By 
By Oluwatobi Opusunju and Nsiah Collins
Dr. Sola Afolabi, Chairman of Qitech Technologies Limited, and former Director, ECOWAS Community Computer Centre, has added another accolade to his numerous achievements in the area of IT capacity building and education by bagging the prestigious ‘Top 50 Titans of Tech’ award as an ‘Outstanding Promoter of ICT for National Development’.
Organisers of the ‘Titans of Tech’ award, Mr. Pedro Aganbi, who presented the award over the weekend to Afolabi in Lagos, said the essence of the award is to celebrate men, women, organizations and institutions who have used technology to impact the society.
Afolabi, a trade and investment specialist, consults for governments, international agencies and private sector institutions. A former lecturer of Computer Science, University of Lagos, Nigeria; Afolabi retired as Deputy Executive Secretary, Integration Programmes, ECOWAS Secretariat where he also served as Director, ECOWAS Community Computer Centre. In his most recent portfolio, he was Director of Business Environment, USAID Trade Hub, Accra, Ghana. He is the Chairman of Baobab Media and Baobab Think Limited. Afolabi also chairs the Jos based technology aggregator company, Qitech.
L-R: Mrs. Afolabi, the recipient and Mr. Aganbi
According to Aganbi, the award was bestowed on Afolabi for his immense contributions towards national growth through IT capacity building and education and also for his dedication, commitment and passion for the development of the Nigerian ICT industry.
“Titans of Tech’ award is the Nigeria’s most prestigious technology award that celebrates men, women, organizations and institutions that have used technology to impact the society. Every year, for over 12 years now, we come together to access large number of individuals and to see areas they have made contributions in the technology space,” Aganbi said.
“Dr. Afolabi has made huge impact, even during his time at ECOWAS. He has impacted also in capacity building, IT education that is why he has been nominated to receive this award. His influence is widely felt across the entire region,” he added.
Receiving the award, Afolabi thanked the organizers for the recognition .He, however, pledged his continuous support towards capacity building bearing in mind that technology is the fastest growing industry in the country and there are a lot of teeming Nigerian youths out there, who are technologically inclined and savvy.
“I thank God for this privilege and I thank the organizers, I remember they gave me one of the awards two years ago. I feel highly honored again to be among the top 50 Titans and it is a very great pleasure for me because I see very highly professionals and practitioners amongst the winners,” Dr. Afolabi said.
