"The good thing is we have now engaged the ministry and the central bank and we have regular meetings on how we are going to raise that money so I am less worried about the money for the projects."

"I make will have a huge impact."

"Ensuring that enough supporting sectors beyond the very core high barrier to entry are left to Ugandans to develop."

"I am dealing with on a crossborder pipeline."

"We’ve had more time to interact and discuss issues and come up with ideas."

"We have a chance to think, away from the day-to-day."

"Then there’s the debate."

"The conversations are more strategic, more long-term, as opposed to the operational stuff we are dealing with every day when we are in meetings."

"I went back to my central bank and the Ministry of Finance and said, “We do need to raise money, and money for advisors is one thing, but we need up to USD 1 billion for the projects."

"NOCs should be cooperating on a skills and knowledge transfer level among themselves and IOCs."

"That’s why even the big 100-year-old international oil companies pay experts to negotiate for them."

"It was interesting to have other people in my group saying."

"My fellow Ugandans, who I’d previously met in Uganda."

"There are two sides to it, obviously the course itself, which you can see has been well thought-out in terms of the topics it covers; and then the people and the connections that you make and the learning from each other."

"I know we will get there because we are working together."

"I think it's important to get started as soon as you can. In one sense, I decided I wanted to get a doctorate when I was 5 years old, but I didn't know that I wanted to be a professor until many years later."

"And obviously, in thinking about sustaining the growth also means that it is still work in progress and there is still much to be done despite the achievements we have been made so far"

"It’s been a big part of my life and I consider myself really opportune to be in this place at this time especially in the past ten years in seeing the telecom industry transform to what it is today."

"When most people think of a professor they think "teacher," and that is true. However, my work entails the two other "pillars of professorship"--research and service. On any given day, my research involves everything from grant writing, to presenting experimental results at conferences, to guiding students through their own masters and PhD programs."

"even within the African continent, we should encourage building of optic fibre that links the countries of Africa because that will help us do local peering of Internet, keep local networks linked to each other, reduce price of communicating within the countries in Africa and perhaps greatly increase broadband speed."

"I think to sustain the growth, we must lay emphasis to a few things and I will start by advocating that we must maintain stability in the policy and regulatory environment"

"Why we moved as fast as we did over this period is as a result of fair amount of regulatory independence that the organization had."

"Once my mom told a shop owner I was going to college next year. He laughed and asked if I wanted an "Mrs. degree". Even as a teenager, I was ticked off! There are people who can't fathom women in STEM—especially women of color. Oftentimes as the only African-American and/or female in situations, I STILL run into those subtle doubts or even insults at times. However, I've found that a tough skin, a determined mind, and a prayerful heart can take you through any challenge and to any goal."

"I tell my students to hone their communication skills, both oral and written. It's no secret that we engineers and scientists are often guilty of being poor communicators, but being able to communicate, especially to the general public, is essential. I love that show "Big Bang Theory," but we're not all that bad! The other thing needed is imagination. You must be willing to step into the unknown because in STEM you won't be hired to solve problems for which the answers are already known."

"Our focus should not only be that money is being made in the industry but that this decision of government has suddenly changed the landscape and provided phones in the hands of most Nigerians, and provided telephone “access” because even if you do not own a phone, you will likely find a place to make calls near your location today”"

"I think also going forward, we must emphasize on growing broadband infrastructure, and not just growing it for the sake of it but catalyzing its adoption and usage, nationwide."

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

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

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

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

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

"The first person I actually hired on to Paga in the early days left and that was a very painful experience for me at the time"

"They have to be confident in your ability as an entrepreneur to execute the business."

"I don’t think I would have changed anything about how we raised money."

"The investors are typically investing someone else’s money, at least for the institutional guys, so they can’t just put the money anywhere."

"If I had to go back to do it, I would not have concentrated on semiconductor chip design. As much as I found it interesting, it was not my strength. Digital design in electrical engineering was my strength. So I went on and focused on digital design."

"The investor entrepreneur relationship is almost like a marriage."

"The investors are bringing something on the table and so are entrepreneurs."

"I think I’d rather own a small part of a big pie than a big part of a small pie."

"I’d say the experience really shaped me because it taught me a few things. First, we tend to place a lot of focus on things that are hard for us. I think that’s wrong. You want to focus on your strengths and get better at the things you’re good at."

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

"I had to work my way through college, sometimes holding up to 5 jobs at a time. So I was excited when I finally graduated with an electrical engineering degree."

"I landed my first job with a small startup of 8 people. We were developing digital imaging chips that could capture images the way the human eyes do. I was way out of my depth so I worked weekends trying to catch up."

"Our aim as a business is to solve payments and bring financial services to the mass market in Nigeria."