Nigeria’s Lagos-based Wennovation Hub has announced it has expanded its operations to Ibadan, a major city in southwestern Nigeria. Wole Odetayo, Executive Partner at Wennovation Hub said the decision to launch in Ibadan.
Explaining why they chose to Ibadan, he said a number of factors led to the decision to expand from Lagos to Ibadan.
“There is about a dozen higher institutions in Ibadan, and quite a lot of people live in Ibadan. Ibadan is geographically large compared to other parts of the country. There is a growing need in Ibadan to think differently and to solve problems differently. There are enough reasons to come to Ibadan to support the existing startup ecosystem in the city,” Odetayo said.
He said he has also been encouraged by startups in the city.
“I have a high level understanding of an existing ecosystem in the metropolis. The few startups that I’ve met in Ibadan have encouraged me in many ways. My first experience was in 2011 when we partnered with MIT during which African MIT students came to University of Ibadan and taught the students how to write codes. We came in and taught them the business aspects. The startups that came out of the experience were amazing,” he said.
