Iyin Aboyeji Explains The Reason Behind Building A City For Nigerian Tech Talents
Iyin Aboyeji explains the reason behind building a city for Nigerian tech talents
It is no longer news that many young Nigerian professionals are rushing out of the country in order to pursue their careers abroad. Every day, more and more professionals, from doctors and engineers to pharmacists and accountants, are forced to confront the prospect of relocating to a more hospitable environment.
According to the World Migration Report 2020, Nigeria is ranked 12th in the world in terms of migration per 1,000 population, with a projected growth rate of 2.640 percent. According to Statista, 1.3 million Nigerians left the country in the same year as the migration.
Nigerian tech talents are not exempt from this exodus, as insecurity, a low standard of living, the skyrocketing cost of food and other commodities, and the general mishap of living in Nigeria affect them just as much as the rest of the population.
As a result, many technologically gifted individuals have been forced to seek employment outside of the country. Because of globalization, obtaining foreign employment while living in Nigeria is no longer as time-consuming as it used to be. The downside, however, is that, as a result of the same globalization, many of these foreign companies prefer that their Nigerian employees remain in Nigeria, where they are most productive.
The fact that this is not an option for senior developers who see foreign jobs as a means of escaping the difficult and uncertain life in Nigeria does not fit into their plans. According to Iyin Aboyeji, Founder and General Partner at Future Africa, these developers have continued to request to be released despite the fact that they have created a new type of problem.
According to Iyin, who posted a tweet, he spoke with the CEO of a company that hires a lot of Nigerian senior developers and learned that their biggest challenge is convincing them to stay in Nigeria.
In his subsequent remarks, the Nigerian tech leader explained that the concept behind the proposed Talent City, which is currently in the planning stages, is to create a location that is far removed from the craziness that characterizes Nigerian life. This city would have everything a tech talent could want while working abroad, including a place to live, power, data, a beautiful environment with plenty of trees, and, most importantly, sanity.
“It is for this reason that I am extremely optimistic about Lagos Talent City. For the builders of tomorrow, we need to create an island of sanity, according to the tech leader and co-founder of Flutterwave, one of Nigeria's most successful fintech companies.
Talent City
This community of tech professionals and enthusiasts is proposed to be located in the Lekki free trade zone in Lagos and will be known as Talent City Lagos. A true tech ecosystem is created by the presence of founders, developers, venture capitalists, designers, and other professionals who live and work in the city.
Talent City, which is scheduled to be completed by 2023, will be designed to be an environmentally friendly and green city, and as such, vehicles powered by combustion engines will not be permitted. It has all of the infrastructure and amenities that one could possibly require for remote work, such as fast internet, uninterrupted power, convenient transportation, and so on.
A business-friendly environment, with policies that guarantee zero corporate tax and make it simple to register a remote company, can be found in Singapore. To accommodate the residents' needs, there will be a large number of coworking spaces, parks, and smart homes.
Among those who will become founding residents are Iyin Aboyeji, Bundle CEO Yele Bademosi, Eden Life CEO Nadayar Enegesi, Kola Aina of Ventures Platform, Timi Ajiboye of Buycoins, Coco Liu, a former Google designer, and Maleeka Rahma Meteden of the World Bank.
