The young woman is convinced that digital innovation will create wealth, promote human dignity and promote prosperity in Africa. As a member of several networking organizations, she is hard at work promoting the continent’s innovation ecosystem.
Anna Ekeledo (photo) is a Nigerian senior marketing executive and executive director of AfriLabs Foundation (since 2016), an organization that federates 347 innovation centers across Africa. AfriLabs networks entrepreneurs, investors, tech entrepreneurs, and web/mobile engineers. In line with its mission to support African tech hubs, it provides financing, mentorship, networking opportunities, and tools to build the capacities of high-potential entrepreneurs.
In an interview with The Guardian, in 2021, Anna explained that as AfriLabs Foundation’s executive director, her work “entails overseeing the running of the organization effectively to ensure we achieve our mandate to our community and the African innovation ecosystem.”
“Externally, I engage multiple stakeholders to foster collaboration, raise awareness and funding for our work and our community of hubs, entrepreneurs, and innovators. I also work closely with the AfriLabs Board to ensure that we stay true to our vision, mission, and our strategies are aligned with them,” she added.
The young executive director is a marketing management graduate from the Leeds University Business School (2012). Since 2020, she is a member of the Europe Foundation’s strategic force group. She also chairs a working party on AfCFTA negotiations at Ecommerce Forum Africa, an organization that promotes e-commerce on the continent.
Since 2019, Anna is the African regional innovation lead for academic research institution Edtech Hub. About one year earlier, she was appointed a member of the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council.
Before her immersion into the networking sphere, the marketing executive held various marketing and consultancy positions at home and abroad. From November 2010 to September 2011, she was an assistant investment officer for the Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission. The following year, she became a brand ambassador for the marketing agency iD Experiential. Then, in 2013, she was the marketing manager of real estate marketing consultant Value Chain Project Consultants.
She further enhanced her marketing expertise as a business developer for Nigerian POS manufacturer Ingenico SA and senior marketing executive for digital marketing training institute Wild Fusion Digital Center. In 2015, she was appointed consultant for World Bank’s project GEMS in Nigeria before taking the helm of AfriLabs Foundation. From 2019 to 2022, Anna was on the advisory board of Technopolis Group, a science, innovation, and technology consultant. In 2021, she made it to the Agile 50 list celebrating the “world’s 50 most influential navigating disruption.”
Melchior Koba
