Digital technology has taken over virtually all spheres of life and most people are daily acquiring these skills to help them in career, business and life generally.
We had a chat with Emmanuel Ogbewele – CEO/Lead Software Developer ConnectMagnet Limited, a Tech expert, who has been at the fore -front of training people(children and youths inclusive) on various digital skills over the years, recently he also developed an Internet boosting software and a Fintech trading application set to redefine the global trading space, we will be speaking with one of Nigeria’s finest tech brains.
1. What inspires you to do what you do?
Thank you, over a decade ago, I saw that there has to be a way that the young ones acquire digital technology skills across various areas if they are to be prepared for the future which is now here, many who needed these skills could not afford the costs, so I decided to organise various programs, yearly or bi-anually cutting across, children, educators, teachers, youths and professionals for free.
2. Tell us a bit about the tech empowerment training held in Lagos earlier this year.
In April 2023, I facilitated a training for youths on E-commerce, which covered online sales of goods and services and how to use digital marketing to reach your target customers/audience online. Participants learnt how to source for products locally and internationally, create sales platforms and advertise these products on both Facebook and Instagram using digital marketing techniques. It was a whole lot learnt at that training.
3. You mentioned different areas you have impacted over the years, education and all that, can you throw more light into this?
Yes, my focus has always been on Children in both primary and secondary schools which I’ve been doing since 2017. I run Summer of coding programs to teach coding, graphics, web development, animation and other tech skills.
Tech-in-education focuses on teachers, where I take practical sessions on the use of digital tools to make learning interesting and more effective, it’s even going beyond Nigeria, now across Africa, the Africa ELTA tech training conference for teachers is a testament to this.
Tech Hub programs covers youths where I train on different skills like the E-commerce training program earlier in the year.
Tech Conferences for the public covering education and NGO bodies, everyone need some form of tech adaption or the other in what they do and I’ve been doing my own bit and even more over the last decade. I have all these archives on www.emmanueltechdiary.com
4. We are aware that in 2020, your invention – the internet boosting app was rated as one of the top 5 innovative ideas in the Lagos Shift Event , kindly tell us about that product.
Yes, ConnectVSN is a special tech product that has the ability to remarkably boost internet speeds to double or more your current browsing speeds while saving your data using any existing internet connection anywhere in the world, at that time we competed successfully at that event to be rated among the top 5 with our prototype. We have been working assiduously on that product since then. Though there were many challenges, I’m pleased to announce that the beta-version for public use has finally been released. It has come a long way and I’m really excited to see how this flies. You can sign up at https://www.connectvsn.com to get started.
5. Can you let me in on this Fintech Trading Software you developed?
ConnectmagnetFX is a proprietary software developed to analyse and execute forex trades using an AI analytics model. It is set to assist users all over the world. This cloud trading service is on its way soon to give access to global users to benefit from the financial markets.
6. Please let’s know more about the just concluded Africa ELTA Teachers training program
I am a trained teacher before I ventured further into tech. I know what the education system is like for many in Nigeria and Africa, I have a special interest in empowering teachers by practical trainings on how to use tech tools to deliver lessons in the way the 21st century child can adapt, learn and become more useful. The Africa ELTA training in July 2023 replicates this vision I’ve been running through Tech-In-Education trainings across Nigeria for years and now expanding to reach teachers all across Africa.
7. What’s your take on the state of technology in Nigeria
Well, Nigeria is gradually improving even though I know there is still much ground to be covered. I mean a lot, take for example the internet coverage in Nigeria is still poor in many rural or semi-urban areas. This was one of my motivation for the ConnectVSN internet boosting solution, so we can improve the internet experience in these areas without the telecom companies having to install expensive infrastructures thereby saving costs.
8. What’s your advice for anyone who hasn’t fully embraced technology especially in this part of the world?
It’s a simple advice, wake up, the future is here, don’t be left behind, don’t be told, you can achieve more, learn a digital technology skill and make life better for yourself and others.
It’s been nice having this chat with you. Thank you.
You can see details of Emmanuel’s works at
http://www.emmanueltechdiary.com