Businesspeople From Nigeria

"In Nigeria, we have continued to engage with the community to push against societal norms that tell girls that a STEM education is not feminine. We have worked with government ministries, secondary school teachers, communities and especially parents of girls to educate them on the huge benefits of STEM education for girls. WAAW is looking to partner with Federal Ministries of Education, Science and Technology to re-invent what STEM education should be and retrain our teachers to incorporate hands on, locally available resources to promote innovation in the classrooms."

"I saw the huge impact technology could have in lifting entire communities out of poverty. I could see the rapid technological advances that were in the pipeline. For instance, I saw the advent of Google, PayPal and Amazon and some of my research was around the technologies that powered these huge companies and the impact they had on e-commerce, telecommunications, and the financial industry."

"Several factors inspired me to found WAAW Foundation in 2007 while I was completing my Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering at Texas A & M University. At that time, I was the only woman of color in the program and my graduate education experience had been a very lonely one working mostly amongst men. I knew that I wanted to be an engineer and had the ability to be a great one, but I wished there were more women in STEM to support each other."

"(better known by his stage name Skilzar) is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, tech entrepreneur and tech-startup founder."

"We would produce and get our content to M-Tech. But it wasn’t really viable because it’s either the telecom networks were not paying on time, or the sharing formula was just ridiculous. I couldn’t even make my wage bills!"

"It has been challenging running a business as a startup considering the epileptic electricity supply we have to constantly battle with in the country we have to rely on generator and inverter to stay online 24 hours of the day which takes up a huge portion of expenses in terms of fueling, servicing and maintaining the generators and inverters"

"That is precisely why i decided that we would form Skilzar Digital Agency around the principles of outstanding customer service and a very thought-out product"

"At Skilzar Digital we provide businesses with a variety of digital solutions to promote products or services online and help clients hit their online marketing goals whilst growing their business. We typically work with each company to understand their business goals, all while providing recommendations and services tailored to each unique needs."

"Skilzar Digital is a web marketing agency conceived with the mindset of satisfying the web marketing needs of brands and businesses whilst ensuring they have the best experience working with a web marketing company"

"I want to make sure that no young person faces the embarrassment I was met with in 1991, while in my third year in secondary school, and that no young African gets locked out of digital opportunities because of their location of birth, gender or lack of opportunity."

"There were many attempts in the past that focused on giving free devices to people, including a popular $100 laptop project that ended up in the hands of families that sold some of the devices for the next meal. Many of the solutions that did not work were short-term and not focused on building the capacity of beneficiaries of the devices."

"People who live in rural areas, young people, persons with disabilities and women are mostly affected, and one of the reasons that many people are stuck is the lack of opportunity which ironically is more available online."

"I saw the huge digital divide that plagues Nigeria–and later, other African countries–and decided to connect as many young Africans as possible with digital opportunities, which should be a right"

"More female role models and communities are a good place to start. I know some women driving these things. One way to ensure that they reach more women with their programmes is by giving them financial support."

"When the job application became public, I applied, went for all the interviews and got an offer. Five months before that, I had tried interviewing with Google Dublin and I got rejected (this was my first job interview)."

"This led me to study Computer Science and now, I am building a career in Software Engineering. I also have a YouTube channel, where I talk about software engineering, productivity and career growth."

"I am a software engineer and tech content creator currently living in Nigeria. I got exposed to computers at a very early age and since then, I have been a tech enthusiast."

"“When I saw how mobile technology was being made in Shenzhen, I realised there was a way to bridge that innovation back home.”"

"“Purpose drives me having a purpose to see the Africa we dream of being realised.”"

"“True progress comes when we invest in people, equip them with opportunities, and ensure they have the tools to thrive.”"

"I’ll Always Be An Entrepreneur"

"We initially did it as a USSD only platform, not an online platform because users are rural people, they are minimizing the use of data. The Web platform has only recently gone live."

"As a farmer, you need to get money for your produce. So, we would give you the platform to pay and exchange money. And I also see that you have crops to sell and give you a platform to do that. That end of the market that people seemed to be ignoring, the underserved financially, that market became the Tingo market."

"Over time, we saw the big picture and where we fit in. The phones I was selling, what were people using them for? That was how we got to the farmers."

"So, I took a loan and started importing mobile phones. That became an instant hit. We had a ready market, selling feature phones and smartphones to dealers, from Alaba to Onitsha to Kano."

"At a time, users revolted against the payment structure; they insisted they weren’t going to the bank, since most our subscription was small compared to the cost of getting to the bank."

"Since launch, we got an endorsement of our application by the exam body, JAMB [organizers of UTME]. It was an exciting one for us. We have built a network of tutors who provide explanatory and coaching feature on the platform."

"For us, it was one of the best decisions we made considering the age demographics of our audience, who are either accessing via web or Android"

"Since then, we have seen the need for a seamless integration of payment options into the model. Many of our users also don’t own bank accounts and therefore can’t pay through cards/online."

"Getting the right set of people to work with to produce quality content is a big task that comes with its cost."

"Yes I’m a core programmer; one of the best during my set in school. I won 2013 national best developer for computer science students back in school."

"Generally, we all look very smart in the morning, ready to hit some milestones. Sometimes things get into an overdrive when something breaks down; an API for instance."

"Excellence in simple terms is being outstanding at what you do."

"Time is a fixed commodity dispersed evenly, the value of time is in the activities we invest in daily and every action has a reward and consequence."

"After about twelve years out of Nigeria, what I wanted to do was move back home and start a business to contribute my quota to the economic growth of my fatherland."

"That was when I grasped a little feelings of how things were happening here and I saw the opportunity to fill a gap."

"Technology these days make life a lot more easier. People that patronise our services all have the smart phone application on either their Androids, iPhones, PC or laptops."

"Our programmes are easy to use and free to download. Our duty is to connect passengers to drivers in a very simple way. We use GPS to connect our clients to the closest driver."

"So, when we were packaging this idea, we decided, in our little way, to use technology to bring safety to bear. When we sign up any driver on our platform, we take all his information, take them through a screening process, check his background, driver license, car registration, license, plate number and insurance documents."

"And it would really be tough for any of them to attempt such. We rely more on the original government documents and license they provide. We don’t do testing for them. We leave that for the government to do. We also don’t have a link with the government yet."

"But we make sure we do background checking on them. However, we are confident that what all of our drivers present to us so far have been real. We haven’t had any issue because they all belong to one taxi associations."

"Easy Taxi is a Smartphone application that connects drivers and passengers in a smooth, easy and safe way. The value proposition is straight-forward: Simply download the Easy taxi app on Google Play Store or the App store. Open the Easy Taxi app, which is available for iOS, Android and the new BlackBerry devices. Confirm your pickup point and then order your cab at the click of a button. In seconds you’ll receive confirmation of the name, photo, phone number and car model/license plate number of your driver, and you will be able to follow the vehicle’s location in real-time as it approaches you."

"We plan to expand to Abuja and Port Harcourt in the next 3 to 4 months. With the same model we have implemented in Lagos, we plan to make the business successful in other cities. It’s a lot of work, there have been ups and downs but people are catching on more now."

"That your mother was great, she did this for our country. She really made a difference — an impact. She's a heroine.That's what's intriguing to me now, to hear different stories from different people. [They say] "she treated my grandfather, she treated my mother, she treated me, she treated my children. She treated four generations of our family". And you hear that from so many different people. That all helps."

"“Make sure people are in the role that fits for them, where their strength can really be used and where they can fly.""

"We do not care if you are banked or unbanked."

"We want to help individuals pay and get paid."

"70% of Nigerian adults” who don’t have bank accounts."

"Single largest network of financial access points in Nigeria."

"My personal mission is to help change the face of Nigeria and Africa at large, by helping to bring ideas to life"