Interview By Emmanuel Abara Benson
Dimeji Falana Discusses Edtech and what Foreign Investors Look out for in African Startups gave me a lot of boost and helped me to realize that I could actually do so much with the skill in terms of making money. So, I started doing exactly that.
One of the first major gigs I did afterwards was NTA’s animated logo design. Again, I used PowerPoint to design that logo. Then, I started looking at what other systems I could work with. I began looking into Excel and soon learnt how to add two cells to arrive at a factor or an answer. That gave me the knowledge of logic. And fortunately for me, the lecturers in school taught us a bit of programming. Alongside my budding career, I kept practicing with my Excel. That’s how the whole thing started. And here I am today. Tell us how you went from designing and coding to owning an edtech startup.
D
imeji Falana was in his first year at the university when he realized he could become a successful tech entrepreneur. Following this realisation, he dedicated time, energy and resources to honing his coding and design skills. About a decade later, his edtech startup, Edves, is playing a huge role in revolutionising the education system in Nigeria and across Africa. In this interview with Business Elites Africa, the young entrepreneur recounts his growth trajectory and gives important business advice to other entrepreneurs. Enjoy the conversation.
92 | Business Elites Africa / ISSUE 116
Dimeji: As I kept working with Excel, I was also thinking of how to use Excel to build a Grade Point Average (GPA) calculator for students. And then by my second year at the university, I went on a 3-month industrial training. I was posted to Oak Computers in It’s nice to meet you, Sir. Tell us how Ogba, Lagos.During the three months your journey in tech began. I spent there, I was moved across all the departments there. This afforded Dimeji: It all started in early 2007 me the opportunity to learn so many when I was just a 100-level student at new skills. the University of Ilorin. One Saturday, while visiting with my cousin at his I was also opportune to meet a couple hostel, I remember him telling me of guys who were really good at about one of his professors who was programming. They gave me books to preparing for an inaugural lecture and read and assigned me lots of projects was in urgent need of help with his to review. Before long, I started PowerPoint presentation. I stepped in designing websites using micromedia and handled the PowerPoint for the fireworks and other tools. professor and he was very impressed. When I returned to the campus after He later told me that he had never the industrial training, I started seen a PowerPoint design and display noticing lots of website design that good before. His commendation opportunities for different student
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