Google’s Hustle Academy has granted a total of N75 million to 15 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Nigeria, along with offering ongoing mentorship and support.

The 15 selected SMBs will benefit from the 75 Million Naira Hustle Academy Fund, providing financial aid, mentorship, and access to essential business tools. These recipients, spanning various industries, showcase the ingenuity of Nigerian entrepreneurs.

In addition to the financial support, 5,300 SMBs successfully completed the Hustle Academy program, highlighting their commitment to enhancing business skills. Since its launch in 2022, over 10,300 entrepreneurs have participated, and the recent graduation ceremony emphasizes the program’s enduring impact.

Tailored to address the unique challenges faced by SMBs in Africa, the Hustle Academy program offers strategic alliances and operational support. This year’s graduation, building on the momentum of last year’s 5,000 graduates, signifies a growing community of businesses dedicated to continuous development and learning.

Commenting on the achievement, Google West Africa Country Director, Olumide Balogun, expressed admiration for the passion and resilience demonstrated by these SMBs.

The Hustle Academy stands as a testament to the transformative power of focused training and resources, not only celebrating the graduation but also recognizing the potential of these businesses to reshape and invigorate the Nigerian business landscape.

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TECHDIGEST – Google today announced that 5000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa will be receiving free training to help their businesses thrive via the newly launched Hustle Academy.
Google Hustle Academy is a bootcamp-style training programme designed to help entrepreneurs and small businesses owners position their businesses for investment opportunities and building viable business models for the future.

The Hustle Academy is a practical educational program with interactive activities and instruction by subject matter experts. It also provides access to a global network of mentors and alumni.

“The Google Hustle Academy Program is a laudable initiative that will help improve business prospects and also create the impact we desire at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund. I recommend this program to business owners and SMEs, to improve results and growth in Lagos business ecosystem,” says Teju Abisoye, executive secretary, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.

Business owners will undergo five days of hands-on training and receive 3000 hours of training on fundamental aspects of business to help them navigate the challenges faced by SMEs in Africa. The training curriculum includes strategic growth sessions including business growth strategy, building digital marketing roadmaps, discovering and evaluating funding routes and how to pitch for success among other topics.

“SMEs are the engine that drives growth for any economy. In Africa, SMEs account for around 80% of jobs and are a significant source of economic growth. In order to grow the economy and increase employment, it is crucial that small businesses have access to the right tools, training and funding to scale up. The Hustle Academy’s mission is to assist entrepreneurs navigate the business challenges they face by providing them with the appropriate tools and knowledge,” says Mojolaoluwa Aderemi-Makinde, head of brand and reputation, sub-Saharan Africa.

The programme is open to businesses that have been in operation for more than a year, have developed a business strategy and defined their product or service offering, and are aiming to grow. They must also have made a profit in the previous 12 months or be within 1-3 months of breaking even.

Since 2017, Google has been providing digital skills training in Africa, and while there has been measurable success in growing these skills, SMBs need more hands-on support. A core intent of the Hustle Academy is to support SMBs with the right skills, resources and access to thrive and grow.

“Our hope is that through the Hustle Academy training this year, we will be able to assist 5,000 SMEs and entrepreneurs across Africa take their business to the next level and find ways to scale our efforts to help even more businesses going forward,” added Aderemi-Makinde.

Interested and qualified businesses can apply to join the programme at g.co/hustleacademy.

Source : Techeconomy.ng

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TECH DIGEST – Global software giant, Microsoft has responded to federal government’s desires to digitally transform operations and the economy of the country. The company is systematically entrenching itself at the heart of the digital transformation plans, just as it has concluded plans to introduce its Dynamic 365 business central solutions in Nigeria, Kenya and a few other African countries.

Nigeria hinges its quest for a digitally transformed economy on two policy frameworks, the National Digital Economy Policy and Strategy (2020-2030) and Nigeria National Broadband Plan (2020-2025) launched in November 2019 and March 2020 respectively.

For the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, which champions this transformation, the two policies will provide the framework for digital-led growth strategy for the Nigerian economy. It means that relevant government agencies will develop IT-based networks that will provide network connectivity to its ministries and agencies.

However, corporate organisations in the business ecosystem are also expected to drive a more ambitious vision of taking the sector to a higher level.

For instance, with digital transformation now a necessity, small and medium-sized businesses are seeking cost-effective, streamlined systems that will make their transition seamless. That is where companies like Microsoft come in.

Fortunately, the software giant says it is dedicated to enabling digitalisation across the Middle East and Africa. Taking a first shot at this promise, the company is moving its cloud-based business management solution, Dynamics 365 Business Central, to Nigeria, Kenya, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon beginning this month.

Dynamics 365 Business Central helps small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) connect their financials, sales, service, and operations to streamline business processes and improve customer interactions.

Regional Business Applications Director for Microsoft MEA Emerging Markets, Maher Al-Khaiyat, explains that when this happens, multiple, disconnected systems are now easily combined under one secure, centralised application.

Dynamics 365 Business Central is said to boost efficiency through automated tasks and workflows all from within familiar Office tools like Outlook, Word, and Excel. It helps businesses to have an end-to-end view of their operations, with built-in intelligence when and where they need it.

The application is easy to tailor and extend to meet unique business or industry-specific needs. By putting flexibility at the core of business, Dynamics 365 Business Central enables businesses to start quickly, grow at their own pace, and adapt in real time. That makes it the ideal solution for SMBs.

SMBs account for over 90 percent of all businesses in Kenya, Nigeria, Tunisia, Morocco, Algeria, and Lebanon, where Dynamics 365 Business Central will launch. SMBs across these markets will be empowered to accelerate the digital transformation of their own business processes using solution.

According to Khaiyat, SMBs can bring people, processes, and data together to manage their business end-to-end, instead of juggling standalone systems that disrupt business flow. With previously disconnected systems now brought together, tasks like connecting workflows across sales and accounting to automatically track cash flow are made effortless.

He said: “Microsoft’s unique ability to deliver the depth of integrated business applications necessary, alongside fully integrated analytics, productivity, and IoT solutions at cloud efficiency, and scale, drives the success of its Dynamics 365 Business Central solution”. Dynamics 365 Business Central integrate easily with applications like payroll, banking apps, or custom APIs, with the same consistent and secure experience across devices, from laptops to phones, no matter where teams are accessing the application from.

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Tech Digest – As part of its continued commitment and ongoing investment in Africa, Facebook has announced it will be opening an office in Lagos, Nigeria – its second office on the African continent.
Aimed at supporting the entire Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, the office is expected to become operational in H2 2021 and will be the first on the continent to house a team of expert engineers building for the future of Africa and beyond.
Facebook’s office will be home to various teams servicing the continent from across the business, including Sales, Partnerships, Policy, Communications as well as Engineers.
Commenting, Facebook’s Head of New Product Experimentation, Ime Archibong said: “The opening of our new office in Lagos, Nigeria presents new and exciting opportunities in digital innovations to be developed from the continent and taken to the rest of the world. All across Africa we’re seeing immense talent in the tech ecosystem, and I’m proud that with the upcoming opening of our new office, we’ll be building products for the future of Africa, and the rest of the world, with Africans at the helm. We look forward to contributing further to the African tech ecosystem.”

The investment of the new Facebook office follows the 2018 opening of NG_Hub, its first flagship community hub space in Africa in partnership with CcHub, and the 2019 opening of a Small Business Group (SBG) Operations Centre in Lagos, in partnership with Teleperformance. Providing outsourced support to all English-speaking advertisers across SSA, the SBG office supports Small Medium Businesses (SMBs) through its Advocacy, Community & Education (ACE) programme, as well as its Marketing Expert sales programmes – all aimed at enabling SMBs to accelerate the growth and development of their businesses.

Facebook’s Director of Public Policy, Africa, Kojo Boakye, said: “Our new office in Nigeria presents an important milestone which further reinforces our ongoing commitment to the region. “Our mission in Africa is no different to elsewhere in the world – to build community and bring the world closer together, and I’m excited about the possibilities that this will create, not just in Nigeria, but across Africa.”

Since the opening of its first office in 2015, Facebook has made a number of investments across the continent, aimed at supporting and growing the tech ecosystem, expanding and providing reliable connectivity infrastructures and helping businesses to grow locally, regionally and globally.

This includes the recent rollout of its SMB Grants programme in Nigeria and South Africa, aimed at supporting over 900 businesses by providing a combination of cash and ad credits to help small businesses as they rebuild from COVID.

The development of 2Africa, the world’s largest subsea cable project that will deliver much needed internet capacity and reliability across large parts of Africa, as well as its ongoing training programmes across the continent which support various communities including students, SMBs, digital creatives, female entrepreneurs, start-up’s and developers.

Regional Director, Facebook Africa, Nunu Ntshingila, said: “We’re delighted to be announcing our new office in Nigeria. Five years on from opening our first office on the continent in Johannesburg, South Africa, we’re continuing to invest in and support local talent, as well as the various communities that use our platforms. The office in Lagos will also be key in helping to expand how we service our clients across the continent.”

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