Profiling of facilitators: Meet the seasoned mentors at NOGTECH Incubation Programme 2020

Day 1: Odiong Akpan

Odiong has over sixteen years of combined experience in the information & communication technology and oil & gas industries. He has worked for multinational organizations like Chevron, Ericsson, Airtel, Huawei and Schlumberger. He is very passionate about organizational learning, digital innovation and international development. As such, he loves to participate in
related activities with hopes of influencing people, policy and practice – positively.

Odiong is a graduate of Electronic Engineering (BEng) from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria and of Engineering Business Management (MSc) from The University of Warwick, United Kingdom. Presently, he is a doctorate candidate studying for a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at the University of Bradford School of Management, United Kingdom.
He is an avid chess player and a landscape photographer.

Day 2: Akinwole Akinpelu

Akinwole is a consulting engineer for Neubridges, at General Electric Lagos Garage, a digital industrial company, and the founder at Stampar3D Limited, a laser cutting and 3D printing service industry in Nigeria.

He has successfully mentored thousands of hardware entrepreneurs and inventors in rapid prototyping and business idea development.

Also, he is an alumnus at the University of Liverpool, and the University of London, where he bagged a masters degree in advanced engineering materials, and a bachelor’s degree in biomaterial science and engineering, respectively.

Day 3: Kayode Oyewole

Kayode is a partner at Ventures Platform and Labs by ARM, a corporate fintech accelerator, who has a background in product design, strategy, operations, and entrepreneurship among others.

At VP, Kayode devotes his skills to building products for startups’ growth. Prior to his current role at Ventures Platform, he was the Head of Riders Growth at Metro Africa Xpress (MAX), and an Entrepreneur in Training (EIT) at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST).

Having bagged a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in classics, communication and language art, Kayode has served as a mentor at the Village Capital Fintech Africa Programme and the Africa Entrepreneurship Award.

Day 5: Odunoluwa Longe

Odunoluwa Longe is a legal practitioner and co-founder at The Longe Practice LP (TLP), a law firm providing legal services to African entrepreneurs.

She is dedicated to building and nurturing African entrepreneurs, SMEs, tech-enabled startups, innovative enterprises among others, putting their welfare to the forefront. Her legal experience and skills boost her deep insight into clientele needs, offering sustainable and actionable solutions.

Prior to this, she has had a career at several investment banking sectors and legal firms, including the law firm of Solola & Akpana, Fidelity law firm, ARM Investments, and FBN Quest, and is a board member at Ventures Platform Foundation.

Further ensuring the sustainability of startups, she also co-founded DIYlaw, an online platform creating access to legal services, processes, and resources.

In addition to the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, she attended the Northwestern University – Kellogg School of Management, College of Law – England and Wales, Nigerian Law School, and Lagos State University

Day 5: Victoria Crandall

A Lagos-based PR and communications strategist, Victoria Crandall is an alumnus of the University of Virginia, helping African visionary entrepreneurs scale globally.

While leveraging her vast experience as a commodity analyst and financial journalist, she has built strong thought leadership profiles for a number of clientele who has appeared in leading global publications, including CNN, Bloomberg, Next Billion, and Reuters among others.

Added to being a publicist, she has worked as a director of media relations at InsiderPR, Abidjan, a company providing PR services for early-stage entrepreneurs and investors, a soft commodity specialist at Ecobank, Abidjan, an independent soft commodity consultant at Crandall Commodity Consulting LLC, among others.