Vice President Osinbajo Launches Tech Hub in Lagos
On Friday, Vice President Osinbajo inaugurated an enormous tech hub that he says has the capacity to drive Nigeria’s technological growth and export of innovations. The tech hub known as Vibranium Valley, currently houses 30 tech companies and has the capacity to accommodate 50 more.
Vibranium Valley is owned by the Venture Garden Group and is housed on the grounds of the then renowned Concord Printing Press of Nigeria owned by MKO Abiola.
Osinbajo, in a keynote address, remarked that the future of the country is dependent on technology, adding that Vibranium Valley has the potential to be the next innovation cluster to drive the technological advancement of Nigeria.
Speaking on the topic “The Role of Technology and Entrepreneurship in Nation Building”, Osinbajo said, “We are here to commission the Vibranium Valley. We are told that the hub houses 30 tech companies and has the capacity to house 50 more companies and about the largest tech campus in Sub-Saharan Africa”.
He further remarked that, “Two gentlemen started these technological companies from a startup company to USD 60 Mn companies. Through their investments, they have brought about a system of world-class technology solutions to most of the issues bedecking us today”.
Vice President Osinbajo said the occasion wasn’t an accident, but a design that Nigeria’s future would not hinge anymore on oil or solid minerals. He noted that it is about technology, about innovation and all about highly skilled people, the entrepreneurial spirit and a supporting ecosystem of government, investors, mentors and global collaboration. “In the past, Nigerian billionaires were traders, oil and gas moguls; in the next few years, billionaires from Nigeria will be techies,” he added. Continuing, he said that “This government is taking this phenomenon with seriousness, demonstrated by our innovation hub plans and ease of doing business initiatives.”
Bunmi Akinyemiju, the Chief Executive Officer of Venture Group, said that VGG desired that her Vibranium Valley would be the stimulator of collaboration with policymakers and other stakeholders. Akinyemiju called for a technological ecosystem in Nigeria for solutions to toughest national issues with the aid of technology. He added that VGG was focused on leveraging innovative technology to create African solutions to African problems.
