Monday, September 29, 2025
Techgist Africa | Africa Leading Tech News, Reviews and Tips
  • News
    • World News
    • World Regional News
    • News – East Africa
    • News – West Africa
    • News – South Africa
    • News – Middle East And North Africa
  • The Big 5
  • Specials
  • Opportunities
  • Innovators
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Techgist Africa | Africa Leading Tech News, Reviews and Tips
  • News
    • World News
    • World Regional News
    • News – East Africa
    • News – West Africa
    • News – South Africa
    • News – Middle East And North Africa
  • The Big 5
  • Specials
  • Opportunities
  • Innovators
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Techgist Africa | Africa Leading Tech News, Reviews and Tips
No Result
View All Result
Home People Innovator of the Week

Techpreneur of the week: Mike Adenuga: Setting Precedent

Tech Gist Africa by Tech Gist Africa
05/17/2019
in Innovator of the Week, People, Tech Leaders
0 0
0
Techpreneur Mike Adenuga
0
SHARES
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Technology has changed the way the world does things, by making things super seamless for man. It made communication easy with the advent of telecommunication, internet, emails, e-messaging, podcasts, etc., putting a stop to the days of relying on a messenger to deliver messages. It made transportation easy with the advent of autonomous vehicles, ride-hailing startups, e-bikes, etc. just when we thought we’ve seen it all, smart cities sprung up. Suffice to say that technology is a big part of our everyday life.

A report by We Are Social and Hootsuite in 2018 states that 4 billion out of 7.5 billion of the world population uses the internet. The report also states that Africa has seen the fastest growth in internet penetration with the number of people with access to the internet in Africa increased by 20% compared to 2017 when it was estimated at 21.8%. A recent report from the NCC stated that over 81% of Nigerians access the internet through their mobile phones. The role of telecommunications in all this cannot be overlooked as they are the bedrock of the internet in Africa.

Mike Adenuga’s role in the availability of internet in Nigeria cannot be under-emphasized. He is one of the pioneers of telecommunications and internet in Nigeria alongside techpreneurs like Funke Opeke.

Adenuga was born on the 29th of April, 1953 to the royal Ijebu family of Ogun State, Nigeria. Adenuga had his secondary education at Ibadan Grammar School, Ibadan and Comprehensive High School, Aiyetoro. He obtained a degree in Business Administration from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and Pace University, New York.

He obtained a drilling license in 1990 and in 1991, constructed his Consolidated Oil struck oil in the shallow waters of Ondo State. That became the first indigenous oil company to do so in commercial quantity. During the advent of GSM in the late ’90s, Adenuga received a conditional GSM license in 1999. After it was revoked, he obtained a second license in 2003 and set up his telecommunication company ‘Globacom’ in August 2003. The telco spread quickly in Nigeria, challenging the likes of MTN.

Globacom has the second largest market share in Nigeria at 26% with over 45 million subscribers. They became the first telecommunication company to build an $800 million high-capacity fiber-optic cable called ‘GLO-1’. It is a submarine cable from the UK to Nigeria. Glo expanded to Benin republic in June 2008, where they sold about 600,000 SIM cards within the first ten days of operation. They grew in Benin republic as they owned 12% of the market share before their exit from the country in 2018. They also expanded to Ghana in 2012. GLO introduced the singing reality television show, the X Factor to Africa in April 2013.

Adenuga is the 2nd richest man in Africa. Asides being the owner of the largest second telecommunication in Nigeria, he owns stakes in Sterling Bank and Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company). He made his first million at age 26 through the sales of lace and soft drinks. In 2007, he was named African Entrepreneur of The Year at the first African Telecoms Awards (ATA). In 2019, Forbes estimated his net worth at $9.4 billion.

Mike Adenuga is a rare gem who has written his name in the sands of telecommunication in Nigeria.

ShareTweet
Plugin Install : Subscribe Push Notification need OneSignal plugin to be installed.
Tech Gist Africa

Tech Gist Africa

Tech Gist Africa is a new media and technology news platform that focuses on the untold stories of innovative ideas closely connected to technology news from Africa.

Related Posts

Mohamed Alabbar
Innovator of the Week

From Vision to Marketplace: Mohamed Alabbar and the Rise of Noon.com

by Tech Gist Africa
09/29/2025
0

Few entrepreneurs have reshaped commerce in the Middle East like Mohamed Alabbar, the visionary founder behind Noon.com, one of the...

Read more
Larry Ellison

Oracle’s Larry Ellison Overtakes Elon Musk After $101B One-Day Surge to Become World’s Richest

09/11/2025
Fadi Ghandour

Trailblazer of MENA Entrepreneurship: Celebrating Fadi Ghandour’s Legacy

08/11/2025
Farida Bedwei Logiciel Ghana

Farida Bedwei: Powering Africa’s Fintech Revolution Against All Odds

08/11/2025
Africa’s Business Heroes 2024

The winners of the Africa’s Business Heroes (ABH) Prize Competition have been announced

03/30/2025
Next Post
Digital Goldrush: Building a Sustainable Tech Economy (African Fintech Foundry)

Digital Goldrush: Building a Sustainable Tech Economy (African Fintech Foundry)

New Competitor for Ride-hailing Providers – “inDriver” Launches in South Africa

New Competitor for Ride-hailing Providers – “inDriver” Launches in South Africa

Gokada Nigeria

Gokada launches ‘G-Medic’ new rapid response service

No Result
View All Result

The Big 5

Mohamed Alabbar

From Vision to Marketplace: Mohamed Alabbar and the Rise of Noon.com

by Tech Gist Africa
09/29/2025
0

...

Food Security

How Technology is Advancing Global Food Security and Reducing Hunger

by Tech Gist Africa
09/26/2025
0

...

Nvidia Abu Dhabi Robotics Lab

Nvidia and Abu Dhabi Institute Launch Middle East’s First AI & Robotics Lab

by Tech Gist Africa
09/26/2025
0

...

MultiChoice

Canal+ has officially completed its $3.17 billion acquisition of South Africa’s MultiChoice Group

by Tech Gist Africa
09/26/2025
0

...

216 Capital & Plug and Play Accelerator

216 Capital & Plug and Play Launch Tunisian Accelerator to Bridge Local Startups to Global Stage

by Tech Gist Africa
09/26/2025
0

...

TGA

  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

TGA

  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

AFRICA

  • Made In Africa
  • People
    • Tech Leaders
    • Innovator of the Week
  • Start-Up Spotlight

NEWS

  • Africa News
  • World News

THE BIG 5

  • Big 5 Daily
  • Weekly News Roundup

SPECIALS

  • Guest Articles
  • How Tos
  • Op-Eds
  • Reviews
  • Tech Leaders
  • Tips

VIDEOS

  • Interviews
  • Tech Videos

TGA

  • About us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact

AFRICA

  • Made In Africa
  • People
    • Tech Leaders
    • Innovator of the Week
  • Start-Up Spotlight

NEWS

  • Africa News
  • World News

THE BIG 5

  • Big 5 Daily
  • Weekly News Roundup

SPECIALS

  • Guest Articles
  • How Tos
  • Op-Eds
  • Reviews
  • Tech Leaders
  • Tips

VIDEOS

  • Interviews
  • Tech Videos

Copyright © 2020 Techgistafrica. All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • World News
    • World Regional News
    • News – East Africa
    • News – West Africa
    • News – South Africa
    • News – Middle East And North Africa
  • The Big 5
  • Specials
  • Opportunities
  • Innovators
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Contact

Copyright © 2019 TECHGISTAFRICA. All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.