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Funke Opeke Quotes
born 1961 Nigeria
Funke Opeke(born 1961) is a Nigerian electrical engineer, born into a lovely family and has six siblings; she grew up in Ibadan, Oyo State. Her father was the first indigenous Director of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria and her mum once worked as Head Teacher of different Catholic private schools in Ibadan.
Nigeria Businesswomen Engineers Random Funke Opeke quote
18 quotes
We can’t leave an entire generation of young people without proper access to the internet.
"Being tied into that global ecosystem seemed to be the best route to ensure the long-term sustainability and growth of what we had built."
"What does that say about us as a society, about how much value we place on the education of our young people?"
For anything you are trying to do, there are a thousand other people trying to do the same thing. Even if it costs a billion dollars.
"We were all young people trying to discover and create the best opportunities for ourselves."
While the developed world was fully connected, here in Nigeria the average young person didn’t know what the internet was.
A connected Nigeria is a more economically prosperous Nigeria.
"I've done more to pull down barriers to achieve what we needed to more-so than do any fundamental innovation, invention or acquired state-of-the-art knowhow."
Through MainOne, my goals and ambitions have become more focused on improving Internet access for the citizens of West Africa in order to drive economic growth and human development.
Every entrepreneur has to raise capital. If your business is going to grow, you have to raise capital. You have to be smart about raising capital, you have to be determined about raising capital.
"It is safe to say that only the privileged have access to the Internet today. This leaves a large portion of our student population without access to learning."
Raising money is the most difficult thing I ever did as an entrepreneur
"When I left NITEL and started MainOne, the vision was to bridge the digital divide and make Internet services more widely available across West Africa."
We can promote more female empowerment in startups by creating a larger pool of women in tech, giving women in tech more visibility, and addressing challenges around gender bias with regards to funding.
"I witnessed the tremendous growth of the Internet in the US and felt inspired that we could achieve improved socio-economic outcomes in Nigeria with technology deployment."
When you look at the original vision and the potential and where we are, you will know that there is so much to do. If I get complacent I may have to step aside so that the vision can move forward.
I believe mentorship programs for girls will provide the exposure, encouragement to acquire the foundational skills, and networks required for higher education and future career opportunities in technology.
Do not be afraid to take bold steps and ask for help. The most successful people did not make it on their own. You need to find mentors and advisors along the way: experienced, wiser people who know a lot and can help you fulfill your aspirations.
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