Author: Kelechi Udoagwu

Can’t Be An Innovator and Be Seeking Validation at the Same Time

Originally published on Bella Naija on January 22, 2020.   I woke up thinking: you can’t be an innovator and constantly seek validation. You can’t run ahead of the curve and, at the same time, seek direction from bystanders.   Not only will you lose your edge, but you will also be more confused than […]

Innovation and the future of Africa: A tale of two countries

Published on Techpoint and Tech Nova. Too many times, when we speak about the future of Africa or the future of technology in Africa, we do so with an air of ignorant homogeneity. We speak of Africa like we speak of one country, and in so doing we [sometimes] forget that there are 54 countries […]

Are African Business Leaders Doing Enough To Prepare Employees For Future Work?

Published on TechNova, iAfrikan, Business2Community.  While population growth determines the socio-economic prospects of a country, the age structure of the nation is just as crucial. By 2025, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) will be home to almost a quarter of the global population aged 24 and below. And by 2035, SSA’s population will become the youngest in […]

Want to get into Africa tech?

A summary of my notes from the recent Women Techmakers Leads and Google Developers Groups (GDG) Summit held in Lagos, Nigeria. I woke up on Monday morning to an invite to the Summit from my friend, Aniedi Udo-Ubong, Developer Ecosystem Manager at Google (Sub-Saharan Africa). It was to a two-day gathering of Women Techmakers Leads and […]

Meet the Entrepreneur Who’s Built an Offline Addressing App for Africa

Originally published on AfricaBusiness2020 via Skrife. He is referred to as an ‘accidental entrepreneur’, one with no intention of starting a business who saw a problem and set out to fix it. Introducing… Sesinam Dagadu, the founder of a Solutions Company called tinyDAVID. tinyDavid was set up to develop solutions for the developing world, and SnooCODE, their first […]

Video + List: Equity-free Funding For Your Business Idea

In this video, I share info on how to get equity-free seed funding for your business idea or startup. I also share a list of accelerators around the world to help you get started on your journey. https://youtu.be/1jnqvbZDgdU < p style=”text-align: left;”>List of Equity-free Accelerators Around The World Ready to take a bold step into […]

The Rise – and Challenges – of Ghana’s Real Estate Leader MeQasa

Originally published on AfricaBusiness2020 via Skrife. Introducing… Kelvin Nyame, one of three Ghanaian entrepreneurs, (including Rashad Seini and Kofi Amuasi), who founded MeQasa after receiving US$90,000 seed-funding from Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) in 2013. MeQasa went on to raise US$800,000 from Frontiers Digital Ventures, a global VC firm in 2015, and is rising to be the […]

Working With Girlfriends: Beavly

Originally published on True Africa. ‘There’s definitely no pampering’ – how women in tech drive each other to achieve more Beavly is an online platform that connects people who want to learn skills with professionals who want to teach these skills. Run by Ijeoma Oguegbu and Barbara Okoto, it is one of two African startups accepted […]

Working With Girlfriends: Tress App

Originally published on True Africa. Tress is a hair inspiration app targeted at black women. It was created by Priscilla Hazel, Esther Olatunde and Cassandra Sarfo in Accra where they came together due to their shared love for dreaming, learning, building, traveling and innovating. This June Tress, which was founded at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), was accepted to the Y-Combinator fellowship, […]

Disregard These For Success

Originally published on Bella Naija on July 1, 2016.   Ever wondered why we eat with forks and knives? Why forks go with the left hand, and knives with the right? Ever wondered who makes these random rules, why everyone lives by them, and why you almost-always predictably follow them?   Doing things different, just to […]

Social Capital’s Way Better Than Money

Originally published on Bella Naija. I recently read a story on James Altucher’s blog where he shared how a friend of his made $2million in one morning, without any physical effort on his part. See a short excerpt from their dialogue below: Dave: “Oh! I forgot to tell you. I accidentally made 2 million dollars […]

Crash Course: How To Get A Job Without Connections

Originally published on Bella Naija on March 30, 2016.   Things are hard in Nigeria, no doubt about that. Our industries and government work suboptimally, and we’re used to it. New and old graduates face the anxiety of trying to fend for themselves with limited options. An advantage of living in a country like ours, however, […]

How To Get Experience When You’ve Never Had a Job

Originally published on Bella Naija. The most common question I’ve heard graduates ask is “How can I get experience when I’ve never had a job?” or “How can I use my skills when no one will hire me?” It’s easy and quite normal to get frustrated when job searching seems endless and it feels like […]

When are millennials going to grow up?

Originally published on True Africa on January 26, 2016.   Disclaimer: This article is in no way representative of the entire millennial generation. It is, however, representative of the majority of us. Come on, admit it, you see some of yourself in this 🙂   Kelechi, Odi, Martin and Carmel are friends. All between the ages […]

How big would these African startups be if they’d been founded in the US?

Published on True Africa on November 23, 2015.   To run a profitable business or startup, you need steady electricity, something most African countries lack. You need the internet if you work with technology… or are in 2015 with the rest of us.   You need a good transportation system, investors, a healthy financial system. You need […]