Describing himself as a driven, self-motivated and incurable optimist, Wale Ajisebutu boasts a phenomenal career, comprising 39 years in the financial services, commodities and IT sectors. Ajisebutu currently serves as a fellow of the Institute of Charter Culture of Nigeria and the CEO and Chairman of 21st Century Technologies Limited.
“I am in my element when I am solving problems,” Ajisebutu shares, “and I enjoy translating ideas into impactful transformative realities. I am from a very humble background.‘I was born without a silver spoon’, as they say.
“My personality paradox expresses itself in my calm, quiet and peaceful nature and also in my undiluted passion for creating innovative solutions.”
Ajisebutu career and interest in technology
Ajisebutu started his career in the commodity business, and although he loved the industry’s rewarding nature, he felt it became monotonous causing him to seek a new challenge.
So, after 14 years trading commodities, Ajisebutu founded 21st Century Technologies in 1997 to harness technology for development and to help Africa become a strong force in the comity of nations.
Now, through 21st Century Technologies, Ajisebutu creates infrastructures to address huge uncultivated opportunities which abound in Nigeria and Africa. When founding the business, Ajisebutu had a clear vision: to create state-of-the-art infrastructure in Nigeria while offering world-class services to customers and supporting critical problems for the industry through motivated talents and skilled workforces.
Ajisebutu’s ultimate goal is to ensure Nigeria as a country realises the vision of the digital economy and plays a significant role in the fourth industrial revolution.
The rise of 21st Century Technologies
21st Century Technologies is positioned to become the biggest provider of data centre capacity in West Africa, with a total capacity of 61.5 megawatts across Nigeria’s capital, Lagos.
Ajisebutu is focused on building infrastructure in Nigeria to build a reference point for technology in West Africa. “We are ahead of the curve in everything we do,” Ajisebutu explains. “We are number one in the data centre, people, technological platforms, connectivity, payment, security and power spaces.
“We don't see challenges. We see opportunities. The greatest obstacle open to man – as far as I'm concerned – is ourselves. We all face a couple of bumps in the road, but they are just to wake you up.”
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