Today’s Man Crush Monday is the impact entrepreneur, Bola Lawal. In 2016, he founded an education technology (EdTech) company ScholarX, where he serves as its Chief Executive Officer, and through this platform helps African youths access funding towards achieving quality education.
Prior to ScholarX, Bola worked as a Business Analyst at ConocoPhillips, Accenture and Shell devoting his time to the successful operation of IT systems. But at his core, Bola is passionate about enabling human capital development, and founded ScholarX as his contribution towards this global goal. ScholarX has made its mark in furthering the educational aspirations of youths on the African continent. AppsAfrica once named it as one of West Africa’s best apps; the African Diaspora Investment Symposium gave it an award in recognition of its innovation and impact; it was part of Injini’s second Edtech incubator; was among the five global startups that took part in Qatar Foundation’s WISE Edtech Accelerator; and was one of the two companies recognised in the Education Financing category on a list of “Top 50 EdTech in Africa” compiled by HolonIQ. ScholarX is adding more to its repertoire – it recently launched a learning app called LearnAm which provides digital, vocational and personal improvement content in different languages, serving as a means to improve the skill set of youths on the continent.
Bola speaks at events across Europe, Africa, and North America on the value of quality education, and also convenes a social networking platform called Premia Business Network for entrepreneurs, investors and accomplished professionals. He once served as a mentor at Lagos Innovates’ Idea Hub Program and shared his knowledge on business models, go-to-market (GTM) strategy, partnerships, and accessing funding. In 2018, he was an African ChangeMakers Fellow, and in 2021 was recognised by YNaija as one of the most influential Nigerians in the tech sector.
We at Pride Magazine Nigeria celebrate Bola Lawal for the great strides he is making in ensuring each and every African youth is educated and equipped to take advantage of the opportunities of the twenty-first century for both personal and continental success.