JohnXcel:

Sophistication and class written allover this Yoruba woman.

laudate:
There is still a lot more that can be said about Chief Adegunwa. A few publications have carried stories about him. In the 90s, he was popularly known as Fototek, because of his investments in photography, and photographic equipment.

His massive head office at Adebola house in the Opebi area of Ikeja, Lagos was a beehive of activities. It had one of the best photo studios in Lagos. But when smartphones and inkjet printers were launched in the Nigerian market, the demand for photographic materials dwindled, and he had to move into other lines of business. He celebrated his 70th birthday last year, and many people had kind words to say about him.

Olubukola Asafa - The startup story of a Nigerian entrepreneur with a passion for fine craftsmanship and building a bespoke luxury leathergoods brand.


There is a growing interest right now in AfroLuxe, bespoke finely crafted luxury items all proudly designed and created here in Africa. Oba Couture, the brand created by Nigerian entrepreneur Olubukola Asafa, is a new name in the world of luxury leather accessory brands emerging from the African continent, to add to the list of those brands currently winning legions of fans around the world with their high-end, luxury products.

There is a growing global interest in African design, textiles and products, and talented Nigerian interior designer and lifestyle brand creator, Eva Sonaike, is taking the world by storm on the back of this trend. Her aim is to position the ‘African’ aesthetic in the global textiles and interior industry as part of her bigger brand-building picture. Today, Eva Sonaike is a London-based interiors and lifestyle brand creating luxurious textiles, home-décor and accessories with a distinctive and vibrant West-African aesthetic. Inspired by the cultural mélange of West-African textile tradition and European craftsmanship, a passion for interior design and an exuberant love of colour, as the company’s Creative Director, Eva’s aim is to add a new and distinctive aesthetic to the luxury interiors market. Expertly printed in Germany and manufactured in the UK, the luxury range (of textiles and products) boasts a breadth of exclusive designs that bring a touch of African luxury to any setting.

deomelo:



http://obacouture.com/product/legally-fab/

Damilola Solesi is founder, CEO and creative director of SMIDS Animation Studios Nigeria a company she founded in 2010. Smids animation studios is based in Lagos and creates 3D computer animation, 3D content production, motion graphics and visual effects. Damilola is also the pioneer of TechDivaz (now Women R.I.S.E), an initiative she started at the Co-Creation Hub. TechDivaz is a platform where women are inspired to expand their interests in technology through collaboration, networking, training, mentorship and funding to help them play a stronger role in growing the technology startup scene in Nigeria and Africa.

deomelo:
Damilola Solesi, founder, CEO and creative director of SMIDS Animation Studios

When the name Banke Kuku is mentioned, it rings the bell of professionalism, dedication and creativity in woven and print textile. Banke uses the art of textile production and her degree from Central St Martins and Chelsea Art College, London to create stunning fashion and interior pieces to beautify both body and home.

Banke lived in Lagos till she was 8 years old, and after her primary education at Grange primary school she moved to England to complete her education. Her love for textiles didn’t begin until she went on to study Textile Design at Central St Martins and was given the award of ‘Queen of Color

okway:
Orisha Couture

Some souvenirs for tourists

With Christmas just weeks away, U.S. first lady Michelle Obama has enlisted Nigerian-born fashion designer Duro Olowu and other creative masterminds to decorate the White House for the holidays. In a recent interview with Elle magazine, the already-elegant features of the Vermeil room were used as “a backdrop for a magical and surrealistic festive atmosphere,” Olowu said.

"My idea [was] to create a beautiful feast for the eyes reminiscent of a warm and joyful season filled with international treasures and signature fabrics," Olowu told Elle magazine Dec. 2.

This year’s holiday theme at the White House is “A Timeless Tradition,” which inspired Olowu’s unique designs in the Vermeil room. To transform the space, which is sometimes used as a ladies’ sitting room during formal events, Olowu brought in two 8-foot Christmas trees, which he draped in stunning ribbons, ornate appliqué and encrusted ornaments. The London-based designer also created custom teddy bears using vintage African fabrics.

[b]As the fast developing world of personal grooming and skincare grows in Africa, so too does the desire to find products that harness the unique natural ingredients from the continent for their inspiration. One luxury brand, ORÍKÌ, founded by Joycee Awojoodu, is not only creating a range of products that truly celebrate Africa’s natural resources, but it also positively touches the lives of those who harvest those raw materials. ORÍKÌ is a leading luxury personal grooming brand that fuses natural ingredients and scientific research to create extraordinary personal care products. The brand creates effective and luxurious beauty and grooming products utilizing raw materials and all natural resources discovered around the world. The range of 32 products is for the ORÍKÌ woman and man, and covers the full spectrum of serums, moisturizers, body wash, moisturizers, exfoliates, toners, treatments, masks and more. Botanically based, the brand uses potent plants, organic ingredients and 100% natural essential oils.[/b]

deomelo:
Nigerian Designer Decorates White House For Christmas

Nigerian-born, London-based designer Duro Olowu posed with models at the Duro Olowu Fall 2011 presentation during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Milk Studios in New York City.

http://www.ibtimes.com/who-duro-olowu-nigerian-designer-decorates-white-house-christmas-photos-2222268

Meet Omolabake Adenle -a Nigerian- she built a software that can speak and understand african languages.

Proud of you Girl!

~Trends of Nigeria

The African Innovation Foundation (AIF) recently announced the top 10 nominees who will be contending for the '2017 Innovation Prize for Africa', in Accra on July 18.

Innovators from nine African countries were shortlisted – one from DRC, Egypt, Kenya, Liberia, Morocco, SA, Uganda and Zimbabwe; and two from Nigeria – and one of the most impressive minds on the list has to be Omolabake Adenle for her voice recognition and speech synthesis software for African languages.

Photo: Abake )
(Photo: Omolabake Adenle)
Founded under her startup, AJA.LA Studios, Adenle's software can understand and digitize African languages; and synthesize speech from African languages presented as digitized text – just imagine Siri speaking and reading Yoruba.

Digitizing African languages like this will allow Africans to interact with a wide range of devices and third-party software applications in their local languages.

While voice recognition and speech synthesis software have been developed for various Western and Asian languages, there has been very limited commercial application or academic research for African languages.

This innovation will open up opportunities for Africans with low literacy levels – or those that simply don't speak English – to also enjoy the benefits of the digital revolution.




http://www.konbini.com/ng/lifestyle/omolabake-adenle-built-software-than-can-speak-and-understand-african-languages/

deomelo:


Joycee Awojoodu, founder of ORÍKÌ

ORIKI is the first skincare brand here in Nigeria that has a comprehensive line – CEO, Joycee Awojoodu

“Before now the company was using the old fashioned permanent clamp kiln with a capacity of 20 million standard bricks per annum.

“We were using the clamp kiln for firing and open air-drying process. Now, we have moved to artificial drying, which is a major step that increased the capacity of our production from barely four million bricks per annum to 20 million bricks,” he said.

Adeyinka disclosed that the factory was sited within the Olapeleke environment because the required clay deposit is found in the locality. The company has a mining licence from the federal government.

On the demand for bricks, he said: “There is a huge demand for bricks in the country. We have been able to convince some arms of government adopt bricks in the construction of houses. As a structural engineer, there are some structures; we deliberately recommend that it should be light loaded due to the characteristics of bricks. Bricks are lighter and if you want to reduce the load on a particular structure, we advice the builder to adopt clay bricks. That is another source of demand."

“What we are doing with Amide is a silent revolution. We’re setting up a Nigeria Brick Industry Institute like in the United States, which membership will be opened to the public. It will be a forum to exchange ideas.” He added.

The director, Subsidiary and Production, Sparklight Group, Adeoye Adeyinka explained that there are three major steps in the production process. https://guardian.ng/property/amide-seeks-ban-on-clay-bricks-import-launches-n4-5b-factory/ ; https://www.today.ng/business/154242/firm-ramps-nigeria-brick-production-20m-yearly

deomelo:
Oreoluwa Somolu-Lesi, Executive Director, Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre


Oreoluwa Somolu-Lesi is a phenomenal woman in many rights. Through her non-profit organization, Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC), she is leading a powerful drive for information technology literacy and empowerment for girls in Nigeria, and inspiring more women to pursue technology related careers.




















http://www.africa-ontherise.com/2016/04/exclusive-interview-oreoluwa-somolu-lesi-executive-director-womens-technology-empowerment-centre-w-tec/

totit:
I just found this now :

Yele Okeremi, the founding and incumbent Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director of Precise Financial Systems Ltd, has a lengthy professional IT career as programmer, system analyst, IT manager, Head of systems and logistics spanning across the IT and Financial sectors. Yele is reputed as a leading icon in software development in Nigeria and is a member of the Presidential Initiative for developing the software industry in Nigeria. He is a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science (With Economics) from the Obafemi Awolowo University and a Masters in Business Administration. He is an alumnus of the Wits Business School, Johannesburg South Africa and the prestigious Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

deedeedee1:
Yoruba people are brilliant. We are truly the japan of Africa!!! Can somebody please tell me why some Yoruba still shout "One Nigeria" when the country is drawing us back? I dont get it. Our language, talent, and culture need to be shown to the world!!!
we need to grow!!!!
We need to leave Niger-area!!!

Muyiwa Matuluko of Techpoint: Congratulations on your successful Series A funding round. It’s tough enough raising money in an environment like Nigeria. But you guys somehow managed to pull it off

Fikayo Ogundipe of ToLet: Thank you Muyiwa. Indeed, it is particularly difficult trying to raise money in Africa, especially if you are going for anything above a million dollars. And we are just a bunch of guys from Ife (Obafemi Awolowo University – OAU), with no international experience working for the likes of Google. Nor are we Stanford, MIT or Harvard alumni. These are real barriers people trying to raise money in these climes face.