David Ogebe, the Co-founder and CEO of Tech Revolution Africa, has built the machinery of a digital economy: talent, leaders and institutions. From classrooms backed by the World Bank to a national hackathon run with Ericsson and the Office of the Vice President. Now he has a message for the founders inside it.

“Launching a startup is an achievement. But one that survives the next 20 years is a different story. And that is the real test of a growing ecosystem: how many businesses it can help to stand the test of time.”

Africa has learned to launch. Now it must learn to build.

The headlines have celebrated the launch era: new startups, new funds, new demo days. Ogebe sees the unfinished work behind them. A digital economy is not a list of startups. It is a web of skilled people, capable leaders and institutions that cooperate when it counts.

So he has spent his energy on that web. Talent, leaders and institutions are the three things no single founder can build alone, and the three things every lasting company eventually needs.

His work, at a glance:

Talent first: training at national scale

Ogebe’s answer to the talent gap started with the institutions that can move a whole country. He has worked on talent training with the Federal Ministry of Education and the World Bank, pairing national policy reach with global development expertise.

In 2023, through HOH, a company he founded and bootstrapped from the idea stage, he led a consortium partnership with the Federal Ministry of Education and the World Bank to train 400 talents in emerging technology and digital skills.

Then he removed the price tag. His free training programs certified talent without charging for entry, so a credential belongs to anyone willing to earn it, not only those who can afford it. He pushed the number he was assigned and went on to train, certify, mentor and empower 1000+ talents in Applied Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Data Analysis and Product Design.

The room-maker: four continents, one ecosystem

Ecosystems are made of relationships, and relationships start in rooms. Ogebe has filled them: thousands of global leaders and hundreds of global companies, drawn together across 15 countries and 4 continents around the globe, for over two days in Lagos, Nigeria.

For Nigerian founders, that reach changes the odds. The investor, the corporate buyer or the future partner is no longer a cold email away. They are in the conversation, because someone built the conversation.

Through Tech Revolution Africa, he has convened over 5000 enterprise leaders, decision-makers, government representatives, policymakers and talent on one platform to collaborate in high-level deal-making, partnerships, collaboration and digital economy growth.

Where hackathons become companies

A hackathon is easy to run and hard to make matter. Ogebe’s Connect Nextgen national hackathon, built with Ericsson and the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria, put a global technology company and one of the country’s highest offices behind the same goal: finding builders and turning them into founders across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. Through this initiative, 37 founders and businesses were placed in an accelerator program to prepare them for funding, and growth.

Then came the Builders Festival with NITDA, the National Information Technology Development Agency DNICE (Digital Nigeria International Conference and Exhibition). Its premise is simple: gather the demands and corporate problems across the country, get the startups building deployable solutions and match them with ready investors to fund the solutions already in demand. Through this initiative, 30 startups are set to launch into real businesses solving real problems across Nigeria.

The partnership architect

Telecoms, network infrastructure, technology distribution, payments. Ogebe has forged partnerships across the private sector with MTN, Ericsson, Huawei, Redington, Red Hat, PMI, and CoralPay, and alongside them with public sector institutions – Lagos State, The Federal Government of Nigeria (Via the office of the Vice President) and the Federal Ministry of Education.

The pattern demonstrates ecosystem leadership. Each partnership puts corporate capacity and public mandate behind founders and talent, which is how an ecosystem starts working like one.

Skin in the game

Advice is cheap. Ogebe mentors founders and invests in startups, which means he is judged by the same outcomes he asks of them. He has been an angel investor to startups, providing pre-seed funding and facilitating seed funding to startups through his international partnerships and network of angel investors.

That is the credibility behind his message. He is not commenting on company building from the sidelines. He is putting time and money into it.

He is also recognised as a global executive at the Project Management Institute Global Executive Council, along with leading project managers from global organisations.

The mandate

The goal is larger than any single program. For Africa and the world, Ogebe is working to build business leaders, talent and institutions that deliver three things: digital economy growth, ecosystem collaboration and enterprises that last.

It is a long-game agenda in an industry that often rewards the short one. That is exactly why it matters.

To the founders

The challenge is blunt. Be a real business builder. Build revenue before reputation. Hire and train the people who will outlast the launch. Partner before you need to. Write the governance of the company you want in ten years, not only the pitch for the next round.

The ecosystem is ready. The talent is training. The rooms are open. What Africa’s technology story needs next is founders willing to build companies that outlive the hype.

About David Ogebe

David Ogebe is a technology entrepreneur, business leader and ecosystem builder working to grow Africa’s digital economy.

He is the Co-founder and CEO of Tech Revolution Africa, the Founding CEO and Executive Director of HOH, and the Co-founder of TechUnlock Nigeria Digital Skills Academy.

He has led talent training with the Federal Ministry of Education and the World Bank, convened thousands of global leaders and hundreds of companies across four continents, and built founders through a national hackathon with Ericsson and the Office of the Vice President of Nigeria. He has also partnered with NITDA on the Builders Festival, mentors and invests in startups, and has forged partnerships with MTN, Ericsson, Huawei, Redington, PMI, CoralPay and public sector institutions.