Akin Banuso, former Country Manager, Dell Nigeria has joined Microsoft as the General Manager of her operations in Nigeria.
Akin Banuso who had his Bachelors at University of East London in 1996 (studied Civil Engineering ) is a seasoned technology professional with over 20 years of industry experience. He has held several senior positions at various renowned technology companies like Siebel (Oracle), HP services, Accenture and Dell – where he had worked these past 12 years.
Banuso will lead the Microsoft’s digital transformation drive in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria.
“I am very excited to lead the Microsoft business in Nigeria. Our mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more, and I see so much potential in Nigeria. Since 2000, Microsoft has been partnering in Nigeria’s efforts to empower citizens through the development of Nigeria’s local software and information technology services industry. I am delighted to be at the forefront of this effort. Having collaborated with Microsoft over the last few years, I have first–hand knowledge of the talent within the team, and I’m really looking forward to working with them to bring the vision to life,” said Banuso.
Nigeria has continued to show expansion, including diversification within the oil sector and considerable infrastructure investment in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Industry. Microsoft, amongst other international companies embraces this tremendous economic and social progress and are confident of their expected success with Banuso at the helm.
As country General Manager, Banuso hopes, among many things, to address the challenge of local innovation.
“While most technology trends, innovations and consumer products come from the West and the East, Africans are realising that for us to solve the continent’s technology-related challenges, we have to find African solutions,” he says.
It’s going to be an interesting journey for Banuso as he continues leading the effort of global companies in Nigeria within the technology space.
Side note: It seems to us that Microsoft is refocusing efforts in Nigeria via a change of key senior management which would automatically spell a review of strategy. In Q4 2016, we announced that Microsoft was getting a new CTO as well as a Corporate Affairs director and today, we are announcing a new General Manager. What next are we going to be announcing?
Watch this space!
