Kolawole Olajide was born on the 4th of November 1991 in Lagos, Nigeria. He moved to South Africa in 2009 to further his studies. After his matriculation exam, he was admitted at CTI Education group to study an Information Systems Engineering course which he finished as a top student with a distinction. He is very passionate about education. He strongly believes a lot of people in Africa will not be given education and they will have to take it. His present focus is to use his technical skills to bring good quality education closer to the masses at an affordable cost.
There, he met up with some graduates of University of Cape Town and began his project, Funda. Funda is an online learning management system that brings together necessary educational resources to make the lives of teachers, students, and parents a bit easier. This system has been wildly successful ad has begun to spread through South Africa to different Universities.
Kolawole has combined his passion for education access and technology together by creating a company which seeks to encourage African institutions to use data analytics to drive decisions in the learning environment. His enterprise is curbing the youth unemployment rate directly in South Africa as it employs six youth and through long term efforts by improving the quality of education for Africans at the high school and University level.
Since Kolawole’s selection, he has achieved several milestones for his company. He has brokered a large, multi-year, multi-million rand contract with South African Universities.
Since its launch in 2009, Funda has been recognized by several international bodies, including the United Nations Development Programme and the World Economic Forum. It has also received a number of accolades, including the “Best Tech Innovation and Education” award at the U.N.’s World Youth Summit in 2012 and Mazar’s “Best Sustainable Business Model” prize.
One of his major projects is with the African Leadership University, which seeks to use his platform at their ten University campuses expected to open by 2025. His company has been recognized as one of the top 13 education companies in Africa.
Kola’s success reflects the quality of his product, his team’s professionalism and work ethic. Kola has mastered the art of leveraging networks. His deal with the African Leadership University stems from his constant engagement with the Anzisha Program and recognition of the need to leverage networks.
