Scaling Nigerian tech and studying from international playbooks

We had been related throughout screens and time zones. I used to be in Nigeria, and he or she was within the UK. Two designers, two continents, one shared ambition: to thrive in tech, not simply as individuals, however as forces shaping its future. That connection wasn’t exceptional as a result of it crossed borders. It was exceptional as a result of the border didn’t matter. I used to be mentoring her, an early-career UX designer dwelling within the UK, whereas I used to be nonetheless in Nigeria. On the finish of the mentorship programme, somebody with no prior background in design was capable of land an entry-level function at BBC UK. That second affirmed one thing I’ve all the time believed: geography will not be a measure of competence.

In Nigeria, designers work in a few of the most high-pressure environments on this planet. Groups and processes are sometimes lean, and merchandise should work throughout a dizzying vary of gadgets, infrastructure realities, and person behaviours. You’re not simply designing screens. You’re fixing for affordability, accessibility, belief, and generally product survival. That strain breeds expertise that’s each inventive and resilient. We don’t simply ship merchandise, we ship options that work in the true world.

The parable persists that African tech professionals are “rising,” “promising,” or “creating.” These phrases, although well-meaning, indicate that we’re nonetheless catching up. It’s essential to say this plainly: Nigerian tech expertise will not be ready to be found. We’re not the long run, we’re already right here. The identical Nigerian designers who construct fintech merchandise serving thousands and thousands additionally work at Meta, Amazon, Google, and high consultancies globally. The bridge has already been crossed.

Designing in a UK-based crew has allowed me to see the variations up shut. Roles are extra specialised, and there’s extra room for long-term considering. However none of this made Nigerian designers really feel “lower than.” It made me much more happy with what we obtain again house below constrained circumstances. And it’s not simply designers. Builders, product managers, knowledge scientists, founders, and Nigerian tech professionals are main startups, launching unicorns, scaling platforms, and influencing international technique. We’re not aspiring to worldwide requirements. In lots of circumstances, we’re elevating them.

The hole is rarely in skill; it’s in recognition, entry, and alternative. It’s about constructing an ecosystem that provides extra folks the possibility to indicate it. There are already profitable templates we will study from. Different nations have proven us what’s attainable; we’d be sensible to take notes.

India, for instance, spent many years constructing its popularity as a world IT hub. It didn’t occur in a single day. It was a coordinated combine of presidency help, funding in technical schooling, outsourcing fashions that supplied folks with international publicity, and a robust nationwide id that stated, “We belong on the desk.” Equally, Jap European nations like Ukraine and Poland positioned themselves globally via deliberate international partnerships and visibility. 

We’ve had glimpses of that very same vitality in Nigeria: international hackathons, Andela and Decagon, and YC-backed startups constructed by homegrown groups. One cause worldwide recognition got here slowly is that Nigeria didn’t comply with the standard outsourcing path. Our ecosystem grew by fixing native issues, not by promoting companies overseas. However now that our options are going international, coming into international markets, powering startups abroad, and constructing merchandise used throughout continents, recognition is following. The misconceptions are starting to clear. We can not afford to lose momentum. Not now.

What Nigeria wants is infrastructure that meets the second. Funding in schooling, higher web entry, cross-border insurance policies, and industry-led platforms to scale the excellence that already exists. Hubs in Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt are confirmed engines of innovation. We must be resourcing them like that.

I didn’t change into a “international” designer the day I boarded a flight. I grew to become one the day I solved an issue for a person in Lagos, Nigeria, who was attempting to handle their stock, or after I, at my very first internship, helped an early-stage international crew get their MVP into Y Combinator’s Winter 2022 batch. That type of impression shouldn’t be constrained by geography.

So no, Nigerian tech expertise isn’t attempting to catch up. We’ve been within the race and have gained numerous rounds. What we want now’s scale, not simply particular person success tales, however techniques that multiply them. By finding out what’s labored elsewhere and adopting it, we will create a tech ecosystem that’s not simply surviving, however main. Nigerian tech was constructed to adapt; it was constructed for extra.

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Ayomide Ogunbayo is a UK-based UX Designer with expertise designing user-centered digital merchandise throughout fintech, HR tech, and extra.

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