Business development expert and founder of the Valentine Ozigbo Foundation, Valentine Ozigbo said, from data available, Nigeria is not doing well in the area of innovative research, as the 2021 Global Innovation Index created by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) ranks Nigeria as number 118 out of 132 economies, below South Africa, Kenya, and Tanzania lead.
He also pointed at another worrisome statistic that showed Nigeria filed meagrely 425 patents in 2020, and between 2010 and 2020, 1,702 patents, figures he said were way behind what other countries filed. Ozigbo said though Nigeria filed 425 patents did not mean all the patents were approved, noting that there is a difference between filed and approved.
Valentine Ozigbo spoke at the NCC Roundtable on ‘The Path from Innovative Research to Commercialisation of Viable Prototypes, ‘ held in Lagos.
Ozigbo’s paper focused more on the business process, offering insights and principles, and values of a business.
He gave guideposts on what to watch out for what you should take seriously, mentioned practical business tools, and showed the way in terms of funding, marketing, branding, business management, strategy, and so on.
He defines innovative research as the search for new business methods, strategic techniques, and solutions to solve today’s pressing problems. In the context we are discussing, it is the process of inventing new products or solutions that solve a problem uniquely.
Ozigbo noted that Nigerian universities, 91 of them publicly run – the pinnacle of research and innovation in any society have only each filed 19 patents in 10 years.
The world, he says, has left Nigeria, as the country is not given to problem-solving or original thinking.
“We need to step up our game in the area of innovation. We need to catch up with the rest of the world. I believe that we can catch up and overtake them, but specific radical steps need to be taken.
“There are some bright spots, however. One of them is Innov8 Hub, an innovation hub where you can walk in with your thoughts, and brilliant young professionals will work on it and produce a final prototype for you.
He said there are three approaches to innovation: The needs-based Approach, the Seeds-based Approach – and the accelerated Innovation Approach.
Ozigbo argues that Nigeria needs a Radical Innovation Approach that considers all three protocols above and even some more because there are no boundaries in thinking.
He said there are several questions to ask to establish that you have a viable prototype, such as what problem does this solve, how does it solve that problem, and is there a market for this?
Proposing several tips for establishing a viable innovative business prototype Ozigbo said, “Typically before we go on a journey, we know where we are going. When you left your home this morning, you had a destination – your office or this function. It is the same with the journey to commercialising an idea. There must be a destination.
“You can’t just say, “I have invented this product, and I want to sell it.” You have to sit down and give your idea and purpose some thinking. Draw up a road map to your destination.
“Where are you going with this? What do you want to achieve? How do you want the world to be impacted by your actions? What is your grand vision for your endeavour? How will lives change because of what you are doing”?
He said an idea without money is worthless, saying that you need resources for any business venture, any venture, in fact, and you need to devise a plan to raise the money you need to set up the business or the systems and employ the talent to bring the vision to life.
“There are two aspects to a business’s money; getting the funding is one of them, and the second is managing the money in the business.
“You will need to raise the money to start your business which is called capital. Then it would help if you learned to manage the money to ensure that you are optimising the investment, not leaving loopholes for losses or wastages and that your venture never runs out of money – ie, cash flow and liquidity management.”
