VenturesNow

Nigeria’s Zone Tech Park is armed with $6.5 Million to turn ideas into ventures

Published

6 years ago

August 4, 2018

Zone Tech Park, a new venture builder for start-ups in Nigeria, has officially opened for business and is already turning great ideas into products and services.

According to Bolaji Olagunju, its founder, “African startups are faced with significant challenges that hinder their growth. Zone Tech will change the status quote and help individuals and their businesses to realise their full potential through education, venture building and strategic enterprise support.”

To date, US$6.5 million has been invested in Zone Tech Park to build the infrastructure and environment needed to help African startups scale and compete globally.

Zone Tech Park is open for start-ups at all stages in their life cycle, from those that are a great idea on paper to those with customers already on-board. Its co-working space is FREE for start-ups, which are not charged for access to the tech hub’s multitude of services and advisers.

Zone Tech Park also promises to plug its start-ups into a network of more than 400 corporations, giving them direct access to market, helping them to avoid bottlenecks, strike deals faster, and scale quicker. Zone Tech Park will support its start-ups in preparing for funding rounds by giving access to a network of potential investors, accelerator programs, and ecosystem architects.

The hub is also promising an experienced in-house engineering team of 20+ software developers and designers, and entire finance, legal, marketing, sales and fundraising teams.

Prior to its official launch, Zone Tech ran a small pilot program and has built Peerless, a learning management system that already has 10,000+ users and revenues of 100,000 USD and Outwork, a staff on-demand solution with 7,000+ users.

Related Topics:Bolaji Olagunju Nigeria Zone Tech Park

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VenturesNow

Moroccan annual inflation rises to 0.8% in November

Published

3 days ago

December 21, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Morocco’s statistics office has confirmed that the country’s annual inflation rate, as determined by the consumer price index, increased from 0.7% in October to 0.8% in November.

Monthly, consumer prices decreased by 0.2% from October.

The primary driver of inflation, food costs, grew by 0.8% compared to the previous year, while non-food inflation climbed by 0.7%. Core inflation, which does not include more erratic items like food, increased 2.6% annually and 0.2% monthly.

According to the central bank, inflation is expected to average 1% this year, down from 6.1% last year.

Despite the Al-Haouz earthquake, a spike in inflation, and worldwide economic challenges, Morocco’s GDP grew by 3.4% in 2023.

A recovery in tourism, robust industrial exports, and rising private consumption—all bolstered by prudent macroeconomic policies—were the main drivers of growth.

VenturesNow

Nigeria’s $42bn foreign reserves enough for 9 months’ imports— Central Bank

Published

4 days ago

December 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to Olayemi Cardoso, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the nation’s $42.01 billion in foreign reserves can cover imports of goods and services for almost nine months.

Cardoso promised Nigerians improved economic fortunes in 2025 while addressing the Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance, and Other Financial Institutions yesterday in Abuja at the presentation of the performance index report.

Cardoso stated: “External Reserves rose from $ 38.35 billion it was on September 30, 2024, to $ 42.01 billion as of December 12, 2024”.

He clarified that third-party receipts in Q3 2024 and revenues from taxes connected to crude oil were the main drivers of the rise in foreign reserves during the specified time.

“We saw remarkable improvements in our trade balance and maintained a current account surplus,” he added.

“Our external reserves level can finance over 9.09 months of import of goods and services or 13.91 months only, higher than the international benchmark of 3.0 months and a robust buffer against shocks”.

On cash shortage, the CBN boss reiterated the N150 million fine against any branch of banks caught illegally distributing new Naira notes to currency hawkers and unscrupulous elements and said the Nigerian economy will improve in 2025 through policies and measures.

He predicted a stronger economic future: “Despite our economy’s challenges, there are clear reasons for optimism.

“The gradual stabilization of the forex market, ongoing banking sector recapitalization, and positive growth trends in key sectors, especially the services sector, indicate a path toward recovery and stability.”