Nigerian tech-entrepreneur, Iyinoluwa Samuel Aboyeji believes President Bola Tinubu was the only tech-inclined candidate among the major presidential contenders before the 2023 elections.

Aboyeji made this known in an interview on Seun Okinbaloye's Mic On Podcast over the weekend.

He noted that Labour Party's Peter Obi, who gained prominence before the polls, didn't convince him with his message on strengthening Nigeria's tech capabilities.

According to him, Obi and his team lacked "practical ideas about the digital economy or even the expertise to run these things." Citing Obi's constant message on manufacturing, the former Flutterwave co-founder said Nigeria could never have outperformed China in production.

He said: "The current president was the most serious of the three when it came to understanding the power of digital and what technology could do for the country.

"He (Peter Obi) and his team, I don't think had practical ideas about the digital economy or even the expertise to run these things. He's advocating manufacturing. We're never going to compete with China. I think it's very important for everybody to understand that we cannot be competitive in agriculture or manufacturing because we simply lack the infrastructure."

"And I think we should just stop barking up that tree. There's just no way that we're going to produce more than China produces. It will always be cheaper for us to buy from China than for us to produce it in Nigeria. For many things."

Aboyeji, OON, is a Nigerian entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Andela and the former managing director of Flutterwave. In 2019, New African magazine cited him as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Africans.



NBA