Nigerians’ contribution to the business world cuts across its borders. They are known for their entrepreneurial spirit, with MSMEs contributing significantly to the national economy.
The achievements of many Nigerians in business in the diaspora despite issues of race, and cultural differences that seem to affect many victims of ‘japa’ syndrome make true the words of Shakespeare in his classic play ‘Macbeth’: “Some were born great, while others had greatness thrust upon them.”
Nigeria has struggled with poor power supply for decades, a challenge that is estimated to cost businesses about $29 billion yearly, according to the World Bank.
This has contributed to business-inclined people founding their thriving businesses outside the shores of Nigeria. Let us delve into the lives of these influential people who are making Nigeria proud with their feats.
Tope Awotona
Nigerian-born Awotona was born in Lagos before his family relocated to the United States when he was a teenager. A graduate of Management Information Systems from the University of Georgia, Awotona is the founder and CEO of the software company Calendly.
Calendly was founded in 2013 with the vision of simplifying scheduling for everyone without the back-and-forth of emails. The company faces competitors like Monday.com, a similar scheduling software, but has grown to over 10 million monthly users with over $100 million subscribers in 2021.
Awotona started his company with his life savings of $200,000 while still working as a sales representative at EMC. He single handedly started Cladenly and has chaired the company into growth. He is also passionate about raising more people like him in Nigeria and has said he plans to return to Nigeria someday.
Kehinde Wiley
Los Angeles-born internationally acclaimed artist, Wiley was born to a Nigerian father and African-American mother on February 28, 1977. His love for art stems from his childhood, empowered by his mother’s love for education.
At age 12, Wiley attended a six-week art programme outside Leningrad sponsored by the Centre for the United States. He graduated from the Fransisco Art Institute with a degree in Fine Arts.
Wiley’s big break came in 2018 after he painted an oil portrait of the first African American president of the U.S., Barack Obama. The picture captured the president sitting while wearing a traditional black suit with a flowery backdrop signalling Obama’s Hawaii and Chicago lineage.
The portrait was the first representation of an African American and first painting by an African American in the presidential portrait collection.
Adebayo Ogunlesi
A native of Sagamu, Ogun State, Ogunlesi is a Nigerian-born successful billionaire businessman who resides in the United States.
He had his secondary school at King’s College, Lagos and his first degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Oxford University.
In 2006, Ogunlesi founded Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a company that until its recent sale to Blackrock in a $12.5 billion deal, invested worldwide in infrastructure assets in the energy, water, transport and waste industry sectors.
GIP bought London City Airport in 2006, acquired a majority stake in London Gatwick Airport in 2009, bought Edinburg Airport in 2012, and bought Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori in 2018.
Ope Bukola
Leaving a beautiful career at Google as a Product team lead for Google Classroom in 2019, Bukola co-founded Kibo, an online university providing quality STEM degrees to African students.
Bukola moved to the U.S. from Nigeria with her family when she was 10 years old. She graduated with a degree in Economics from New York University.
Passionate about edtech, Bukola gained experience through roles that saw her digitise textbooks at Palo Alto Networks. Her startup in 2022 got $2 million in funding from Neo who also owns a tech school for children called Code.org.
Toyin Kolawole
As one who was introduced to entrepreneurship from a young age, Kolawole was raised as an entrepreneur. It is no wonder why the Nigerian-born mother of two boys who resides in the U.S., runs a successful manufacturing food business in Illinois: Iya Foods.
Iya Foods introduces a blend of Africanism into Western delicacies. It focuses on making good food with good ingredients. Its mission is to, in the words of Kolawole, “share love through food.”
