By 2050, Nigeria will become the 3rd most populous country in the world. This is as reported by the United Nations. It is expected that the population will be in excess of 300 million.
This perhaps means that Nigeria is about to become a field for untapped potentials. Ordinarily by 2020, it is expected that the population will soar to about 200 million.
Any smart entrepreneur should already begin to imagine the number of potentials and opportunities that this population forecast may bring.
Truth is, as the population continues to grow, the demand for product and services also soar. It’s no rocket science that Dangote and the Coscharis groups are heavily investing in rice production. While it is true that there would be the need for more brown-collar jobs, the place of technology cannot be over-emphasized.
While the demand for non-professional services may increase, there will still be the need to get products and services to people in a more efficient and simplified manner. Of course, production may still require human labour, there still requires a means to connect the producers to the consumers.
This is where tech startups come into play. It is expected that technology will create the value chain between producers and consumers. The most remarkable feature that may drive the growth of intending startups would be the ‘home-grown’ factor.
Perhaps due to the population demographics, China would be a very good example. Between 2014 and 2016, investors poured about $77 billion into start ups in China and the results have been remarkable. One of the notable results is having the home grown Didi Chuxing, a ride-hailing firm that chased America’s Uber away from China. The company has also overshadowed companies like Alibaba. Alibaba needs no introduction.
Currently, China startups are estimated at about $350billion and there is a correlation between the growing population and the need to provide products and services for the rising population. Other factors that are allowing these startup are the inability of government to run enterprises, healthy competitions between startups  and the aggressive nature of entrepreneurs to expand their business.
Services that most of these startups provide range from ride sharing, healthcare, educational services, marketing, soft professional services to online shopping portals.
These are sectors that are yet to be fully developed in Nigeria and while the population increases, the need for these services will also increase therefore the need for entrepreneurs to engage themselves more.
