 

More women can be drawn to entrepreneurship by providing non-competitive programs and participating in contests with mixed-gender teams. Women’s interest in entrepreneurship can be further stimulated by obtaining the necessary education for high-growth entrepreneurship and by creating a wider array of entrepreneurial programs, particularly those with socially conscious objectives (Berger & Kuckertz, 2016). When women head tech organizations, they frequently have a favorable influence on corporate operations, including hiring and promotion practices. Companies are more likely to hire women at all levels when there is a greater representation of women in senior positions, building a pipeline of female talent for the sector and increasing the number of gender-diverse teams.

3. Promoting mentorship/networking opportunities

Female tech entrepreneurs can benefit greatly from mentorship and networking opportunities. Mentors can offer advice, assistance, and connections that can help female business owners overcome obstacles and accomplish their objectives (OECD, 2017). Governments and private sector partners should develop networking opportunities and mentorship programs that are expressly geared toward women in IT and business. Being exposed to female entrepreneurs can help to lessen stereotyped self-image and simplify the entrepreneurial process, as evidenced in several research (Eble & Hu, 2019; Kofoed & McGovney, 2019). A typical strategy to accomplish this is to aggressively push tech organizations to include female entrepreneurial role models in training programs while showcasing successful female entrepreneurs on specialized web platforms (Skonieczna & Castellano, 2020). According to Rocha and Van Praag’s (2020) research, pairing female trainees with active female entrepreneurs in fields with a male predominance can be a successful strategy for boosting the number of female entrepreneurs.

4. Providing access to resources and money

Lack of funds is a critical gap because women have limited collateral and financial literacy, and there is often a lending bias against women-led enterprisers (Ramers, 2020). It is, therefore, expected that African governments should step in and give support to women through targeted programs, such as the Women Enterprise fund in Kenya. According to Guzman and Kacperczyk (2019), female entrepreneurs experience difficulties in collecting funding since male investors favor businesspeople with comparable traits and view them as inefficient leaders with little room for advancement. 

The growth and success of female IT entrepreneurs depend on their ability to obtain resources and funding. Governments and businesses should start initiatives and programs to provide money, resources, and training to female IT entrepreneurs. Priority should be given to women in underprivileged and rural areas in these programs, which should also provide assistance throughout the whole business cycle (World Bank Group, 2019). The financing gender gap can be closed by creating funds for women and securing funding. Women’s financial access can be significantly increased by working to strengthen the enablers that can do so, such as raising the identification of women, enhancing the digital infrastructure, and lowering the prerequisites to get loans (Irene, 2019).Top of Form

In developed countries, governmental policy is changing to give female entrepreneurs with growth-oriented firms additional financial support, including venture capital investment (OECD, 2017). In the pursuit of significant returns, specialized companies construct portfolios of high-risk investments known as venture capital. There aren’t many women-led venture firms in Africa, and women entrepreneurs rarely receive venture capital funding. Options for gender rebalancing venture capital investing include increasing the number of female investors and advisors and creating funds particularly designed to invest in businesses run by women.

Besides, African governments can encourage angel investment through measures to boost the expansion of women-owned businesses. This less formal kind of investment, which is frequently made by wealthy people, is thought to be worth USD 25 billion in the US (OECD, 2017). However, compared to men, women have a substantially lower likelihood of receiving angel funding. Governments should assist the inclusion of female investors and advisors in angel networks in order to rectify this imbalance. They can also educate women entrepreneurs on financial matters to help them make better loan applications and financial pitches. To lessen gender bias, training for male investors can also be offered.

5. Increase Women’s Political Representation 

In order to promote entrepreneurship and solidify women’s achievements in the private sector through representation in the public sector, governments must improve the representation of women and their influence in policymaking. The best method to accomplish this is through quota rules. Women’s economic empowerment and entrepreneurial outcomes are better when there are more women in the legislature. In Rwanda, a statute granting women access to land increased financial inclusion from 36% to 63% over the course of four years (World Bank Group, 2019). Girls and young women can benefit much from seeing women in leadership jobs since it helps to rethink gender roles and social expectations of what women are capable of.

Conclusion

In conclusion, achieving gender inclusivity in Africa’s tech sector is vital to unleash its innovation and leadership potential. Eliminating gender discrimination and increasing access to capital for women entrepreneurs can make markets more dynamic and competitive. Women’s full participation in the tech economy can result in diverse product creation, higher financial returns, and access to new markets. Women-led tech start-ups can also help reach the underserved women and girls in digital markets, which is crucial for African business given women’s increasing spending and consumer power. Public policies aimed at encouraging and supporting women’s entrepreneurship typically focus on improving the resources available to them, such as their networks, skills, and financial support. Providing entrepreneurship coaching, mentoring, and training, assisting in the creation of entrepreneurial networks, and facilitating access to capital are examples of common tactics. Moreover, policymakers should look at the greater institutional framework that influences women’s entrepreneurship, including their motives and available resources, rather than only concentrating on offering support and training to specific women entrepreneurs.

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Ramers, L. H. (2020). A Research Agenda for Women and Entrepreneurship: Identity through Aspirations, Behaviors, and Confidence by Patricia G. Greene and Candida G. Brush. Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs, 6(3), 401–403. https://doi.org/10.20899/jpna.6.3.401-403

Rocha, V., & Praag, M. (2020). Mind the gap: The role of gender in entrepreneurial career choice and social influence by founders. Strategic Management Journal, 41(5), 841–866. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3135

Skonieczna, A., & Castellano, C. (2020). Gender Smart Financing. Investing In and With Women: Opportunities for Europe. Economy-Finance.ec.europa.eu. https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/publications/gender-smart-financing-investing-and-women-opportunities-europe_en

The National ICT Masterplan. (2017). TOWARDS A DIGITAL KENYA. https://www.ict.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/The-National-ICT-Masterplan.pdf

The World Bank. (2020). Accelerating Gender Equality: Let’s Make Digital Technology Work for All. Blogs.worldbank.org. https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/accelerating-gender-equality-lets-make-digital-technology-work-all

Ukwueze, E. R. (2022). Women and Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: What Role Does Social Inclusion Play? Virtual Commons – Bridgewater State University. https://vc.bridgew.edu/jiws/vol23/iss5/4/

UNCTAD. (2023, March 8). How to unlock women’s potential in the digital economy | UNCTAD. Unctad.org. https://unctad.org/news/how-unlock-womens-potential-digital-economy

UNESCO. (2023). UNESCO and Women in Africa join forces to promote women’s digital skills and entrepreneurship across the continent. Unesco.org. https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/unesco-and-women-africa-join-forces-promote-womens-digital-skills-and-entrepreneurship-across

VC4A. (2019). New data shows growing investor appetite in African early stage s …. VC4A. https://vc4a.com/blog/2016/05/18/new-data-shows-growing-investor-appetite-in-african-early-stage-startups/

World Bank Group. (2019). Profiting from Parity. Openknowledge.worldbank.org. https://doi.org/10.1596/31421

World Economic Forum. (2022, July 13). Global Gender Gap Report 2022. World Economic Forum. https://www.weforum.org/reports/global-gender-gap-report-2022/

It was sometime last year, that my younger daughter asked me how she could post a letter. Looking at her, I wondered where that was coming from. Apparently, in her Creative Writing Class, they had been taught how to write formal and informal letters, and also how to address envelopes. My guess is that they discussed posting letters.

It instantly took me to pleasant and not so pleasant memories, down memory lane. I loved to write letters, but I do not do much of that anymore. I used to be quite excited when I received letters, because it gave me the opportunity to read and reply to letters. Back then, we mostly wrote on beautiful writing sheets, that had matching envelopes; there were the airmail writing sheets also. During my secondary school days, we looked forward to coming into the hostel after lunch, on most weekdays, and stretching our necks to see if we had any letter on our beds. By ‘Uni’, I felt I was now a big girl and even progressed to securing my own post box at the Post Office on Campus. It was such a delight to go to the post office and open my box, and pick up letters – from my parents, brothers, or friends in other schools. I was always quick to give out my post office box number, each time friends asked for my address at school. I actually still have a post office box here in Lagos, but very little goes on there – the advent of electronic mails, seems to have slowed things down.

So back to my daughter and her plan to write a letter! I promised her we would go to the Post Office during the holidays; but then I asked myself who she would write a letter to? I have this friend, a former colleague, who had relocated with her family; her daughter is older than my daughter, but they had developed a friendship. I told her my daughter wanted to write a letter and she sent me their address. Soon as I told my daughter I had the address, she began to pile pressure.

Days, weeks, and months passed, but we just never got round to doing this. She had not even written the letter, all I did was to save the address somewhere – there was no way I would go back to the lady and say I had misplaced the address.

Then about a month ago, the matter came up again, I suspect something may have happened in her Creative Writing Class again, and she remembered. So, this time she got to write the letter and I gave her an envelope and the address, and everything was set. Now to post the letter; another long delay.

So last Thursday, I told her we would go to the post office on Friday morning, with schools on holidays, it was easy to arrange.

When we arrived at the post office, the gate was partially closed and that confused me a bit. Why was the gate closed? I stayed there for a few seconds before it occurred to me to sound the horn of my vehicle. A security guard walked lazily towards the gate and opened. As we drove in, I could not help but notice the dilapidation of the building and the general unkempt state of the premises. I found somewhere to park, and then got out of the car.

Walking towards the main hall, it was dirt on every side. The main hall itself was mostly dull, there was poor lighting, I cannot recall if there was power. There were a number of staff, though some were clustered in one corner engaged in some kind of merchandising.

A man walked up to us and I told him we had a letter to post and then he directed us, who to approach. As we walked towards the Counter, I noticed the man was in conversation with another man, but approached us as soon as he saw us waiting.  I told him my daughter had a letter to post to the US, and he told us the cost and then went to get us stamps. The minute I pointed out to him that it was a learning experience for my daughter, he took his time and showed her the various denominations of postal stamps and even explained the whole process to her. She had a few other questions, which he kindly responded to. Once stamps had been affixed (it costs N1,600 to post a regular letter to the US, by the way), he told us we should drop the envelope in the post box outside the main hall. We thanked him and we left as there was another man who had come in and was waiting to be attended to.

As we left, it was mixed feelings; happy that I had been able to take my daughter through the process, she now knows how to post letters, not only email and those other digital means of communication. Secondly, and sadly, I did not understand why the post office building and premises had to be so run down. Did I mention that there were motorbikes parked within the hall!

Is there no longer a Ministry of Communications? Is there no budget for the Post Office? Why all those staff, if a befitting place to work cannot be provided for them? Is there work for them or not?

Certainly, this is not the fall out of the advancement in technology, it is clearly human failure; after all there is still the need for postal services, albeit minimal. If the current trend does not support the need for big post offices as they currently exist, then why not scale down and have decent, befitting post shops, where people are able to go into and complete any postal transactions they may have.

Nigeria sha; we must destroy everything!

Rita Unuigboje

As the year 2023 gets on track, leaders of African countries have been called upon to take digital skills education more seriously so as to build the right kind of workforce to drive development of the continent.

Osita Oparaugo, founder/CEO of GetBundi, who made the call on Tuesday while interacting with journalists in Lagos, said lack of digital skills workforce would hurt Africa’s economic development if not addressed immediately.

He asserted that acquiring digital skills is a must for anyone in the 21st century, especially in Africa.

To buttress this point, the GetBundi founder cited a study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, which found that 230 million jobs across Africa would require some level of digital skills by 2030, translating to a potential for 650 million training opportunities and an estimated $130 billion market.

According to him, preliminary findings of another research on the Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Rwanda markets by IFC and the World Bank (through the Digital Development Program Trust Fund) showed that by 2030 some level of digital skills would be required for 50-55 percent of jobs in Kenya, 35-45 percent in Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, and Rwanda, and 20-25 percent in Mozambique.

He said only countries with STEM and digital skills-enabled citizenry can achieve meaningful development in the present world.

Citing Singapore and China which are now flourishing economies as a result of the critical role scientific and technological advancements have played in them, Oparaugo said, “What China and Singapore have achieved in less than 50 years, Africa can also attain using STEM education and STI Skills acquisition, especially when one considers the abundance of human capital and the resilient nature of Africans, especially the youths.”

He said it was to promote digital skills learning across Africa that GetBundi, an educational technology platform designed to deliver high quality, engaging and accessible STEM courses and STI skills, was launched in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, in June 2022.

“Recently, in December 2022, we decided to run some of our GetBundi digital skills courses in Pidgin English to make them more accessible to more Africans given the conclusion of studies by the World Bank, UNESCO and others that using a language of instruction closest to the people matters a lot especially for learning foundational skills,” Oparaugo said.

He said the edtch platform has a vision to up-skill, through its STEM and digital skills centre, 10 million Africans by 2032 and beyond in order to create an inclusive sustainable development driven by technology.

On the 1^st of December 2019, The first case of Covid 19 was discovered in Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, a province in China. Within three months it had spread to virtually every corner of the globe. How did it spread that fast? The answer is the “S-curve”. The S-curve is a mathematical function that describes processes that start off relatively slowly but after reaching some critical point begin to accelerate greatly. The graph below depicts the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid 19 in Scotland:

Source: Joint UNIversity Pandemic and Epidemic Response (JUNIPER) modelling consortium UK

Please note that the graph depicted above is a projection, not the actual spread. It was made when Omicron made up less than 2% of the cases in Scotland. The actual spread would later be shown to match this projection.

Formally speaking, the S-curve is known in mathematics as the “Logistic Growth Function”. The Logistic Growth Function has many applications. It is heavily used in demography and ecology for modeling population growth; it is used in Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the design of Neural Networks (Neural Networks are AI software applications modeled after the human brain); it is used in psychology for the construction of scholastic achievement tests like the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) taken by American students planning to enter university, and also tests for determining personality types that all those fancy companies like to use to determine whether you will be a good fit; it is used in medicine for modeling the growth of cancerous tumors, in linguistics for modeling how languages change over time (Who would have thought that you could apply mathematics to english??); in agriculture for modeling crop response to change in growth factors, and it can be used to model….technology adoption. The following graph shows the adoption patterns of those technologies that have done the most to shape modern life:

I cannot at this time, explain why the S-curve applies to the spread to disease epidemics like Covid and all those other applications but I can explain its applicability to technology adoption. Technology adopters can be divided into two groups; innovators and imitators [1]. The innovators are those that make their purchase decisions independently while the imitators make their purchase decisions only after interacting with previous buyers. The critical point where relatively fast adoption begins, is that point where imitators begin to buy.

Now, information that I recently came across, suggest that electric car adoption in the major car markets of the US, Europe and China (particularly China), have recently reached that critical point, the critical point being, according to Bloomberg analysis, 5% of new car sales. For a number of European countries and China (possibly as high as 26% in China), the figures have crossed 10% [2]. The US, Europe and China together constitute roughly two-thirds of the global car market.

 So has China reached the tipping point? Take a look at this graph:

While I feel that it is still too early to say, looking at the graph, it sure does look like it. According to the graph, Electric Vehicles (EV) accounted for 26% of all cars sales in China in the first quarter of 2022, up from 3.5% in the first quarter of 2020. While it is noted that the figure includes hybrids, it has also been noted by industry watchers that China mostly skipped the hybrid phase and went straight to fully electric. Here is another one:

Now this graph makes for scary reading. Not just from China, from everywhere. In the first half of 2022, the sale of EVs in China grew by 113% compared to the first half of 2021, despite the fact that the overall car market shrank by 1.9%. Now the figures for Europe may not look too impressive, sales just grew by 9%, but you have to take note of the fact that the overall car market shrank by a whopping 15.2%. The scary factor ramps up again when you look at North America. EV sales grew by an impressive 49% while the overall car market shrank by 16.8%. That’s just mind boggling. Perhaps the scariest of all, In the rest of the world, EV sales grew by 77% while the overall car market shrank by 6.2% over the same period.  Why I said that perhaps, the growth in the rest of the world is the scariest is because some time back, I read a newspaper article where Nigerian government officials felt that the growth projection for EVs in the West was too “futuristic”, and that even if true, that they will sell their oil to other countries [3]. If we can trust this data (The source is the Financial Times of London), I can’t help wondering “Sell to who exactly?”. I realize oil has other uses than fueling cars, but 90% of vehicular fuel needs are met by oil [4], so in the event of EVs going mainstream, the loss of revenue is bound to be substantial.  I will readily concede that even if we have truly entered the stage of the rapid growth of the S-curve, it will still take at least, a couple of decades for EVs to go mainstream.

However, it doesn’t take EVs fully going mainstream for us to experience serious pain, the global oil glut of 2014-2015 should have taught us that. The oil glut was caused by production of shale oil by the US and Canada reaching critical volumes, slowing growth in China and hence a fall in demand for commodities across board and perhaps most importantly, restraint of long-term demand as global environmental policy promotes fuel efficiency and steers an increasing share of energy consumption away from fossil fuels [5]. The uptake of EVs definitely keys into that.

There is a potential outcome in the long-term, that is even more worrisome for me but before I get into that, I need to explain what car companies are doing to their production systems. Most car companies have plans to go fully electric or substantially electric between 2030 and 2040. If you want the details check out my book Why Africa is not Rick like America and Europe. To hit those targets, they are retooling their factories and reconfiguring their supply-chains to optimize for EV production [6]. The more they do this, the less they can produce petrol cars. It is not far-fetched to think that even we might be forced to buy EVs before we are ready (Unless you are optimistic that we will solve our electricity grid problems in 20 years). Given that most of the cars purchased in Nigeria are second-hand, the car companies have absolutely no incentive to keep producing petrol cars for us since none of the proceeds for second-hand sales goes to them. Practically speaking, from their point of view, the car market in Nigeria does not exist. I don’t know if by then the likes of Innoson might be able to ramp up production to meet demand. Of course petrol cars will still be in circulation a good while after that but at some point they must run out. So while our government officials talk about selling oil to other countries, we might be in the embarrassing situation of not being able to sell our oil to ourselves. Let me make clear that this is only a plausible conjectured scenario, not inevitability and only plausible in the long term.

I hope this makes clear that the lack of industrialization is our biggest problem. This is because non-industrial countries like ours are simply not in control of their own economies. It is possible that something could stall the growth of EVs. One could be not enough lithium deposits to make lithium-ion car batteries but there are potential long term alternatives, some are sodium-ion, lithium-sulphur [7], calcium-ion, and graphene (carbon) [8]. There could be problems with the sourcing of other metals like cobalt, nickel required for electric car production and for other uses in general. It is too early to say how the EV industry will fix all these supply-chain problems.  

I wrote this piece not just to enlighten people about the emerging EV trend but more importantly, to show how science can be used to make sense of the world around us. The regularities that science uncovers in nature and in society if harnessed properly, can be used to make the world a better place for you and for me…How did I go from Covid 19 and electric cars to singing Michael Jackson??

BEFORE YOU GO: Please I would like to ask that you share this article with as many people as possible. Thanks and God bless…and by the way, Happy New Year!!

References

1. Rohit Tripathi. June 2021 ‘Spread of infectious diseases, consumer goods adoption, and technology S curves’ www.the-future-of-commerce.com: https://www.the-future-of-commerce.com/2018/07/27/s-curves/
2. Bloomberg Updated 10 July 2022 “US crosses the electric car tipping point for mass adoption”, auto.hindustantimes.com  https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/us-crosses-the-electric-car-tipping-point-for-mass-adoption-41657428685389.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=topic+optin&utm_campaign=awareness&utm_content=20220715+econ+nl&mkt_tok=MTA3LUZNUy0wNzAAAAGFoA9Wozi5WhGTX_QQCtztHQlsrhh1ZUc8BGZ8u7FZFBVCueKgBoQ8AlSFYS9fArqovrUK–gWU7EuetBc3GPTLzD-oRenk69HKl3OsbkcR4Ih
3. Kingsley Jeremiah. June 2021 ‘FG adamant on fossil fuels despite $13tr projected global losses’ guardian.ng: https://bit.ly/3irn8HA
4. Petroleum article on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petroleum
5. 2010s oil glut on Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010s_oil_glut
6. Bloomberg Updated 10 July 2022 “US crosses the electric car tipping point for mass adoption”, auto.hindustantimes.com  https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto/news/us-crosses-the-electric-car-tipping-point-for-mass-adoption-41657428685389.html?utm_medium=email&utm_source=topic+optin&utm_campaign=awareness&utm_content=20220715+econ+nl&mkt_tok=MTA3LUZNUy0wNzAAAAGFoA9Wozi5WhGTX_QQCtztHQlsrhh1ZUc8BGZ8u7FZFBVCueKgBoQ8AlSFYS9fArqovrUK–gWU7EuetBc3GPTLzD-oRenk69HKl3OsbkcR4Ih
7. James Scoltock 21 Sept 2022 “The Big Battery Challenge: 3 potential alternatives to Lithium” imeche.org https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/the-big-battery-challenge-3-potential-alternatives-to-lithium-ion
8. Claudia Alemany Castilla 14 Oct 2022 “Calcium may make a better battery than Lithium” engineeringforchange.com https://www.engineeringforchange.org/news/calcium-may-make-better-battery-lithium/

Technology is a disruptor. Anyone who feels too comfortable with their status quo should watch out. And so it was that Nigerians were held to ransom by our famous, old taxi drivers with their usually stinking cabs. Until Uber and later, Bolt came calling from the USA and Estonia respectively. Young boys had sat down to work out ways of democratizing ride hailing – basically that anyone could be a taxi driver and earn an extra buck at free hours, and that anyone who wanted a cab could also be linked up with those who could drive. Before then – especially in the Lagos region – the experience with our taxi drivers was awful. Not only were they unruly – especially the ones at the airport who never agree on an organized way of picking passengers – but they were also very expensive. These men spent most of their time playing games like draught, ludo, or sport betting. They usually had their taxi stands or parks in strategic areas of Lagos State. And if you needed their services, they often were reluctant, preferring instead to play their games and have leisure. At every point in time, they complained about the ‘go-slow’ in that part of town that you wanted to go.

I have spent up to N40,000 in a single day on these guys just to get around in Lagos, when money had value. If technology had not come to disrupt them, perhaps we will have been subjected to price increases and one will easily spend N70,000 in a day. I recall landing at the Lagos Local Airport, headed for Victoria Island. N6,000. VI to Lekki. N6,000. From Lekki to Apapa, N6,000. From Apapa to Allen Avenue. N6,000. And then back to VI. N6,000. N30,000 is gone just like that. And we are talking of sometime around year 2007/8 when money still had value. The sad thing is that their cabs stank and were rickety, and don’t even talk about air conditioning. Sometimes, fumes from the exhaust came inside the car, and they would usually have to branch and queue for petrol which they bought in bits of N500 or N1,000. And since their cars usually leaked, you end up smelling like you had been doused in petrol for your meeting.

Uber and later, Bolt came and redefined some things. They required taxis to be in certain conditions. They had to approve of your car. And you were required to go through training as a taxi driver around courtesy, and neatness, even that you had to ask the rider what kind of music they wanted to listen to. Drivers were even required to quickly clean the car after each ride and keep quiet during the ride and keep their opinions to themselves.

But in no time, all that went out of the window in Nigeria – the special country where we make our own rules. Somehow, the type of rickety cars that we thought we had escaped forever. Then, trust Nigerians, the cars started getting dirty. I recall that even when Ghanaian uber drivers still kept to standards, Nigerian ones had moved on. We live in a land where nobody cares. I recall ordering a ride from Eko Hotel to the Airport and the guy ran out of fuel in the middle of the 3^rd Mainland Bridge. The tiny car was so rickety the fuel gauge malfunctioned. The driver complained that the owner has refused to repair the car. I was lucky not to have been robbed that afternoon but the ‘area boys’ that helped pushed the car for about 2 kilometres to the nearest fuel station in Adekunle taxed me about N5,000 – which was all I had in my pocket. One needs a generous spirit to survive our times. If I was there arguing with the driver and playing the big man, these boys who roam the long stretch of the bridge for victims could have robbed me and thrown me in the lagoon. Instead, I joined them to push the car all the way. My Mac laptop alone was worth over N1,000,000.

But situations have gone from bad to worse with these ride-hailing services in Nigeria. In parts of Nigeria’s hinterland where a ride costs as low as N500, drivers would usually ask you before picking you up what you wanted to pay them. They are not in the business of peanuts. Others will insist on going ‘offline’ meaning that you strike an independent deal with them and cancel the ride. I understand that having to pay 25% of their earnings to some foreign company is quite burdensome. But what bothers these drivers is that they are unable to ‘slam’ riders with heavy fares, like the old men I described above. Nigerians are very aspirational. Everybody wants to be a billionaire here and everyone is under pressure. The stability of earning a steady N150,000 monthly – which could be more if you own the car – is not for us here. Everyone needs to hammer, and so young Uber/Bolt drivers have joined their ancestors and forebears in the business of exploiting poor riders.

The ones at the airports are worse. It is now a case of taking customers for the proverbial ride and this has to be brought to the attention of the ride-hailing companies by whoever is reading this who has some access to them. This is the object of this writeup. On my last trip to Lagos, I had already collected my luggage from the carousel before I called a ride. But before I could drag my luggage out of the airport building, he had canceled on me.  I called and he said he called me once and I didn’t answer. I booked another ride immediately but by the time I got to the 1^st floor car park, he too had canceled. I was livid and confused and with luggage looking like an idiot. There the uber drivers were, in a corner on the 1^st floor, gisting away – again like their ancestors. I engaged these two guys who canceled the ride. They were right there with their friends in that corner, having a laugh. They brought up all sorts of excuses, but I had to negotiate with one of them offline to be dropped at a hotel near the airport, for twice the amount that Bolt had estimated in my earlier booking. A friend also narrated to me how a Bolt driver in Abuja, after picking him up started to negotiate for more money. When my friend refused, Bolt guy parked by the roadside on the expressway and asked him to drop off. The violent reaction from my friend made him change his mind. What is however more frequent is when the driver shows up and asks you to cancel the ride so that you could run offline, and he pockets all the money. All of these tricks amount to extortion. The challenges here are that:

1. These guys are getting our data through Uber/Bolt. When one books a ride, your name and number is available there. So also is your passport photo. A keen data miner can use your details (often including credit/debit cards) to get to your bank accounts or even create a clone of you for other purposes.  I think this is unfair on riders.
2. This is serious data protection breach which must be addressed by these ride hailing companies
3. All sorts of monkey business will now start. The security of knowing that your journey is recorded and could be traced has disappeared. If you strike a deal with them offline and they happen to have criminal intents, you are on your own.
4. The rider is left vulnerable and subject to blackmail, in the middle of nowhere. Canceling a ride on someone with no alternatives with a view to setting your own terms is blackmail and extortion.
5. Whatever calamities occur as a result of these shenanigans fall back on Bolt/Uber and the companies’ names will always be mentioned. If something really serious occurs, lawyers could find ways of making those companies fall liable for nor risk-managing people’s data appropriately. Those companies must act fast

And what those Uber Bolt guys don’t know is that they can jam fortune by just being nice and truthful people. I understand even Dangote, the richest man in Africa, takes Uber sometimes. Imagine what a nice, neat car and good manners could do with Dangote in a single ride. Even I as a poor man. I met this young Bolt guy in Lagos named Socrates (real name) who had been struggling with schooling. He’s now in Open University and I paid half of his first-year fees. I will continue till he finishes insha Allah. When I posted his case of Facebook my friends started sending him money and he must got close to 200k. Someone suggested we send him millions but in asked them to allow him focus and develop mental muscle on his own. He paid his rent with the donations then. His mum calls me from the East occasionally. Just from a single Bolt ride. I’m not sure I’ve ever used a bolt or Uber without tipping them generously. Except a few very lousy and careless ones. Some are too talkative. Some are flippant. A few have suppressed criminal tendencies. But most are okay. With this ‘oyibo’ innovation, God lurked there somewhere waiting for whose good attitude will help them lever out of poverty. A few made it. A lot were held down by their attitudes. They still complain about how Nigeria is such a useless place. Most of our people’s problem has very little to do with government or Nigeria but themselves and their attitude to life. Rather than choosing to be good and fair, our young Uber/Bolt drivers have decided to criminally obtain people’s data from the same platforms and use such data to blackmail and extort money. Nigerians are not special beings. Bad, weak governance has only made us more wayward over time. I await what Bolt and Uber will do to redress this matter.

And for the drivers too, there is a need for some protection. There are two cases I know about currently. One man took one of these rides from Abuja airport, allegedly had seizures while in the car, was rushed to the hospital by the driver, and died. As at the time of writing this, he is still a guest of the police as prime suspect. Police must do its job to ensure it was not murder, right? In another instance told to me by a lawyer friend, a driver picked someone at Lagos airport, drove him to Banana Island only to realize that he had died right at the back seat. Again, police case. The last time I took an Uber in London, I recall one of the drivers showing me the cameras that record every journey. There were three cameras in the car. One behind and two from the front. But because of the lowering of standards in Nigeria, no one is thinking about this, thus making drivers extra vulnerable, just as the passengers. This is just the right time for more investment, more seriousness and a review of business model by these apps in Nigeria. And we too should behave like people who deserve global best practices.