Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Governor of Enugu State, Mr Peter Mbah, has appointed the co-founder and CEO of Kobo360, Mr Obi Ozor, as the Commissioner for Transport, a move that has sent ripples of joy across Nigeria’s tech sector.
Mr Ozor was sworn in last Friday alongside 19 others by Governor Mbah.
He is expected to bring his over six years of logistics and supply chain experience to drive the goals of the Southeastern state’s executive council.
Speaking at the swearing-in ceremony, Mr Mbah said to the Commissioners, “Your selection was largely driven by your track records, your experience, your background, and it’s our hope that you are going to bring those experiences to bear and to work for the people of Enugu State.”
“In this journey of greatness, growth, and development, I look forward to working with you all to actualize the Enugu State of our dreams together,” he added.
Me Ozor graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Biochemistry before advancing to the Wharton School of Business. After completing his studies, he worked at JP Morgan as an investment banker before becoming the Operations Coordinator at Uber Nigeria.
In 2016, he left Uber and later launched Kobo360, one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital logistics platforms, and is building a Global Logistics Operating System (G-LOS), a blockchain-enabled platform to power trade across the African continent.
In 2019, Mr Ozor was named “Innovator of the Year” and “Young Business Leader of the Year” at the CNBC All Africa Business Leaders Awards. In 2020, he and his co-founder, Ife Oyedele II, were selected to be part of Endeavor’s global network of high-impact entrepreneurs. He was also named one of Fortune Magazine’s 40 under 40 global leaders in technology.
His appointment shows that active players in the Nigerian tech scene are being recognized in the political stead. This will afford them to be part of policy-making and execution that will spur growth in one of the booming industries in the world.
This is coming after another Nigerian tech leader, Mr Bosun Tijani, the co-founder and CEO of CcHUB was nominated by President Bola Tinubu for a ministerial appointment.
While Mr Ozor’s appointment is at the state level, Mr Tijani will head a core ministry at the national level as the country looks to utilise more of its human talent. These nominations provide a starting point for many progressive policies to find their way into bureaucratic structures of governance.
Reacting, Mr Iyin Aboyeji, co-founder of Future Africa, describes Mr Ozor’s appointment as a “superb cabinet pick.”
“Congrats to my brother @ObiKobo- CEO of Kobo360, who was just appointed Commissioner of Transport for Enugu State! Another superb cabinet pick. Our numbers are growing,” he wrote on X over the weekend.
