The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has
described the Unicorn Group, a company dedicated to the incubation of
business ideas, as a true representation of the Nigerian spirit,
giving hope and helping to build a new Nigeria.
”Unicorn is watering the seeds of innovation. Unicorn is showing that
impossible is not Nigerian, that impossible is not African. Thank you
for believing in Nigeria and for putting your money where your mouth
is,” the Minister said in Lagos on Thursday, during a visit to the
Yaba campus of Unicorn, a pan-African investment company targeting
innovative ideas, start-ups and early stage companies in the
technology and technology-enabled sectors across Africa.
Unicorn provides education, training, mentorship, infrastructure and
long-term capital to entrepreneurs, start-ups and early stage
companies in the technology and technology-enabled sector through its
ecosystem strategy.
He expressed delight that the company is bringing the young ones,
including those from disadvantaged communities, into its ecosystem.
”This is where dreams come true. This is where ideas are born and
they become reality. Having the young ones, from primary to secondary
to tertiary institutions, to see the best of Nigeria and the best of
Africa is massive,” Alhaji Mohammed said, in reference to the many
students he met at the Yaba campus.
He said the decision to visit is not just to see the great job that
Unicorn is doing, but also to help tell the world what Unicorn is
doing, adding: ”This is why I have come with about 25 journalists
from various media establishments to see and showcase Unicorn’s
groundbreaking work to the world.
The Minister was later taken on a guided tour of the Unicorn’s Yaba
campus, during which he met with some of the companies that have been
successfully incubated.
The companies include Bookings Africa.com, which helps professionals
of all hues to monetize their skills; Film Anatomies, which uses 3D
technology to produce much-needed machine parts, thus saving the country huge
resources in foreign exchange; RxAll which produced the technology for
authenticating drugs; Mobaby that caters to the needs of babies and
Yahshud, which prevents the exclusion of Muslims, who may not believe
in the usual mortgage system, from the real estate industry.
The Minister also visited the stands of the ‘6 Charge Bar’, the
company that provides phone battery charge solutions; ‘Inschool’,
which leverages technology to take education to all, irrespective of
where they are; Edusko which is connecting parents with good schools
as well as I & 0 fashion which caters for women of all shapes and
sizes
He also met with Koniku, a US-based Nigerian firm that has pioneered a
technology that digitizes the sense of smell and sense of taste, a
technology that can be used to diagnose diseases, prospect
for oil as well as provide security at airports.
Alhaji Mohammed said one of the most impressive solution providers he
met during the guided tour was a company that produces reusable
sanitary pads for young girls, many of whom miss school because they
cannot afford the relatively expensive sanitary pads in the market.
The world’s first Liquefied Natural Gas stove, which was invented by
young Nigerians under Unicorn’s tutelage, was formally unveiled to the
world during the Minister’s visit.
The Chairman of Unicorn, Dr. Akintoye Akindele, described the company
as a hub for the identification, incubation and development of ideas
into companies.
“Where you are today is the first Unicorn campus of our other campuses
around the world. This was where we birthed the idea that for Africa,
particularly Nigeria, to start achieving its potentials. We must marry
education with innovation and with skills,” Dr Akindele said.
He said in order to achieve development, Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises have to be supported to transit into mega companies,
noting that Unicorn is open to all Nigerians who have ideas and can
apply online and be supported to incubate and develop the ideas
through mentorship with major CEOs around the world, as well as access
to free server, physical library and virtual bookshops connected to
campuses around the world to access knowledge.
He decried the current situation in which less than 10 of the 900
Unicorn companies around the world are in Africa and urged Nigeria to
emulate countries like China and India where smaller companies were
nurtured and supported to become mega corporations.
