I was speaking with a local investor recently, and he asked me an interesting two-fold question. What is an ecosystem? And can it be said that there is in the actual sense, a Nigerian technology ecosystem? An ecosystem is not just about co-existence but also about interaction and complex dependencies.
Having just hosted an exclusive dinner that was attended by some of the foremost personalities in said ecosystem, it was a very relevant question. To which I’m inclined to answer in the affirmative. Yes, we have a technology ecosystem. They just need to get together over good food more often. Many a deal has been done over dinner napkins. Many insights, shared. Many earnest conversations had. Therefore, TechCabal Sessions.
It was good to chat to Kinnevik’s Rickard Stromberg and Jessica Thorell about their backgrounds and ongoing work hands-on, not to mention exploratory work the Nigerian internet and tech space. More on that in a subsequent feature.
It was equally satisfying to meet new people — quite a few of the individuals present were encountering each other for the first time, even though they might have been aware of them previously. Before Thursday, I had not had the pleasure of interacting with Tunde Kehinde (Apost), Bode Pedro (Veda), Demola Ogundele (NotJustOk)I myself would meet Tunde Kehinde (A-Post), and even Chika Nwobi (L5Labs) before Thursday.
We’re grateful to the sponsors for this edition, Jovago, Anakle and Gidimobile.
And to Social Place for the awesome space and ambience, and going out of their way to help make it the best TechCabal Sessions event yet.
And of course, our special thanks to all the guests who came.
Pictures are worth a thousand words. We’ll be publishing some from the event shortly.
I should say — we’ve got even bigger things planned for the rest of the year. Bigger and more inclusive events, starting next month. Exciting times, these. We hope you can join us.
