IT’S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD, because @ZooeyDeschanel and @katyperry said so!!!!

Not the end of the World: For entrepreneurs who’ve built businesses back home in Africa

It is a business opportunity

When Safra Catz, CEO of technology giant Oracle, is asked about the current crisis in world markets she refuses to get excited. “The current crisis was predictable. This is not the big fall I experienced in the past. I already went through the internet bubble burst in 2000, the banking crisis in 2008, and we had our own small crisis in March 2020, with the market crash due to the pandemic, and then we came back,” she said.

Catz adds that “as soon as interest rates started to rise and inflation began to climb, the market began to react, but this is not the end of the world – this is an opportunity. This time it hurts everyone, and stocks collapse every night. Is this an overreaction? It depends on the stock. There were stocks that were too high and, in such situations, there are wonderful opportunities, such as when we acquired Sun Microsystems in 2009.”

Although Catz, who was born in Israel (the interview with her was conducted in English and fluent Hebrew), believes that the new market that is developing today will also have opportunities, she is reluctant to make hasty decisions. “I think it’s too early to make decisions. There are opportunities but no one is used to the new value of the companies,” said Catz. “The question is whether the company can survive or is it burning its cash.”

Catz, a native of Holon, immigrated to the United States with her parents when she was young and serves as CEO of the American software giant, founded by Larry Ellison, 2019, after serving as co-CEO in 2014.

A giant tech firm like oracle does not only company think about the opportunity but also startup companies. These two African entrepreneurs all studied or worked in the United States but recognized the business opportunities back home in the tech industry.

Sailing uncharted waters in Nigeria
Esigie Aguele had a comfortable life working as a senior manager for a technology company in Washington, DC. After spending almost two decades in the US, Aguele was looking for an opportunity to return to his country of birth, Nigeria. “I was inspired to come back to Nigeria because I felt the expertise, I gained in the States would have more impact at home. The society there was more developed, and whatever solution or idea you could come up with was probably already done. In Nigeria, I felt I could bring my experience and knowledge to provide a solution that would help build the economy.”

Aguele went on to co-found VerifyMe Nigeria, a digital identity and verification services company that offers services such as identity, address, and employment verification. Read Esigie Aguele’s Business Growth Story.

Health-tech entrepreneur believes the sector’s untapped potential is ‘incredible’
Adegoke Olubusi is a co-founder of Nigerian-based health-tech company Helium Health, which gives healthcare providers a comprehensive suite of technology solutions dedicated to managing every aspect of healthcare delivery, from electronic medical records and telemedicine to administration and financial management.

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Olubusi moved to the US after completing high school, enrolling at Morgan State University in Maryland for computer science and electrical engineering. In 2014, after he finished his degree, he helped create the communication app KingsChat. Then it was on to Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering where he received his master’s degree in engineering management.

He still remembers the moment the problem statement in healthcare became a business idea. Whilst traveling in Nigeria to research telecommunications technology and connectivity as a possible future venture, Olubusi and one of the co-founders visited the office of the then Speaker of the House of Assembly in Lagos, a doctor by profession. “After listening to our pitch, he said: ‘That is nice and cool, but let me tell you about an even bigger problem that no one wants to take on.’ He then highlighted the pain point of an inefficient healthcare system where it was impossible to find and trace medical records for patients.” Read Adegoke Olubusi’s Business Growth Story.

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