Nigeria’s startup battlefield: Can Spur Nation turn tide against high failure rates?

With a growing population of more than 200 million, Africa’s largest economy guarantees  a broad spectrum of consumers for startups. 

Despite this promise, 2023 saw the collapse of eight Nigeria-based startups, the highest shutdown across Africa, according to Nairametrics. The monumental collapse of startups has raised concerns about the country’s economic environment. 

According to a joint report by Weetracker and Green Tea Capital Africa Foundation, the rate of startup failure in Nigeria is 61.07 percent, which also ranks as the highest among the top three tech ecosystems and investment destinations in Africa.

Concerns such as this motivated Adeniji Lois, an entrepreneur now catering to Nigeria’s burgeoning startups. As an undergraduate studying agricultural economics, Lois was indecisive as to what career path to follow. As her mind wandered across interests, Adeniji settled on media and the digital economy. 

An idea soon popped into her mind, something she would nurture in the years to come. With her rich skill set in digital media, Adeniji thought about how to help startups solve their corporate troubles and, in part, reduce their risk of shutting down. 

“We started as Spur Nation magazine. And what it was about was to be a compendium of people’s problems and experiences in business so that people reading across different spaces can see that they’re not alone in this kind of problem,” she said. 

Six years later,  Adeniji’s organization expanded into a group of agencies now called Spur Nation Group. Each agency within the group focuses on individual areas of expertise, from human resources and public relations to digital communications and indirect marketing. On the whole, Spur Nation Group provides comprehensive solutions that address the teething troubles of Nigerian startups, streamlining the organisation’s goal. only on building their products, while they ensure that the startups have a positive look and reach their desired audience. 

With her 15 staff members, Spur Nation comprises six agencies: Worknet, Spur Nation Media, Ingrid, Spur Nation Publishing, Parcel Perfect and Skill Spring Agency. Through leveraging the collective expertise of the different agencies, the group empowers startups to overcome challenges, achieve growth, and thrive in their respective industries.  

Speaking about the numerous achievements of the Spur Nation group, she said, “One of our proudest moments last year was handling a campaign for Mami Wata.” ‘Mami Wata’ is a Nigerian fantasy thriller  film directed by C.J. Obasi that premiered at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.

According to Adeniji, Spur Nation has helped more than 100 startups in Africa survive through its rough terrain. 80% of businesses under Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in Africa fail within the first five years of their existence, according to a report by Kippa, a fintech company.

Amidst the success of her work, Adeniji admitted to experiencing stereotypes in her daily encounters. As she said, “Imagine a room with several people discussing business and issues surrounding it. And I receive derogatory comments or body language because I am speaking from my expertise and knowledge bank because I am female.”

She also mentioned receiving advances from many of the male clients she encounters in her line of work. Yet Adeniji acknowledged that this was an experience common for many career women. 

Spur Nation has a target of expanding its reach to 500, 000 startups across Africa, with plans to  incorporate its offices in Rwanda and Ghana. While Adeniji “would like to be on Forbes as an influential businesswoman,” she also dreams of getting married to a pastor.