The annual cocktail and networking event honouring the brightest and best in Nigeria’s technology eco-system, #YTech100 yesterday honoured 100 titans in the country’s technology industry at the Social Media Week Lagos.
The 2016 edition recognized Jason Njoku, the CEO of iROKO Partners; Oreoluwa Somolu, the Executive Director of Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre; Gbenga Sesan, the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative Nigeria; Chioma Chuka, the Founder of TechHerNg.com, and other innovators who have impacted Nigeria’s technology space within the past year.
Themed ‘Globalisation: From Champions to Unicorns’, the event kicked off with a keynote address by Segun Agbaje, MD/CEO of GTBank, who spoke on the need for Nigerian banks to support local startups.
“Nigerian banks still have a lot of work to do in financing startups. Before we get to unicorns, we have to build businesses,” said Mr. Agbaje. “Africa is the most unexplored continent in the world. My dream is Africa… I want to drive GTBank to first place on the continent, and I know we’re capable of doing it.”
Agbaje later joined a panel of technology experts to discuss the event theme. Co-panelists at the session include Olufemi Odubuyi, the Lagos State Commissioner of Science & Technology; Mitchell Elegbe, CEO of Interswitch; Oreoluwa Somolu, the Executive Director of W- TECH, and Emeka Azuka, Founder, Cymantics Solutions.
Past recipients of the award include Sim Shagaya, Nkemdilim Uwaje, and Bankole Oluwafemi.
The third edition of #YTech100 was sponsored by GTBank and hosted by Y!/YNaija.com.
The third edition of #YTech100 was sponsored by GTBank and hosted by Y!/YNaija.com.