Africa’s greatest resource is not oil, minerals, or land, it is people. For me, this has always been clear. My mission has been to connect Africa’s young, ambitious, and skilled talents to global opportunities that once felt beyond reach.

My journey spans from building an AI-driven learning platform with Utiva and enabling global hiring and engagement with Entrova, two organizations that together form the backbone of my vision to democratize access to tech opportunities across the continent.

Discovering the Gap and Defining My Mission

Growing up in Nigeria, I saw first-hand how brilliant young people often faced limited career outcomes. Universities produced graduates, yet many lacked the practical skills global employers demanded. Meanwhile, companies abroad sought talent but bypassed Africa due to regulatory, payment, and trust barriers.

This gap drove my resolve. I chose not just to mentor or coach but to build the infrastructure that could systematically bridge learning and opportunity.

It was this vision that led me to lead in Utiva’s technology infrastructure for gaining in-demand tech skills and later to build Entrova, which allows global companies to access top talents in Africa.

Leading Transformation at Utiva

At Utiva, I was entrusted with a bold challenge: to design and oversee the systems that would deliver modern, job-ready tech education to thousands of Africans.

I built and managed the entire learning infrastructure, ensuring that courses moved beyond static lectures to immersive, project-based learning. I coded, integrated, and scaled systems that allowed learners to track progress, submit projects, receive mentor feedback, use real-life case studies and capstone projects, and also access internship opportunities and job offers.

I grew and led cross-functional teams of engineers, product managers, and instructional designers, instituting best practices like version control, CI/CD pipelines, peer reviews, and agile workflows. These processes transformed Utiva into a tech-driven, scalable learning hub, with global recognition and awards for its excellence.

The results were profound. Utiva empowered more than 200,000 tech talents to acquire relevant skills, and the apprenticeship program we designed helped over 90,000 learners transition into full-time roles. We expanded to over 19 countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States. Our paid cohorts grew steadily, with completion and placement rates soaring to 96%, and monthly engagements surpassing 20,000.

As Eyitayo Ogunmola, Utiva’s founder, often emphasizes, “Schools fail many graduates, but the world demands relevance.” My contribution ensured that relevance was no longer elusive but embedded into the core of Utiva’s learning model.

Scaling the Vision with Entrova

Yet I knew the work was only half done. After training came the real hurdle, securing global roles. Too many graduates faced roadblocks: contracts, compliance, payroll systems, and the perception gap between African talent and global employers.

Entrova was created to close that final gap. At Entrova, I lead technology architecture, ensuring the platform handles end-to-end talent operations: AI-driven talent matching, onboarding, compliance, cross-border payroll, and performance insights.

This is not a job board, it is an operating system for global collaboration. Through Entrova, companies in New York or Berlin can seamlessly hire, pay, and manage developers in Lagos, Accra, or Nairobi.

Utiva’s graduates now flow directly into these opportunities, making the pathway from learning to earning tangible.

By connecting the two platforms, Utiva as the pipeline and Entrova as the gateway, I am constructing a unified ecosystem that powers Africa’s global talent relevance.

Web Summit Qatar 2025 and MENA Partnerships

In February 2025, I also joined Web Summit Qatar, representing Entrova and sharing our vision for global collaboration and expanding opportunities for African talent across the MENA region.

Web Summit Qatar 2025 set high records of over 25,747 attendees from 124 countries, 1,520 startups, and 723 investors gathered in Doha.

At the summit, I explored partnerships for Entrova in the MENA region and deepened our presence among global investors and innovators.

This opportunity aligned perfectly with our mission: to ensure that African tech talent is not only trained but also visible and engaged in the world’s fast-growing innovation ecosystems. Also, we’ve continued working on partnerships with companies in the UK and the USA.

The Market Potential and Urgency

Today the data backs this vision and underscores the urgency of the work I am doing. By 2030, more than 230 million jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require some level of digital skills, creating roughly 650 million training opportunities and a multi-billion dollar skilling market across the region, according IFC Report.

Internet penetration and cloud capacity are expanding rapidly, making remote hiring and distributed workforces viable at scale.

Major infrastructure investments are already underway to support that growth, according African Union Digital Transformation Strategy.

Venture funding and startup activity have surged, showing both investor confidence and rising demand for talent to build and operate new products.

Global recruiters are now looking to Africa as a strategic source of developers and digital professionals

Together, these trends suggest that by 2030, Africa will not only supply millions of digitally enabled roles but also host an expanding services economy where platforms that link learning to compliant global hiring will unlock disproportionate value.

Voices in the Ecosystem

The importance of this mission is echoed by respected leaders in Africa’s tech ecosystem.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, co-founder of Andela and Flutterwave, once remarked: “The vision is huge, but it is very difficult to find mission-driven talent that has the courage and competence to execute against the vision.” His words capture the precise challenge that drives my work, turning ambition into competence and competence into opportunity.

Similarly, Eyitayo Ogunmola reminds us: “The greatest factor to success is knowing what others do not know.” That philosophy underpins my approach, building systems and solving frictions that others often overlook.

Industry analysts agree. A BusinessDay feature noted: “By investing in African talent, you are not just hiring workers, you are tapping into a wellspring of innovation, creativity, and determination.” This is the future I am determined to accelerate.

The Impact So Far

• Thousands of Africans now graduate with real project experience, mentorship, and globally relevant skills.
• Global firms have begun to see Africa as a strategic source of skilled talent rather than an afterthought.
• Compliance, payroll, and onboarding hurdles that once excluded African professionals are now being solved.
• Learning and work are no longer disconnected stages but part of one continuous, integrated journey.

Through Utiva and Entrova, I have helped rewrite the narrative: Africa’s tech professionals are not waiting to be discovered, they are ready to deliver.

Looking Ahead

The road ahead is ambitious. My goal is to expand Entrova’s reach across 50+ countries, reduce onboarding times for global companies from weeks to hours, and place tens of thousands of African talents into roles that shape the future of technology.

Challenges remain, quality assurance at scale, regulatory complexity, and global competition, but these are the very challenges that make the mission vital. I am committed to ensuring Africa’s voice in the global tech workforce is not marginal but central.

Conclusion

This is more than my career. It is my calling. I am building systems that outlive me, systems that ensure that Africa’s brightest minds can compete and collaborate globally without borders. From Utiva’s classrooms to Entrova’s cross-border engagements, I am shaping an ecosystem where learning becomes earning, and potential becomes impact.

The story is still being written, but the vision is clear: Africa’s talent is not the future, it is the present. And my role is to make sure the world knows it.