Kenyan cloud computing firm, Truehost recently launched in Lagos, Nigeria with the mission to empower people via cloud computing. Innovation Village caught up with Jacob Mugendi, the Team Leader for Truehost who gave us an indepth insight into what Truehost is all about, the journey so far into the Nigerian market, an overview of the African startup ecosystem and of course some nuggets for aspiring entrepreneurs in Africa.
Can we meet you and what year was Truehost launched?
Truehost Cloud was founded in the year 2016 by David Murimi, who is now the CEO of Ryanada Limited. I work as the CEO (formally), or the Team Leader (Internally) of Truehost Cloud.
What is Truehost all about and what does it have to offer?
Our mission is to empower people via Cloud Computing. Everything we do revolves around this, which includes: providing affordable and reliable web hosting service, offering cheap domain registration services, dedicated and virtual servers, secure email hosting services, cybersecurity tools such as SSL certificates and cloud services licenses and such as cPanel.
What motivated the setting up of Truehost?
Ryanada Limited had been in the business of offering software as a service, targeting the financial sector. This required stable cloud services, and a lot of online support to our clients. We realized that we could not get the same support as we were offering our clients, and we had become pretty good in handling cloud platforms. This prompted us to venture into cloud computing as a business, as opposed to as a user.
How does Truehost work for those with plans to engage your services?
Truehost Cloud offers services on subscription model. This means you buy domains or lease hosting space or a cloud server, and pay monthly or annually, depending on your plan. The services can be accessed online from our website www.truehost.com.ng
Recently Truehost launched in Nigeria, what is unique about the services it has to offer with the competitions already on ground?
Truehost is unique in the sense that we are not just out here to become a unicorn brand, but to EMPOWER people. This is why we have some very great products unmatched elsewhere. Picture this: we offer free hosting which can handle most websites, secure all websites with free SSL certificates, we offer 24/7/365 support via chat and on phone. We know developers work and move faster when they are supported, and so we are there to help them build their brands.
What informed the choice of Nigeria for Truehost with the negative tales flying around about the harsh investment clime?
Nigeria is a big market, and Lagos is the biggest city in Africa. We think anyone who is doing serious business in Africa, that is targeting the masses, must come to Lagos and have their resilience put to test. If you make it here, you can make it anywhere else. The roughest seas produce the best sailors!
What are the challenges encountered so far?
One of the main challenges is the cost of hosting locally in Nigeria. The cost of colocation is high, and this makes it very expensive to host locally, as opposed to overseas. We believe that this is the reason why thousands of Nigerian websites are hosted in Europe and the US, which not only leads to high latency, but also loss of revenue for the government.
Can you give us an insight into what traction has been like since the launch in Nigeria?
We already have over 1000 services from Nigeria running on Truehost Cloud. This is a good number for one month, considering we are a new brand here. However, our aim is to grow this to 20 million services in the next one year. Quite a task.
How does the tech startup ecosystem in Kenya compare with that in Nigeria?
Kenyan and Nigerian start up ecosystems are very similar. We have skills, hunger and expertise that support the vibrant ecosystems. We see many startups spring up from here, more than from other countries in Africa, and there are various platforms such as incubation hubs to support startups.
Kenya is fast becoming the capital of tech hubs and startups in Africa, what can you say is responsible for this?
Nairobi is a regional hub for many well-known multinational companies, has an abundant supply of skills and talents, has enabling platforms such as incubation hubs and affordable internet, and faces acute shortage of jobs and opportunities for young people. This combination of necessity, opportunity and exposure is what drives innovation, and consequently startups. The exposure part is very important, and I think this is what we should be exporting to our youths all over Africa, because once Kenyans see M-PESA start here and being adopted in other parts of the world, they get to believe that they can also create more solutions for the global stage.
What do you have to say about the evolving African startup ecosystem?
Africa is on the move, and although there are many barriers, I think demographics are in our favor, with 60% of the population being under 25. This means we need to keep coming up with solutions to suit our needs, and we have a large resource pool. Today, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Egypt are the leading countries in terms of startups, and many other countries are catching up. Three observations:
One thing I would encourage is the need to ‘think African.’ We are unique, and we need unique solutions to our problems. This is a big ‘gap’ for innovation.
Second, we need to learn how to scale beyond the continent. This is something we can learn from countries such as Israel, which have learnt how to focus on the world, not just their backyard.
Third, we need a more robust environment, with support from governments, industries, and learning institutions. We have seen cases where governments come up with policies that hinder innovation, schools offering courses that do not suit the environment today, and lack of funding and incubation hubs that allow startups to thrive.
What are the future plans for Truehost?
Our target is to serve the global market. We are building up a resilient platform that can compete globally, and I believe the Cloud service provider who dominates the African market is better placed to take over the world. This is because we have more challenges and barriers here, such as lower purchasing power and high cost of hosting, but still demand high level of service that are offered elsewhere.
