Amazon Rings a Big Business Opportunity in Nigeria
You probably know this as one of the biggest latent business opportunities in Nigeria: the provision of smart security cameras. With security challenges everywhere, it is a slam dunk business idea. Unfortunately, the problem is Nigeria. We are yet to have the right broadband connectivity and pricing model. With the weak purchasing power of the citizens, piping videos and images on smartphones in the name of security would be an illusion. Just getting calls across require so much prayers, good luck with videos.
But Amazon is lucky: it has picked another company, Ring. Ring is an internet-connected home security company. Now, it would take the heat to Nest Cam which Google now runs.
Amazon has cornered the purse, now it is working to take over the home. According to the ecommerce giant, buying Ring is to help customers keep their homes "safe and secure." You cannot argue with that.
Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 16 (Feb 10 – May 3, 2025) opens registrations; register today for early bird discounts.
Tekedia AI in Business Masterclass opens registrations here.
Join Tekedia Capital Syndicate and invest in Africa’s finest startups here.
Nigerian time would come: this is a business model that makes sense with our security challenges. Unfortunately, executing at this time would be nearly impossible at consumer level.
Two major challenges: purchasing power and maintenance culture. For now, we are not good at any. Even those that managed to install simple CCTV cameras can't even maintain them, or even check whether the recorders are still recording. Many things here are more or less for aesthetics, and not necessarily to do any decent job.
I know what goes on in that market segment, even those who can afford the cameras are still not able to put them to better use; both public and private ones. Maybe we can become more serious in the future, coupled with citizens with great deal of awareness; then we can take a second look at what Amazon/Ring is saying.
