Any entrepreneur in Nigeria faces high operating costs brought on by the country’s unstable power supply, shaky internet and a fluctuating currency. Undaunted, Nigeria’s tech startups have proliferated, kick-starting a young but thriving tech scene that has earned Lagos’ colonial-era Yaba neighborhood — where many have their offices — the nickname “Yabacon Valley.”

But the ecosystem needed to support these new ventures has yet to mature, say investors and entrepreneurs, in addition to the physical infrastructure challenges. At stake is the opportunity to build the next “unicorn” (a startup valued at $1 billion) in a country that in just over three decades is projected to surpass the U.S. in terms of population, reaching 400 million people by 2050.

 

“Nigeria is set to double [in population],” says Kola Aina, founding partner at venture capital firm Ventures Platform. “It won’t be government or grants that will solve Africa’s problems. Entrepreneurs will drive the scale and scope of change.”

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A cohort of Africa-focused investors is now working to build the financial support needed to nurture startups created to address rising demand for adequate health care, education and an improved food supply.

“In sub-Saharan Africa, you never really saw true venture capital — real risk-taking,” says Eghosa Omoigui, founder of EchoVC, one of Lagos’ first venture capital funds, which launched in 2014. “[Private equity] guys wanted established companies.”

That is in part because smaller startups in their early days struggled to access the resources required to expand. Investment houses are now trying to build pathways for startups to grow to the point where bigger investors would be comfortable allocating larger amounts of capital.

Read more at Ozy.