CcHub CEO and Co-founder, Bosun Tijani just tweeted that the incubator is opening a coworking space in Abuja. They’ve called it a re:learn centre and the goal is to help develop a cluster of EdTech (Education Technology) startups and in the process, revolutionise education in Africa. Lofty goals.
It’s official!!! @Cc_HUB has a new office in #Abuja. Whoop Whoop!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/FnI7D41Uat
— Femi Longe (@femilonge) March 16, 2016
They’ve got a great location too. A quick google search just told me that their new office, “TY Danjuma Foundation” is off Aminu Kano crescent in Wuse II. I used to live in Abuja, and Wuse II is one of the most prominent business areas in the city, especially along the Adetokunbo Ademola and Aminu Kano strips.
It’s pretty accessible from everywhere in town, and it has pretty stable power supply – both features that make it a better place than most, to run a business. Abuja is also a great place to be, if you need to have conversations on a government policy level – conversations I suspect Edtech startups need to have, since it’s a tightly regulated industry.
They aren’t the first incubator in Abuja though. Box Office incubator has been around for just over 3 years now, but I spoke to a few entrepreneurs who think their pricing is pretty steep. I’m blaming it on the high cost of real estate in Abuja, which I think is the only reason it hasn’t seen as much startup activity as Lagos has in recent years.
One of the things I’m most excited about though, is the corny name we’re inevitably going to give Abuja as a result of this move. CcHub’s first home in Lagos (well, Yaba) has had its fair share of those; Silicon Lagoon, Yabacon Valley, and more recently, Yaba Right.
Abuja has a lot of the infrastructure that Lagos lacks, as an innovation centre – a transport system that actually works, electricity, et al. The only hindrance is the high cost of real estate in the capital city. So, it looks to me like CcHub’s pricing plan will determine whether we will see a tech cluster in Wuse II, or whether Edtech founders will simply continue to run their businesses from their mothers’ living rooms. Fingers crossed.
