There is a quiet revolution in Nigeria. Technology and online companies are springing up, with talent attracted by the low start-up costs and the millions that can be made with a small number of staff. Check out the 4 Top Hi-Tech Founders in Nigeria From Akwa Ibom State!
There is a little known secret in this industry – a small state in the south-south is playing a big role in the technology industry – and nobody is aware of it.
You cannot mention major technology and online companies in Nigeria without mentioning companies like Wild Fusions (the biggest online agency in Nigeria), Hotels.ng (The biggest online hotel booking portal in Nigeria), Page Nanny (the tech-managed host for most major sites in Nigeria like Bellanaija.com, Notjustok.com, 360nobs.com etc), Anakle (responsible for digital media for GT-Bank, Shell, etc).
What do these companies have in common? All forefront technology companies and all founded and run by Akwa Ibomites!
How does a state with just 3 million inhabitants have such an out sized influence on a particular industry in a country with 170 million people?
The Akwa Ibomite has always been seen as a quiet, studious person, very welcoming of strangers and open to new ideas.
Perhaps it is this intrinsic nature that makes them suitable for an industry where a lot of time is spent sitting behind a computer, and the rest is spent in studying.
I dug deeper into each of the companies to find out what lies behind.
Abasiama Idaresit
Wild Fusions: Abasiama Idaresit was recently listed in Forbes magazine as one of Africa’s young tech millionaires to watch.
He has grown his digital ad agency to $6million in annual revenues, which is on track to hit $10 million this year.
The company is responsible for the digital strategy for many large companies in Africa, including Visa, Vodafone, Samsung and Unilever.
Mark Essien
Hotels.ng: Mark Essien grew up in Ikot Ekpene.
He founded Hotels.ng in 2012 and has seen it grow to become a monster in hotel bookings.
Latest estimates show the site doing more bookings in Nigeria alone daily than all other competing sites do in West Africa in one month.
Page Nanny: Ekerete Akpan is a quiet and friendly person. Everyone who meets him likes him, and respects him at the same time. He does not look like the kind of person with the resume he has. But when he tells you the brands that trust him with managing their website, your eyes will fall out of his sockets. He says if your website is going to have high traffic, you need to have it managed. The biggest blog brands in Nigeria – Bellanaija.com, Notjustok.com and 360nobs.com all trust this company to run and manage their services perfectly.
Editi Effiong
Anakle: Run by Editi Effiong, Anakle is the biggest design and coding company in Nigeria.
It does development and design for Adidas, Coca-Cola, Etisalat, Diamond Bank and the British Council, to mention just a few of its client.
Editi has created one of the most prominent tech companies in Nigeria.
The tech industry in Nigeria is one of the upcoming success stories of the country.
As the world runs out of oil, it will increasingly switch to exporting machinery and software – the things that will power the new economy. Technology is the new oil!
Akwa Ibom has always been an oil producing state, and it has been the source of its wealth.
Now it is also becoming a technology producing state, hence ensuring it will have a smooth transition to the new economy, as sales for oil dry up.
Written By Ekerette Assiak