Yemi Ogundeyi says developers and facility managers should start with better records before investing in new technology.

When the generator in a Nigerian estate stops, a technician is called, a part is bought and the power comes back. Often, nobody writes down what went wrong, what the repair cost or when it might happen again.

Yemi Ogundeyi, founder of Lagos-based technology company Kivotech Ltd, says that habit is costing property owners money, both on construction sites and in finished buildings.

Speaking as his company opened its platform, Kivo, for testing, Ogundeyi said many projects in Nigeria still rely on phone calls, voice notes and paper to approve purchases, confirm deliveries and manage repairs. This, he said, makes it hard for owners and financiers to know what has been spent and on what.

“On many sites, nobody can tell you what was paid for, what was delivered and what was used until the project is already over budget,” he said. “After handover, the same thing happens with maintenance. Generators, pumps and lifts are repaired again and again because nobody kept a record of the last repair.”

Records before sensors

Ogundeyi spoke on the move from reactive to predictive facility management at the AFMPN 2026 Conference in Abeokuta. He said organisations did not need to begin with expensive sensors or artificial intelligence.

The first step, he said, is to keep reliable records of assets, work and spending, starting with the equipment that is most costly when it fails, such as generators, transformers and fire safety systems.

“Predictive maintenance does not start with gadgets. It starts with knowing what assets you have, what work has been done on them and what it cost,” he said. “Without that record, every breakdown is a surprise.”

From construction to maintenance

Kivo keeps one record of a building from construction to maintenance. During construction, it tracks budgets, purchase orders, deliveries, materials, and the teams and suppliers on site. After handover, the same record becomes the asset register, and each repair is logged against the equipment it was carried out on.

“Every generator, lift and pump in a building has a history. If you record it, you can plan for the next failure instead of paying for it in an emergency,” Ogundeyi said.

Ogundeyi studied civil engineering at the University of Ilorin and holds an MSc in Management with Digital Marketing from the University of Hertfordshire. He most recently led the estates operations team at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, and has also worked in maintenance and procurement in Nigeria and the UK.

Testing the platform

The platform is aimed at real estate developers, construction firms, facility management companies and institutions such as banks, hospitals, schools and hotels. It is in its final testing phase, with features being rolled out to early users in stages ahead of a full launch. The company is starting in Lagos but plans to expand to other African markets.

How far better records can reduce breakdowns and overruns will only become clear over time. Feedback from the organisations testing Kivo could help show whether the approach works in practice.

Organisations interested in testing the platform can visit Kivo’s website.