Talent City to develop a cutting-edge innovation community in Alaro

Talent City was founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, who thinks Africa is the emerging giant tech hub of the world. The startup creates an ecosystem that enables innovative startups to thrive, attracting tech and IT talents from around the world.

In 2020, the Tech Entrepreneur announced he will build charter cities in sub-Saharan Africa that will be focused on creating technology-enabled jobs. These cites, according to Aboyeji, will be managed within a free trade zone with its own productivity-focused, entrepreneurial-centred regulations and bylaws.

The Tech Entrepreneur now sees his dream coming to fruition and he plans to officially launch the first ever Talent City in a city called Alaro, on the Nigerian soil.

This Talent City at Alaro will house 1,000 tech professionals and 2,500 remote workers, “featuring a central co-working campus along with a variety of housing options designed for a flexible remote-friendly lifestyle of the future”. The startup, however, claims that these figures are subject to change.

The survey plan positions Alaro to be on a 2,000-hectare mixed-income, city-scale development with homes, offices, schools, healthcare facilities, hotels, entertainment and 150 hectares (370 acres) of parks and open spaces. Aboyeji and his team were able to acquire a 72,000 sqm plot in Alaro at the Lekki Free Zone to kick off this project.

Talent City launch this initiative with partners, Luqman Edu and Coco Liu. By providing infrastructure the project will solve the following major problems for tech companies; 

1). Lack of constant power and high-speed internet;
2). Lack of favorable policies that enable innovation;
3). Lack of like-minded community of people who live and work in proximity to each other.

Aboyeji’s charter city initiative has attracted some investors like Pronomos, Charter Cities Institute, Ventures Platform and LoftyInc. Talent City has raised more than $13 million for its Lagos project, and the founder says its still raising funds. The first construction phase is set to begin by May this year, with some structures completed by the end of 2023.

“We can’t build a $1.4 billion industry in thin air. I mean, it sounds romantic. And so people want to try it. And I’ve been one of those advocates of attempting it. But the ecosystem must have an address,” said Aboyeji, who referenced a trip to Israel as an influential factor in starting Talent City.