After 5 years of building @AltSchoolAfrica with @AdewaleYusuf_ and @opeawo, today I’m officially stepping down as CTO and moving into the CEO role. The goal is to provide global education to Africans at an affordable cost. Instead of going to the UK and spending £30,000 to get a degree, you can attend the same university through AltSchool for less than £15,000. Same school, same lecturers, same BSc. Equal value. Equal access. Local pricing. I’m officially launching our degree programmes on degree.altschoolafrica.com, and over the next few months, you’ll see more global universities join the AltSchool network. Welcome to the edX of Africa.

This is a truth you may not have considered when it comes to tech in Nigeria, and I’ll share it today. Bookmark this so you can read it later, and ask questions in the comment s. Three things drive the growth of tech in an ecosystem: 1. Where the money goes. 2. Where the talent is. 3. The areas with the lowest barriers to entry because of the economy. 1. Where the money goes: Before most builders decide to start a company, they ask themselves: “What industries are getting funded around me?” And when I need to hire, which skill sets are available in abundance? It used to be problem first, then solution. Now, it is convenience first, then finding a problem within that convenience. 2 Where the talent is: You ask yourself: When I need to hire, how easy will it be to find people in this industry? Is there enough talent available in the field I want to venture into? Or do I need to look outside the country to find the best people? And you already know how this will influence whether you build at all and what you choose to build. 3. The areas with the lowest barriers to entry because of the economy: There’s a reason why 99% of people entering tech, especially engineering, in Nigeria are doing something related to software and the web. That’s because it has the lowest barrier to entry. But beyond that, people also see it as the area where they’re most likely to get a job quickly. Learning is no longer driven by passion or ambition, but by the question, “Which of these courses can I take and get a job within six months?” So Nigeria’s tech ecosystem is stuck in a loop. People want to learn skills they believe every company is hiring for. Builders want to start companies they believe will be easy to hire talent for and that VCs are interested in funding. VCs want to fund startups they believe will deliver the best ROI in the shortest time, and they want these companies to have easy access to talent. This is the 9ja growth paradox. And guess who can save us from it? The government. Yes, the government needs to establish funds that invest in less conventional industries, support less conventional startups, and fund the training of less conventional skills. The government also needs to make access to resources easier and better, so people don’t learn a skill simply because it is all their available resources can support, but because it is what they genuinely want to learn.