NaijaTalkTalk- 40 Nigerian Entrepreneurs Start Crowdfunding For Lagos Next Economy

The Next Economy

The Next Economy is part of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Local Employment in Africa for Development (L.E.A.D.) programme.
The Next Economy is a collaboration between SOS Children’s Villages, 1%Club, Enviu and Afrilabs. Currently operating in 3 sub-saharan countries including Nigeria, The Next Economy empowers African youth to unleash their talents, build their confidence and hone the skills they need for a successful career as an employee or as an entrepreneur.

In collaboration with the local partners The Co-Creation Hub, FATE Foundation, Enspire and Nhub, The Next Economy carries out activities like ‘Grow Your Business’ and ‘Make It Work’  which amongst others coaches ambitious African youth the intricacies of getting their business ideas off the ground and scaling up their businesses.

Last Saturday the 26th of Nov 2016 they organised the first Crowdfunding Bootcamp in Nigeria at the Co-Creation Hub, Yaba Lagos. It was a day of creativity and positive energy all around as the participants got to talk to experts and learn how to set up their own ingenious crowdfunding campaigns and go live!

The goal was to answer the “why’ and “how” of crowdfunding and show that it was possible to set up a fun and easy crowdsourcing campaign with just the right information and mindset. The event started with a primer by the The Next Economy team, introducing participants to the concept of crowdfunding and the itinerary for the day. There were also fun activities to get the participants and experts the right mood for what was to come.

Malou van Nieuwkoop (Community manager 1%Club) introducing participants to the concept of crowdsourcing.

Cross section of young Nigerians listening to the opening presentation.

Participants getting in on the fun!

The bootcamp participants could shop between 5 different expert sessions: Pitching & Storytelling, Crowdfunding Canvas, Business Modeling, Social Media Strategy and Creative Campaigning. Then the experts got to work, with each headlining their classes and sharing insight with participants just as eager.

 

Participants registering for their choice classes before sessions began.

Bashir Sheidu (PR, nHub, Jos) with participants in the ‘Pitching/Storytelling’ class.

Femi  Longe ( Founder & Director CCHub) directing the ‘Business Modelling’ class.

During a ‘Speeddate An Expert’ session, participants had one-on-one conversations with experts to fine-tune their campaigns. The 1%Club team was on ground to assist participants at every step of the way.

Chuka Ekeledo (Lead Strategist Astract9) helping out a participant during the ‘Speed date an expert’ session.

Finally participants got to creating!

Participants working on their campaigns!

There was no shortage of variety at the bootcamp because participants all came with different ideas. Shown below is Kitan David who wants to raise funds to build the first student innovation hub in Akure, Nigeria. According to him, the bootcamp was an eye-opener because the prevailing sentiment is crowdfunding doesn’t work in Nigeria.

Kitan David, he set up a campaign to fund the establishment of the first innovation hub in Akure Nigeria.

The campaign that raised the most money on the day and the most inspiring campaign both won €500 euro each  First up was Esosa Agbontaen whose “Farm Express” connects farmers with prospective customers, he won the prize for most inspirational crowdfunder.

Esosa Agbontaen, winner – Most Inspirational Crowdfunder.

The participant that raised the most money during the day was Adedeji Ademola, who set up a campaign to raise funds for a service that delivers fresh frozen seafood produce to clients.

Adedeji Ademola, winner – Best Crazy Crowdfunder.

After a campaign period of 30 days, a jury will review all the campaigns and reward the top 7 campaigns based on the quality of business plans and people behind them with extra funding of €5000, €3000, €2000 and four times €1000. Anybody can get in on the fun, so if you’re interested in setting up a crowdfunding campaign, visit The Next Economy website https://next-
economy.com/en/ to get started.

Photo session showing participants.

To get live updates on what The Next Economy is up to, follow their facebook @TheNextEconomy, get at them on twitter @TheNext_Economy , instagram @the_next_economy and the website https://next-economy.com/en/.