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Tag: hydrogen

  • Expert urges startups on partnership

    Expert urges startups on partnership

    The Chief Technology Officer, Hydrogen, Mr Emeka Awagu, has urged startups to partner with bigger firms so as to learn better and be sustainable in future.

    He also urged them to be mindful of the way they spend when they get funding as frivolous spending would affect the running of the company.

     Speaking in Lagos at The Catalyst, a startup programme, with the theme: ‘’Adapting Fintech Business Models to Economic Climes: Flexibility, Agility and Customer-Centricity’’ hosted by Hydrogen and Cocreation Hub (CcHub), Yaba, he said a lot of things are happening in the world, adding that the equity investment returns is about to burst. According to him, in Africa, currencies have been falling in value relative to the dollar.

    According to him, with forex, the attractiveness of the continent to venture capital has waned. He advised startups to look at their cost and leverage local alternatives.

    Awagu urged the startups to research and know what their target markets wanted, as that would help to create tailored-made product for them.

    ‘’Your value preposition should be unique, solving compelling problems, for you to be able to succeed and get investors,’’ Awagu said.

    Read Also: Guinea Insurance strengthens partnership with brokers in South south

    Also speaking on the occasion, Group Director, Digital Transformation, Asset & Resource Management Holding Company (ARM HoldCo), Mr Ina Alogwu, blamed foreign exchange (forex) rate for misfortunes of startup’s in the country. He said the development is not allowing them from attract investment for their business.

    Alogwu said due to the depreciation of the naira against the dollar, Nigerian startups had become unattractive for angel investors.

    According to him, the source of funding is drying, hence, startups need to be more convincing to attract investment. ‘’The African factor where over the last two years, the naira has actually been depreciating against the dollar, and even if the Venture Capitals (VCs) offshore invest, they recoup their investments in dollars as well.

    ‘’So when the company invest in you and they do a valuation in dollars, when it is time for them to exit, four, five, six years down the line, they are hoping to be able to get a return in dollars.

    ‘’Now the problem of naira depreciation affects your valuation as well. Valuation is a scientific methodology of coming up with the value of the company so that an investment can happen.

    ‘’Typically, when you are calculating the valuation of the startup operating in Nigeria, where their revenue is in Nigerian Naira, they have to do the equivalent conversion into dollars to see what it amounts to.

    ‘’The more the naira devalued against the dollar, they lower the valuation of the company, which will deter the investor from funding such startup,’’ he said.

    He said one way that a startup could get investment/funding was to expand their operations beyond Nigeria, because that then changes the dynamics around how that company is valued.

    He urged startups to have Advisory Board that would be able to direct them on way to take.

  • Hydrogen Payment Services, Co Creation Hub partner on risks for startups

    Hydrogen Payment Services, Co Creation Hub partner on risks for startups

    Hydrogen Payment Services and  Co Creation Hub (CcHub) have partnered , to host the latest edition of the Catalyst workshop in Lagos.

    The discourse addressed the potential risks and opportunities for startups and saw experts advise participants on the need to develop resilient business models that would scale across different economic climes.

    Moderated by  Digital Marketing Manager, Hydrogen, Miracle Ezechi, the panel session addressed dominant issues about the theme: ‘Adapting Fintech Business Models to Economic Climes: Flexibility, Agility and Customer-centricity’. 

    Chief Technology Officer, Hydrogen, Emeka Awagu, who spoke as a panellist, addressed the issue of customer-centricity, which according to him, is key to Fintech growth. He advised startups to listen to customer demands and understand their needs in order to develop the right solutions that will lead to long term market viability.

    “Innovation is key for startup growth. However, understanding customers’ needs and change in behaviour will help any startup to innovate better. Startups must be flexible and agile to develop solutions with high interoperability and processing speed, and they must be ready to learn from startups that have failed,” Awagu said.

    Read Also: FG seeks upscaling of hydrogen production for utilization

    With an estimated 61.07 percent of startups failing, the participants stressed the need for prudence. “Statistically, a staggering number of startups fail, often due to financial mismanagement. Hence, founders must prioritise understanding and maintaining a healthy the Cost-to-Earnings ratio. It is not just a number, but a pivotal indicator of a company’s financial health as well as being a key attractiveness determinant for investors,” Awagu added.

    On his part, the Group Director, Digital Transformation, ARM HOLDCO, Ina Alogwu, who also spoke as a panellist at the session, stressed the need for startups to develop sustainable products and solutions that will help them remain competitive in an environment that is faced with harsh economic realities.

    “Many startup businesses fail within their first five years, however upcoming startups should not be discouraged, rather develop a culture that will encourage them to understand the reasons for failure and learn from mistakes. Startups should not be too rigid with their solutions and should be ready to accept changes that will drive innovation,” Alogwu stated.

    Hydrogen will be deepening its economic impact series with a webinar planned for Thursday, April 25, even as businesses across Africa continue to face an array of challenges, ranging from inflation and currency fluctuations to rising operating costs. Themed ‘Navigating Economic Challenges: Strategies for Sustainable Growth,’ the webinar will delve into key areas critical for businesses to not only survive but thrive in the face of economic adversity.

  • FG seeks upscaling of hydrogen production for utilization

    FG seeks upscaling of hydrogen production for utilization

    The federal government has urged technical partners to come up with measures on how to upscale the production of hydrogen for utilization in Nigeria.

    Hydrogen is a green energy that is highly valuable for fueling in the transport sector and also for electricity generation. Besides, it is used in the production of fertilizer.

    Energy Commission of Nigeria (ECN), Director General, Abdullahi Mustapha, who made the call, revealed that the major barrier to the utilization of hydrogen is how to upscale its production.

    He spoke  in Abuja at an event tagged: “Kick off Meeting/Stakeholders’ Interaction on the Nigeria 4H2 Project Titled “A Critical Analysis of the Potentials, Infrastructure and Other Enabling Framework Conditions For Green Hydrogen to Fertilizer Production in Nigeria.”

    He said: “The problem we are facing in the utilization of hydrogen department  today is how we can upscale the production of hydrogen. It is not just the utilization but how we can produce it.

    “How are we producing, that is the challenge we are having today. 

    The technical partners we have here should teach us how we can produce more hydrogen for utilization.”

    Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Gas), Hon. Ekperikpe Ekpo, said while Nigeria continued to harness its oil and gas resources, it remains open to exploring opportunities in hydrogen.

    According to the minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ambassador Nicholas Ella, Nigeria, endowed with rich oil and gas infrastructure, occupies a unique position to leverage its expertise and infrastructure in transitioning towards  its hydrogen potential.

    Ekpo noted: “This prospect for synergy between conventional and sustainable energy is vast, and we must seize this opportunity to diversify our energy portfolio.”

    He described the workshop as a nexus for collaboration, where industry leaders, policymakers , and innovators converge to carve a sustainable path forward.

    The minister urged the stakeholders to explore the delicate balance between maintaining the resilience of the nation’s oil and gas sector and fostering the growth of green technologies.

    Speaking, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Uche Nnaji, explained that green hydrogen results from splitting water molecules into Hydrogen and Oxygen using electricity generated from renewable sources. 

    According to him, it offers excellent potential to address the detrimental impacts of climate change occasioned by the release of greenhouse gases from fossil fuels into the environment while also serving as viable and sustainable pathways for alternative energy generation, industrial development, environmentally friendly transport fuel, methanol production, fertilizer production among other economic uses.

    Nnaji noted that the global demand for hydrogen will likely climax at about 700 million metric tons (MT) by the year 2050, with annual hydrogen production projected to increase by 9.2% annually until 2030. 

    He said: “Therefore, there is no better time for Nigeria to plug into this opportunity to avoid playing catch-up with the Western world. As a country, Nigeria must play a critical and leading role in the global energy transition.

    “Nigeria enjoys abundant sunshine, with an average of 11 hours of sun daily. Hence, Nigeria has immense solar radiation potential to power electrolyzers for hydrogen production. This potential makes Nigeria a critical stakeholder in the world energy transition.

    “The application of green hydrogen in fertilizer production is fast gaining attention globally. Ammonia, made from hydrogen, is also an input in urea fertilizer. This opportunity presents a significant step towards sustainable agriculture. Ammonia, synthesized from green hydrogen and nitrogen from the air, provides an eco-friendly alternative to conventional fertilizers.

    “Reducing reliance on fossil fuels and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions can safeguard our environment while ensuring food security for future generations.

    “The concerted efforts of scientists, engineers, policymakers, and industries are necessary to achieve the tall vision of a net zero carbon environment and sustainable agriculture.

    “Nigeria is one of the world’s leading crude oil producers, accounting for over 50% of its GDP.”

    According to him, an essential goal of the NIGERIA4H2 Project is to critically analyze the potentials, infrastructure and other enabling framework conditions for Green hydrogen to fertilizer production in Nigeria.

    The project, said Nnaji, which the German Government supports through the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), will undoubtedly contribute immensely to the diversification strategy of the Federal Government towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.

    The minister said: “The great importance placed on considering different pathways to industrializing Nigeria accounts for the presence of critical Ministers/Ministries in this event. The Ministers/Ministries of Agriculture and Food Security, Petroleum Resources (Gas), Water Resources and Sanitation, Environment, Power, Trade and Industries, Budget and National Planning and the Office of the Special Adviser to the President on Energy are either here or very strongly represented.

    “With our Ministry’s renewed drive to attract and mainstream frontier technology that will drive industrial growth and propel Nigeria toward becoming a One-trillion- dollar economy, we must explore new sources and advance in Science and Technology. 

    “Thus, we are partnering with the consortia as a service ministry to connect all stakeholders in the hydrogen sector’s upstream, midstream, and downstream sectors. 

    “The Ministry intends to facilitate an environment for co- development of a national policy framework for Green Hydrogen by all stakeholders. This will ensure the sector’s rapid, robust, and all-inclusive development.

    “I believe at the end of this meeting, all the stakeholders would have jointly identified and situated the expected players in the emergent hydrogen industry value chain in Nigeria, as well as the critical technical, environmental and policy framework for the exploitation of the Green Hydrogen potential of Nigeria.”