Business
Top 10 Nigerian Tech CEOs
Drawing from statistics of Nigeria’s rebased GDP figures, information and communication technologies (ICT) and its sub-sectors are key drivers of Nigeria’s impressive economic growth. And more interestingly, the major players in this tech-shift aren’t foreigners; Nigerians, and Africans at large, have taken the bulls by the horns, cashing in on the fortunes of IT driven businesses, and contributing immensely to economic and infrastructural development, job creation and youth empowerment.
In Nigeria, the IT sector currently contributes 8.7 percent to GDP, according to figures from the country’s ICT Ministry, an equivalent of N6.97 trillion ($44.3 billion) out of the total rebased Gross Domestic product (GDP) of N80.22 trillion ($510 billion). With these innovative ventures seeing largely positive returns, with regards profit taking, rapid market expansion and overall development, the figures above are expected to hit double digits within the next decade, and this in no small part owes to the administrative competence and dexterity of their CEOs.
Poised to live their dream and impact the society, most of these outstanding individuals have left well-paying jobs to face a seemingly uncertain future, pioneering entreprise in IT sub-sectors. Our top 10 tech CEOs were selected based on the impact their companies have had on business in Nigeria and their overall contribution to economic growth. In no respective order, meet the top 10 Nigerian tech CEOs:
Jason Njoku (iROKO Partners) – Jason is the cofounder of iROKO Partners, an African focused media streaming platform that has drawn significant attention since inception for its innovative thinking in exploiting an untapped million dollar opportunity. A chemistry graduate from the University of Manchester, Jason identified a huge gap in the delivery of local content online and founded iROKO Partners with partner Bastian Gotter in 2010.
Together, they have built the business to prominence; today iROKO is the largest Youtube partner in Africa, with over 500,000 movie licenses purchased. It has over 14 million hours of media content on its license rights and more than 800,000 registered users, making it the largest distributor of Nollywood content globally. It recently acquired an $8 million investment from hedge fund, Tiger Global.
Sim Shagaya (Konga) – Serial entrepreneur, Sim Shagaya, along with 10 employees began what is now arguably the largest ecommerce business in the country. A vastly experienced tech professional, following stints at Google, Microstrategy and RealNetworks, Sim left the employee phase to begin his entrepreneurial venture, with his first major break the 2012 launched Konga.com, which has maintained the heights of a promising start and has received series of investment amounting to $35 million from keen profit seekers including South African-based Naspers and Kinnivik.
Asides Konga, Sim has also launched e-commerce platform DealDey, a locally coined name that implies a deal offering platform, sourcing the best discount offers from product and service providers across the country.
