Kickstarting businesses and development in emerging markets
The lab of tomorrow is one of the services for private sector cooperation of the Agency for Business & Economic Development (AWE). AWE operates as part of the business and development network Partners in Transformation.
Partners in Transformation is supported by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) to actively promote and strengthen cooperation with actors in the private sector: companies, trade unions, chambers of commerce, associations
and other interest groups. Partners in Transformation emphasizes the partnership between the private sector and development cooperation, with the shared goal of achieving a social and environmental transformation in BMZ’s partner countries.
The programmes work with companies, trade unions, chambers of commerce, associations and other interest groups.
Find out more at Private sector | BMZ (German only)
📢 Manuel disponibles en français!
Our track record
The lab of tomorrow has been the programme of choice by GIZ projects, the Austrian and the Swiss Development Agencies as well as companies to solve specific development challenges all over the world.
Your opportunities
Learn how you can benefit from the lab of tomorrow programme.
Solve your development challenge
The lab of tomorrow programme activates the private sector to achieve SDG impact. Your advantages of initiating a programme include:
- Let the private sector solve your development challenge – we help you identify unmet needs with business potential.
- As an initiator, you steer the programme and bring in all the people necessary for success.Â
- Benefit from our network and gain access to business partners, development agencies, investors, mentors and policy makers.
- The impact created by the lab of tomorrow programme goes beyond development cooperation project lifespans.
Develop your business in emerging markets
Expand into emerging markets together with new business partners! Your benefits of participating in the programme include:
- Business case sourcing: We identify business opportunities in emerging markets for you to choose from.
- Participant sourcing & matching: We match you with relevant local and international companies in interdisciplinary teams.
- As a team, you co-create a new product or service and benefit from business development coaching.
- Partner network access: you gain access to business partners, investors, mentors and policy makers.
Invest in solutions and support innovations
Gain access to impact investment opportunities in various markets and sectors! Your benefits in supporting our ventures include:
- Be the first to know about investment opportunities in untapped markets.
- You become part of our strong network of innovators and entrepreneurs.
- Receive access to invest in our ventures at different stages. We invite you to pitch sessions, demo days and share our dealbook.
- Bring in companies from your portfolio and offer them interesting business development opportunities.
How it works
Find out how sustainable and profitable business models are created in a lab of tomorrow programme and what’s in it for you.
Challenge in spotlight
Take a glance at our most recent lab of tomorrow business opportunities.
Intercity and last-mile transport services for people and goods in Nigeria
Ready to create impact?
Currently running challenges
Take a look at our currently running challenges and the potential business opportunities they present for you.
Intercity and last-mile transport services for people and goods in Nigeria
This challenge is in phase: Sustainable Business
How might we improve intercity and last-mile transport services for people and goods in Nigeria?
The transport and e-commerce sectors are crucial for economic and social development in Nigeria, and they are currently booming. As of today, intercity transport services in Nigeria have been dominated by private operators. Informal and demand-driven para transit services consisting of minibuses, shared taxis, motorized three-wheelers, and motorcycle taxi are predominant in urban transport. The  17th lab aims to improve the transport of passengers and goods with a focus on digital trade.
Â
01
Understand
Nigeria's e-commerce and online trading market is worth about 13 billion USD today and is expected to rise to 50 billion USD in the next 10 years. Also, the logistics sector has witnesses significant growth with a rise of 140 million USD from 2017 to over 696 million USD in 2018. Both are essential ingredients to enhanced productivity. Transport services, as the backbone of economic growth, must adopt intelligent technologies to meet customer needs. Modern transport services in Nigeria are predominantly demand driven and informal, operated by private operators. Urban transport therefore consists mainly of para transit services such as minibuses, shared taxis, motorised tricycles and motorcycle taxis. These services are characterised by poor fleet quality, inefficiency, low profitability, under-investment, and negative effects on the environment.  Another issue is the lack of transparency, which makes the development of business relations difficult.
The lab of tomorrow #17 aims to tackle these challenges at the intersection of the transport of passengers and goods, with a focus on digital trade. Specifically, e-commerce would profit from alternative means of delivery, more security in payment systems, and stronger cooperation between the e-commerce service providers and delivery services. These tasks require tailor-made solutions which can be provided by the private sector. There is great potential for business development, i.e., in the areas of platform solutions, insurance or logistics, which in turn create employment opportunities, support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and tackle development barriers.Â
Business Opportunities
02
Ideate Solutions
03
Incubate business
5 ventures successfully entered the Incubation Phase.04
Sustainable Business
moniemove
moniemove is a B2B marketplace that enables small and medium-sized logistic service providers in Nigeria to procure their supplies in bulk and hence increase their purchasing power on the market. Furthermore, moniemove’s integration of a secure payment and shipment tracking system allows for a seamless operation of the marketplace as well as high customer satisfaction.Â
efotainer
efotainer (efo meaning vegetables) is a mobile solar-powered refrigeration device, which enables continuous cooling in the process of transporting perishable goods from farm gates to the final destination. Following the motto “Mobile cooling at its best”, this new tool guarantees freshness and a prolonged shelf-life of the produce while at the same time, through real-time monitoring, providing data on the location of the transported goods.Â
Cargolink
Following the motto “More opportunities, Better deliveries”, Cargolink is a digital platform where trusted logistics operators can seamlessly partner on nationwide shipment. The platform connects intercity delivery providers with last-mile carriers to close that gap in the last-mile infrastructure and to enable more efficient shipments.Â
Shapp
Shapp Delivery Management is a delivery management platform that helps e-commerce vendors and delivery companies to solve this miscommunication between package sender, delivery company and rider. The platform hence enables e-commerce vendors to increase their transparency and reliability which optimizes their operations, upgrades the customer experience and maximizes revenues.
TradeTracka
TradeTracka is a review and rating platform that helps building trust between online shoppers and businesses, using artificial intelligence. The platform entails a price comparison tool and aggregates reviews from multiple platforms.
More information
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Intercity and last-mile transport services for people and goods in Nigeria
This challenge is in phase: Sustainable Business
How might we improve intercity and last-mile transport services for people and goods in Nigeria?
The transport and e-commerce sectors are crucial for economic and social development in Nigeria, and they are currently booming. As of today, intercity transport services in Nigeria have been dominated by private operators. Informal and demand-driven para transit services consisting of minibuses, shared taxis, motorized three-wheelers, and motorcycle taxi are predominant in urban transport. The  17th lab aims to improve the transport of passengers and goods with a focus on digital trade.
Â
01
Understand
Nigeria's e-commerce and online trading market is worth about 13 billion USD today and is expected to rise to 50 billion USD in the next 10 years. Also, the logistics sector has witnesses significant growth with a rise of 140 million USD from 2017 to over 696 million USD in 2018. Both are essential ingredients to enhanced productivity. Transport services, as the backbone of economic growth, must adopt intelligent technologies to meet customer needs. Modern transport services in Nigeria are predominantly demand driven and informal, operated by private operators. Urban transport therefore consists mainly of para transit services such as minibuses, shared taxis, motorised tricycles and motorcycle taxis. These services are characterised by poor fleet quality, inefficiency, low profitability, under-investment, and negative effects on the environment.  Another issue is the lack of transparency, which makes the development of business relations difficult.
The lab of tomorrow #17 aims to tackle these challenges at the intersection of the transport of passengers and goods, with a focus on digital trade. Specifically, e-commerce would profit from alternative means of delivery, more security in payment systems, and stronger cooperation between the e-commerce service providers and delivery services. These tasks require tailor-made solutions which can be provided by the private sector. There is great potential for business development, i.e., in the areas of platform solutions, insurance or logistics, which in turn create employment opportunities, support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and tackle development barriers.Â
Business Opportunities
02
Ideate Solutions
03
Incubate business
5 ventures successfully entered the Incubation Phase.04
Sustainable Business
moniemove
moniemove is a B2B marketplace that enables small and medium-sized logistic service providers in Nigeria to procure their supplies in bulk and hence increase their purchasing power on the market. Furthermore, moniemove’s integration of a secure payment and shipment tracking system allows for a seamless operation of the marketplace as well as high customer satisfaction.Â
efotainer
efotainer (efo meaning vegetables) is a mobile solar-powered refrigeration device, which enables continuous cooling in the process of transporting perishable goods from farm gates to the final destination. Following the motto “Mobile cooling at its best”, this new tool guarantees freshness and a prolonged shelf-life of the produce while at the same time, through real-time monitoring, providing data on the location of the transported goods.Â
Cargolink
Following the motto “More opportunities, Better deliveries”, Cargolink is a digital platform where trusted logistics operators can seamlessly partner on nationwide shipment. The platform connects intercity delivery providers with last-mile carriers to close that gap in the last-mile infrastructure and to enable more efficient shipments.Â
Shapp
Shapp Delivery Management is a delivery management platform that helps e-commerce vendors and delivery companies to solve this miscommunication between package sender, delivery company and rider. The platform hence enables e-commerce vendors to increase their transparency and reliability which optimizes their operations, upgrades the customer experience and maximizes revenues.
TradeTracka
TradeTracka is a review and rating platform that helps building trust between online shoppers and businesses, using artificial intelligence. The platform entails a price comparison tool and aggregates reviews from multiple platforms.