The bank of Industry (BOI) recently announced the official commissioning of the Vatebra Tech Hub in Ajah, Lagos, by the Executive Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Stakeholders present at the event also included Mr. Kayode Pitan, Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry; Mr.Mike Aigbe, Deputy Managing Director, Vatebra Tech Hub; Stephane Beuvelet, Managing Director, 9mobile Nigeria.
Speaking at the event, the governor of Lagos state ably represented by the commissioner of science and technology, Honorable Hakeem Fahm noted the role of power, pipe as well as people and machine in putting up a technology hub together.
He stressed the role of BOI in providing the empowerment platform, 9mobile’s role in providing the bandwidth as well as the people and machine interaction to make production of technology services available.
“We would be very proud to know that this investment is coming from the bank and a collaboration with a telecoms company as this involvement would move Lagos forward”
“The future of our country is not based on oil, as we can’t continue relying on oil, our future depends on our people, on our children and if we give them the right resources and education, they would move the country forward”
The Tech Hub is a corporate social responsibility initiative sponsored by BOI to promote skills development, youth entrepreneurship and job creation in new technology and innovations.
As the foremost development finance institution in Nigeria, the Bank of Industry has the mission to transform Nigeria’s industrial sector by providing financial support services to enable new businesses emerge and existing enterprise to thrive.
Today’s commissioning of the Tech Hub is the manifestation of a deliberate programme that the Bank of Industry is implementing towards building a dynamic and vibrant startup ecosystem in Nigeria, and is driven by the realisation that tech startups are becoming major economic value creators in the 21st century and this trend will accelerate especially as artificial intelligence, robotics, big data, e.t.c., become embedded in our daily lives.
It is also motivated by the desire to support quality projects with high developmental impacts such as job creation and poverty alleviation to enhance the socioeconomic standard of, especially young Nigerians.
The Managing Director/CEO, Bank of Industry, Mr.Kayode Pitan said the Bank was sponsoring the hub in recognition of the ingenuity and creativity of young people in Nigeria, and the need to channel these to more productive and impactful ends, rather than the social vices internet fraud.
According to him, “the overall objective is to ensure that our corporate social responsibility investments are such as will generate better benefits for the country; and a hub like this gives young people an opportunity to add their own quota to the economic development of Lagos State, and Nigeria as a whole.”
“We believe that at a centre like this, talent can be discovered and harnessed, and also it will help to grow the tech ecosystem in the country, get more young people involved in it, make it more attractive to investments, e.t.c. and this will augur well for Nigeria, in general.”
To ensure the initiative is sustainable, BOI has partnered with Vatebra, a technology firm to manage the day-to-day operations at the Hub, which has facilities including high-speed internet access, shared and private office spaces, well-equipped robotics training lab, among others.
Vatebra is a leading software solutions company in Africa with offices in Nigeria (Lagos & Abuja), Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Sierra-Leone.
Vatebra Limited is a 3-time winner of the “Technology company of the year” award by the Nigeria Technology Awards.
Working with its partner organisations, the Bank of industry will roll out a series of programmes to build and strengthen the capacities of entrepreneurs to ideate, incubate and launch successful businesses.
These programmes will be complemented with funding opportunities through schemes from BOI and other financing institutions.
The belief is that the Vatebra Tech Hub will be a platform to productively engage youths around Ajah, Sangotedo, and beyond, and also create an ecosystem that will in the near future add to Nigeria’s economic growth.
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