Business
Top 10 Nigerian Tech CEOs
Florence Seriki (Omatek) – She went from being a computer tutor to a saleswoman after the opportunity to sell computers to her high-end clients surfaced. Although she has a chemical engineering background, today, she can boast of several IT awards and her company, Omatek made history in Nigeria by becoming the first IT firm to be listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange.
Currently, Omatek sells at N0.50 per share on the Nigerian bourse and has a market capitalization of N1.47 billion ($90 million) and is pushing an initiative tagged “e-xpress” aimed at helping Nigerians realize their dreams of owning personal computers in an easy and convenient form by offering a flexible Acquisition and payment method.
Leonard “Leo” Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh (Zinox Technologies) – A trail blazer in the Nigerian IT industry, Stanley Ekeh set up Zinox Technologies Limited in 2001 determined to fill the gap of manufacturing computers locally. To achieve this, Zinox Computers was launched – Nigeria’s First Internationally Certified Branded Computers which came with a Naira sign and a power supply designed to country’s unstable power.
With Task Systems Limited, his first company, he computerized 95 percent of the Print Media, Publishing Houses and Advertising Agencies in Nigeria, winning several outstanding industry Awards. He also pioneered IT Solutions and Distribution in West Africa through ITEC Solutions Limited and Technology Distributions Limited, TD respectively, both award-winning companies. He has also been involved with ICT Brokers, Buyright AFRICA Dotcom and ICT Connect. Eke’s Zinox last year launched its Zipad tablet, another pioneering feat by the indigenous company.
Funke Opeke (Mainstreet Technologies) – is the CEO of MainOne Cable Company. She founded Mainstreet Technologies, developer of MainOne Cable, a submarine communications cable stretching from Portugal to South Africa with landings along the route in Accra, Ghana and Lagos, Nigeria.
The system which will be extended to 10 other cities in its second phase is expected to increase open access to telecom operators and Internet service providers in sub-Saharan Africa. Opeke ensured that the network operational center (NOC) for the entire system was located in Nigeria in order to encourage local content development through transfer of critical networking technologies skills.
Her giant strides caught the eye of international investors like the Pan-African Infrastructure Development Fund (PAIDF) and the Africa Finance Corporation. Some Nigerian banks have also invested in the MainOne Cable project.
