KUBATANA MAGAZINE | OCTOBER 2022
AFR I LABS
Being the largest Pan African organisation outside of the African Union, AfriLabs takes relationship management extremely important, such that 3 departments – the Member Services, Communications and Partnerships Departments - are saddled with the responsibility of managing the diversity of our stakeholders. The Secretariat, saddled with project management and monitoring among other tasks, has staff from Kenya, Egypt, Nigeria, Cameroon and Uganda who work with stakeholders across 52 African countries towards enabling a thriving innovation economy on the continent. My vision for the Secretariat is to work smarter than harder, automating core and recurring activities to allow more room for strategic and design thinking for the management team. What has the AfriLabs secretariat’s leadership done so far to drive the team to achieve the AfriLabs vision? Whilst AfriLabs has, over the years, served as a convening body bringing together all the critical stakeholders of the African Innovation and technology ecosystem to carry out various projects, events, and interventions targeted at
supporting startups and developing the ecosystem at large, it has done this manually and in silos which have proven difficult to keep up with the speed of progress in the ever-evolving ecosystem. AfriLabs leadership is working towards ensuring that we continue to work with a diverse team; we also intend to digitize the operations of the Secretariat. Hence, through the creation of the AfriLabs AfriConnect.net platform, we intend to digitise AfriLabs operations to provide a more seamless approach to engaging and managing its stakeholders as well as providing a vibrant open platform for stakeholder collaboration. The AfriConnect.net platform is strategically positioned as an organic self-sustained single window into the African technology, innovation and startup policy ecosystem.
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE AFRILABS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER BY AJIBOLA ODUKOYA, CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER, AFRILABS
BEING THE LARGEST PAN AFRICAN ORGANISATION OUTSIDE OF THE AFRICAN UNION, WE TAKE RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT EXTREMELY IMPORTANT AT AFRILABS
Tell us about your background and experience before AfriLabs
My experience has been fantastic. I had a culture shock when I joined. The organisation is run by young people, has a gender diversity of 75% pro- women and has an average workforce age of 30. AfriLabs is a testament that the youth and women of Africa can and will continue to do great things on the global stage. With over 370+ Member Hubs in 229 cities and over a million startups in Africa, overseeing the day-to-day operations at AfriLabs secretariat is no easy task. The leadership qualities of the Executive Director, Anna Ekeledo who leads the Secretariat and the 12 Heads of Departments must be mentioned; they are self-motivated and possess a high level of accountability in leading these organs. This allows me the freedom to focus on transformational initiatives and implement our 10-year strategy roadmap.
I have served as a Global Jury Member, UN Capital Development Fund Agritech Challenge; Head of Business Management and Project Management Office, Nigeria Pension Commission & Pension Fund Operators Association of Nigeria Data Recapture Exercise; Head of Technology and Head of Strategic Alliances, National eGovernment Strategies Limited and National eAuthentication Limited; and I was on the Winning team of the UK National Apprentice Challenge; and a member of the ID4Africa movement, a thought leader in National Identification and Authentication in Africa among others. What has been your experience at AfriLabs so far, overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Secretariat and external relationships with partners?
PICTURED: AfriLabs secretariat team in Abuja, Nigeria
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