👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Free Money

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On the second day of Uganda’s deep tech conference, I had time for one-on-one conversations with some interesting people from MIT and AfricInvest. But first, a quick rundown of what we got up to on day two.

The format of the conference—a few panels and group conversations to point out the challenges and solutions for Uganda—remained the same, but the focus shifted to stakeholders like academia and investors. 

Deep tech relies a lot on research making researchers at top universities key stakeholders. Why aren’t some of Uganda’s brightest and best turning their research ideas into commercial opportunities? 

To hear Khaled Ben Jilani, a Senior Partner at AfricInvest, tell it, researchers must overcome considerable bottlenecks to turn these ideas into commercial opportunities. First, there’s the question of who owns the intellectual property (IP) of the ideas they come up with. Then, there’s the more practical concern that many academics aren’t entrepreneurs and may not be natural risk takers. 

For Jilani, the government has to lower some of these barriers, considering that even with the right funding and support, innovations in deep tech can be a long game. 

These conversations are critical because all parties—government, investors, founders, and academics—are present. They can come away from all this having agreed on a central source of truth. 

For Kristy Morse, an MIT representative, this engagement can solve the trust problem for all stakeholders. “One relevant solution is partnerships and collaboration.”

Founders, who are often distrustful of regulators and regulators who sometimes view innovation with skepticism can use this to find common ground. Next up: presenting a clear plan to the government on Wednesday. See you then!

Seplat, the Nigerian energy supplier, will complete its purchase of Exxon’s oil and gas assets in Nigeria in “a matter of days.”

The approval, which comes two years after its initial announcement, will alleviate Nigeria’s fuel scarcity and bolster its economy by increasing the availability of crude oil for domestic refineries and the demand for imported fuel. 

Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, has consistently fallen short of its OPEC production targets due to years of underinvestment in the oil industry—a critical driver of economic growth and government revenue.

The country produced 1.48 million barrels of crude per day, slightly below its OPEC quota of 1.5 million barrels. That deficit could be filled by Seplat, as the oil company has previously stated that the deal would almost quadruple its oil output to more than 130,000 barrels per day. 

The sale could also help mitigate Nigeria’s age-long fuel scarcity issues as Dangote’s refinery becomes a possible source of fuel for the country. Exxon’s sale could lead to a more stable and abundant supply of petroleum products domestically, reducing dependence on imports and easing fuel shortages. This, in turn, could stabilise fuel prices and mitigate the cost-of-living crisis affecting many Nigerians.

The Tinubu administration, which is hungry for quick wins, will count the sale as a win especially since the President’s economic reforms have contributed to a cost-of-living crisis. While the President can claim that since taking office in May 2023, those economic reforms have attracted more than $30 billion in foreign direct investment, the average Nigerian will only count this as a win if it can immediately impact their life.

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