Realities of the Nigerian Technology Ecosystem | Emeka Okoye | TEDxPortHarcourt

Are tech start-ups in Nigeria advancing the technological field in Nigeria? Emeka does not believe so, as evidenced by his talk. He advises through it that we let go of the hype and mirage of the start-up industry and focus on the important factors that will make these start-ups succeed, whether tech related or otherwise. Emeka Okoye has over 17 years of experience in web, semantic, enterprise, mobile software development and project management. This has seen his creations from Nigeria’s earliest startup, ngex.com in 1996, to the citizen-led OpenDataGA: an open data initiative for Nigeria’s common folk. He has also led the development of continent-wide projects like Ghana’s elections app, Nigeria’s first financial website with IBTC in 1996, Africa’s first mobile app for crowdfunding election data, and a host of others.

Recognition for his work have come rolling in his listing by IT News amongst Africa’s 20 Most Influential Technology People in 2013, and earlier in 2012’s Mobile banking and Mobile Money Influencers in Social Media by Obopay. A shelf-full of awards and accolades for excellence is a testament to his achievements.

Mr. Okoye is a strong advocate of the use of mobile, open data and semantic web to re-develop Africa social media, and is an avid tweeter. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx