{"id":962,"date":"2014-08-08T21:12:35","date_gmt":"2014-08-08T13:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.innovationiseverywhere.com\/?p=962"},"modified":"2014-08-08T21:12:35","modified_gmt":"2014-08-08T13:12:35","slug":"guide-tour-cc-hub-nigeria-lagos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/innovationiseverywhere.com\/fr\/guide-tour-cc-hub-nigeria-lagos\/","title":{"rendered":"A guided tour of CC Hub Nigeria in Lagos"},"content":{"rendered":"

As we explored the startup scene of Nigeria in Lagos, we could not miss the prominent role of the Co-Creation Hub<\/a>, also known as CC Hub Nigeria<\/strong>. Most people we had met the days before at the Mobile West Africa<\/a> conference referred to it as the central piece of this nascent ecosystem.<\/p>\n

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So after the conference, we went there and enjoyed a guided tour by Tolu<\/strong>, the \u201cbar owner\u201d of CC Hub. Let me be clear: there\u2019s not really a bar in CC Hub, and Tolu\u2019s role is not to serve drinks.<\/p>\n

But in all the countries we have visited, as well as in France and Singapore where we are based, each of these startup buildings have their \u201cbar owners\u201d who know everything, everyone, and are the most useful persons you can find around.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/h2>\n

In downtown Lagos, a tech ecosystem strong of (at least) 4000 members<\/h2>\n

As in so many emerging markets, it all began with small tech gatherings, whose participants decided at some point that a place would better fit their needs.\u00a0From Hong-Kong to Tehran, it’s almost always the story of passionate geeks who \u00ab\u00a0push the walls\u00a0\u00bb, events after events.<\/p>\n

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The view from CC Hub Nigeria’s rooftop<\/p><\/div>\n

The CC Hub is now a 4-storey building with a rooftop terrace, and a great central location in Lagos<\/strong>. Different membership levels allow the would be entrepreneurs up to the hardcore startupers to find their place in the same building, and of course, the mix and variety of profiles create this feeling of an ecosystem<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Part of the membership is free<\/strong> for people willing to attend training sessions and come during the week-end. A second tier helps freelancers and early stage startups<\/strong> to use all the services from 9am to 9pm. A third and last tier adds more mentorship and pre-incubation<\/strong> services for startups.<\/p>\n

The community is made of 70% of local Nigerians, and 30% of returnees<\/strong>, a big part of these people from the diaspora have been studying and working overseas, such as in Great Britain. This is the case of Femi Longe<\/a>,<\/strong> one of the co-founder of the CC Hub.<\/p>\n

About 4000 people are registered in the community, with about 250 of them paying the second tier of membership, and 50-60 startupers paying for the third their.<\/strong> As with Kenya\u2019s iHub, the space if funded partly from the local operations, and with the support of international supports such as the Omidyar Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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On the walls of CC-Hub Nigeria<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/h2>\n

A guided tour of CC Hub Nigeria<\/h2>\n

In a similar arrangement like NUMA<\/a>, the\u00a0big startup building in the center of Paris, CC Hub Nigeria has one floor for each level of the local ecosystem<\/strong>, although the reception and more open space is located on the top, probably to enjoy their amazing terrace : )<\/p>\n

On the 4th and top floor, the space is designed to pool skills and people.<\/strong> The co-founders and mentors of the CC Hub are also running free training sessions<\/strong> to help the local wantrepreneurs to get a business education. It\u2019s overall a very open space where people discuss, work, train themselves, and have access to the amazing rooftop\u00a0from which it is possible to have a great overview of downtown Lagos.<\/p>\n

\"cc<\/a><\/p>\n

Go down a floor, and you find a space more focused on coworking<\/strong>, with freelancers or teams visibly working in a more focused way. Just as in any startup ecosystem, different spaces are needed<\/strong> to help teams to first explore, discuss, exchange, and then exploit, focus and release a prototype, a MVP or any version working for a feedback.<\/p>\n

Further down, we enter\u00a0the incubation space itself,<\/strong> with 12 teams<\/strong> selected by CC Hub to enjoy a full year of mentoring and support. The teams here pay partly the rent, and give a small share of their equity, a model you can find pretty much in every accelerator or incubator around the world.<\/p>\n

\"cc<\/a><\/p>\n

The ground floor<\/strong>, that Tolu kept mysterious until the end, is simply amazing. Both an open-space for anyone in Lagos to come and test about 40 different phones and tech device<\/strong>s setup on wide tables, it\u2019s also a space for brands to get feedback from the early adopters<\/strong> a space like CC Hub Nigeria is attracting.<\/p>\n

\"cc<\/p>\n

This Mobile Experience Center<\/strong>\u00a0connects all the parts of the ecosystems together. For instance, GT Bank launched a new mobile platform back in February 2014 and did it here, to crash test the solution and get the precious feedback of Lagos most connected people.<\/p>\n

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<\/h2>\n

CC Hub Nigeria\u2019s philosophy: solving social issues with a commercial purpose<\/h2>\n

After this guided tour, we\u2019ve discussed with Femi Longe<\/strong>, one of the co-founders of this space. In the discussion, we both agreed rapidly that the next Facebook or Amazon would not come from CC-Hub Nigeria, or from any other place in the country\u00a0anyway.<\/p>\n

Rather than talking of groundbreaking technologies, Femi speaks of groundbreaking usage to address local problems.<\/strong> African innovators must solve issues while turning this social mission into a viable business to escape the trap of charity an grants. We\u2019ve seen in another post of Wecyclers<\/a><\/strong> was a good example, as this startup helps to sort trash, a key issue in Lagos, while rewarding city-dwellers and selling back the collection to recycling plants.<\/p>\n