Business development in Nigeria

Entrepreneurship development in Nigeria

An increase in entrepreneurial activity is fueling the economic momentum of the African continent. Nigeria is one of the forerunners in this development. As a result, a large part (38%) of the more than 12,000 ventures active on our platform is based in Nigeria.

We encourage entrepreneurship development in Nigeria because we believe this is a key driver for development. Our focus thereby lies on providing young startup founders with knowledge on setting up a business. In this process, we provide every entrepreneur with equal access to opportunities. Besides to Nigeria, we do this in a lot of other African countries, for example, Egypt and Somalia.

The content and buildup of our courses


Our courses offer the latest theoretical insights and practical expert advice which are complemented by downloadable tools and templates. As a result, you will receive all the necessary information to get your business thriving and seize opportunities in the growing Nigerian market.



The 4 themes we handle in our free online Startup Academy are:

  1. Start your business
  2. Grow your business
  3. Finance your business
  4. Your legal business

You can choose to either take part in all the courses on entrepreneurship development in Nigeria or to just pick out the parts that are of interest to you. Do you want to start right away?

Free business courses for startup founders

start a business online course

Start your business

The ‘Start your business’ course is aimed at founders who are in the phase of developing ideas and testing … More

  1. Build a great team
    • Finding a co-founder
    • Investor expectations around co-founders
    • Structuring relations with your co-founder
    • Beyond salary: Remuneration options
    • Building a complementary team
  3. Know the target market
    • Get to know your customer
    • Define your target market in ten steps
    • Measure the value of your target market
  5. Product development
    • Lean Startup methodology
    • Product development cycle explained
    • Design thinking
  7. Understand the external environment
    • Assessing the competitive landscape
    • Managing political and regulatory risk
    • Understanding market risk
Growing a business online course

Grow your business

The course on ‘Grow your business’ is for startup founders who are looking to scale their operations when t… More

  1. Marketing and business development
    • How to make sound business development decisions
    • How to expand to other geographic markets
    • How to expand to other industries
  3. Deconstruct the business model
    • The Business Model Canvas
    • An overview of different business models
    • Reasons startups fail and the pivot
  5. Strategic partnerships
    • Building successful corporate partnerships
    • How to do B2B sales
    • The importance of mentors and advisors
  7. Build traction
    • Structuring growth and traction
    • Tips for building traction
    • Growth hacking your way to success
Course Profile Finance your business image of Finance Your Business

Finance your business

The ‘Finance your business’ course is aimed at entrepreneurs who are looking to raise external capita… More

  1. Prepare financials, contracts and legal
    • The investment process
    • Valuations
    • Financial projections
    • Financial projections - Eight tips
  3. Fundraise for the business
    • Into the mind of the equity investor
    • Debt versus equity
    • Types of capital providers
  5. Pitch your business
    • De-risking your startup
    • How to prepare investor pitch deck
    • Tips on presenting in public
    • Questions to expect from investors
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How do we try to accelerate entrepreneurship development in Nigeria?

Entrepreneurship is the activity of setting up a business or multiple businesses, taking on financial risks in the hope it results in profit. VC4A helps Nigerian entrepreneurs in their efforts to set up successful businesses by connecting them to knowledge, investors and market opportunities.

Read more about entrepreneurship development on our page about ventures in Nigeria. Here you can find businesses in Nigeria that are already active.

The diverse content of our free online program

All different aspects of entrepreneurship in Nigeria are handled in our courses. These provide you with the necessary skills to start up and grow your own business. The courses contain different learning methods, which include:

  • Many theoretical introductions focusing on the African startup context
  • Practical advice from experts given in video clips
  • Engaging quizzes to apply your knowledge immediately
  • Helpful downloads, for example, documents and templates