By ISAAC UMUNNA

For years I heard and read about Leo Stan Ekeh and his exploits with his flagship company, Zinox Technologies Limited. However, our paths never crossed. This was for two main reasons.

First, I started my journalism career in Kaduna and worked outside Lagos – where he is based – for over a decade before relocating to the nation’s economic capital. Second, I never covered Information and Communication Technology (ICT), the industry where he has done so much to rightly earn recognition as Africa’s Bill Gates.

Our First Meeting

I finally had the opportunity to meet the great man in early 2011, with the meeting being facilitated by my then boss, the late Prof. Dora Akunyili. We were preparing to leave office on December 31, 2010 following Prof. Akunyili’s resignation as Minister of Information and Communication and I went to her to request for a laptop from the ministry, explaining that my old laptop was giving me a lot of problems.

“Isaac, don’t worry; I will take care of it,” Prof. Akunyili said. She however explained that I had to wait until we left office “because I have already resigned and do not want a scandal.” Incidentally, we left office without any payoff or parting gift!

Shortly after we left office Prof. Akunyili, who retained me as her Media Aide, sent me a note to go and see Leo Stan Ekeh. “He will give you a laptop,” she said.

By this time I had spent 14 years working in Lagos, so it was easy for me to locate the headquarters of Zinox Group at 5 Redemption Crescent, Industrial Layout, Gbagada. I was warmly received at the Front Office and ushered into Chairman’s Office shortly thereafter. As I opened the door that early afternoon the man seated at the desk smiled and warmly welcomed me as if we had met before. He then directed me to see the relevant officer. Within minutes I was on my way home with a brand-new Zinox laptop which served me well for several years and which I remain proud of till today.

Beginning of a Relationship

The next time I saw Chairman – as we call Leo Stan Ekeh – was on Thursday, October 22, 2015. By this time Prof. Akunyili had died and I was trying to find my feet as a mediapreneur. A pioneer member of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), I attended the Guild’s launch at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, which featured Leo Stan Ekeh as Guest Speaker. Characteristic of him, much of his speech was devoted to urging us not to be discouraged by the challenges of online publishing but to persevere in the business. He told us of how he computerised and revolutionised the newspaper business in Nigeria and how he pioneered online publishing in the country, concluding with a firm promise to always support us in our businesses.

After the GOCOP Conference I went home, wrote a story based on Leo Stan Ekeh’s speech, published it and sent him the link, accompanied with a request for business support. Surprisingly, he replied, thanking me for the story and promising to assist as much as he could. And he has done exactly that – providing business support, consistent advice and physically showing up at our events to freely share his wide knowledge with others.

Bill Gates of Africa

It is not for nothing that Leo Stan Ekeh is called the Bill Gates of Africa: He is not only an Internet Technology pathfinder on the continent but has remained in the forefront of efforts to computerise the continent. When he returned to Nigeria from the United Kingdom after quitting his post-graduate programme he met a country that was wholly analogue and set about to propagate what he called ‘digital democracy’ with evangelical zeal.

He started by digitizing the media, then moved into oil and gas, the financial sector, and public sector, where his Zinox Group impacted heavily on e-governance. The Group’s ambitious Computerise Nigeria initiative ensured that homes, educational institutions, and ministries, parastatals and agencies (MDAs) which had no access to computers had access. However, Leo Stan Ekeh and his team did not just dump computers on the people, but rather ensured that they were skilled-up to effectively use the systems for enhanced productivity.

From humble beginnings, the Zinox Group has since evolved into an African conglomerate with operations in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. President Bola Tinubu testified to this when he spoke of “the landmark launch of Zinox Technologies Limited in 2001, which ushered in indigenous manufacturing of computers and accessories,” describing it as a groundbreaking moment for local technology production in Nigeria.

According to the President in his congratulatory message to Leo Stan Ekeh on the occasion of his 70th birthday, the celebrant’s “bold entry into computer manufacturing at a time when the sector was largely dominated by foreign brands demonstrated vision, resilience and patriotism.” He went ahead to praise the famed digital disruptor “for distinguishing himself as a pace-setter and dynamic industrialist, whose efforts have helped position Nigeria as a growing hub for technology and innovation in Africa.”

The Nigerian leader in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, hailed “Mr Ekeh’s commitment to promoting the Nigerian brand and creating opportunities for young Nigerians,” noting that “his entrepreneurial journey has inspired a new generation of tech-driven business leaders.”

Turnaround Specialist

However, Leo Stan Ekeh is not just a pioneer but also a turnaround specialist. The evidence can be found in what the Zinox Group has done with Konga after beating off competitors in 2018 to acquire the then troubled e-commerce firm from Naspers, Africa's most valuable company, and Kinnevik, a Swedish investment company. In just a few years after that acquisition, Konga, which Zinox merged with its e-commerce firm Yudala, has been transformed into the fastest growing e-commerce firm in Africa. It has not only become a composite e-commerce behemoth that combines online shopping with physical in-store shopping, but has extended its tentacles across the e-commerce ecosystem with strong brands like KongaPay, which offers payment solutions; Konga Logistics, which moves goods across the nation; Konga Health, which offers e-health services; as well as the revolutionary Konga TV and Radio channels that give merchants, customers and partners a much-needed voice. The growth has indeed been phenomenal, for at the last count, Konga had over 200,000 merchants and four million customers, while hundreds of logistics franchisees depend on Konga’s ecosystem.

Exemplary Family Man

Leo Stan Ekeh has not only successfully built chains of businesses, but has also built something even more important: A happy and close-knit family fully converted by his gospel of entrepreneurship.

His wife and business partner, Lady Chioma Ekeh, a maths whiz-kid and chartered accountant, is the Group Chief Executive Officer of TD Africa, the biggest tech distribution company in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is not surprising, therefore, that their children have chosen to walk the path of entrepreneurship and are doing a good job of it. For example, their first child, Mrs. Gozy Ijogun (Nee Ekeh), launched TD-Mobile, Nigeria’s first structured mobile device distribution company, at age 25. The venture proved to be a hit, generating N38 billion in revenue in its first year of operation, securing partnerships with in-demand global brands such as Apple, Samsung, and Nokia. In 2023, Mrs. Gozy Ijogun climbed up the ladder in the Group when she became the Chief Executive Officer of Task Systems Limited, a foremost system integration company founded in 1987, which for close to 40 years, has remained the system integrator of choice providing ICT solutions to several clients across the Nigerian and sub-Saharan market.

On his part, the first son of the family, Prince Nnamdi Ekeh, has evolved into a maverick entrepreneur who currently sits atop Konga as Group Chief Executive Officer, after several years of switching positions and learning from the best professionals within the Zinox Group.

Like their seniors, Gozy and Nnamdi's younger siblings are also active in the Africa digital ecosystem, equally carving a niche for themselves.

Principled Child of God

It speaks volumes that Leo Stan Ekeh has managed to build a famed conglomerate without his name being successfully attached to any scandal. This is mainly because of his Christian upbringing and deep religious convictions. A man who has never taken alcohol or smoked, Leo Stan Ekeh has strived to live a godly life from his childhood. While growing up at his hometown Ubomiri, located near Owerri, the Imo State capital, he was a mass servant and chorister in his local community Catholic Church. As an adult and successful businessman, he remained connected to his roots and has since rebuilt the church complete with the rectory.

At the dedication of the church, he recalled that his grandfather produced a Reverend Father who was ordained same day with Rev Canon Iwene Tansi – the man widely expected to become Nigeria’s first Saint.

Speaking of his rich spiritual heritage, Leo Stan Ekeh said: “My father as a pastime was a soloist in this church, and he served God with all his might.

“I come from a lineage of people who served God dedicatedly. I think I am a miracle child and was clear who I wanted to be from the day I launched out as a tech entrepreneur. I saw myself as an only child even though I have siblings and, as an orphan even though my parents were alive and a bit civilized because no person around me even though educated, had tech knowledge to advise me, so I decided to take the pain before pleasure alone.

“I love God and will never hesitate to do anything in the service of God and humanity. I built this church as a mark of God’s special love and mercy towards me. I have the best wife any man would wish to have. She is a super star. She is intelligent, beautiful and unlike some women, she is not expensive and more importantly, we operate on the same tech wavelength. If for any reason I get stuck, she is the one to figure out the solution for me. God blessed me with brilliant and responsible children too. I am grateful to God because He has seen me through the valleys and mountains of life. As a mark of God’s mercy to me, I pay corporate tithes for all my companies. I didn’t read it in the Bible but I do it.”

At several occasions, the tech whiz-kid has publicly acknowledged God as the architect of his success. Along this line, he once told journalists: “As an entrepreneur, I have strategised, stayed up late, made projections but if there was no mercy of God and His grace to help me implement these, there will be no success. God has done me well; even for me to be alive, to come from the family I come from, the village, town, region and country I come from. Most importantly, God has managed me because He gave me a proactive personality, removing all the holes in my life. The temptations are there, you can imagine them. Maybe if I was taking alcohol, I would have been a mental guy. I work an average of 20 hours a day and near zero holidays and I have no health challenges.”

But to Leo Stan Ekeh, serving God should go beyond religion and should include philanthropy. Thus, he has for the past 40 years immersed himself in philanthropy as part of his efforts to promote the public good. Through the Zinox Group and the Leo Stan Ekeh Foundation (LSEF), his family’s non-profit, he has uplifted countless people and institutions both in cash and kind, especially human-capital development, upskilling the hitherto unskilled in tech-techniques. His imprint in this regard includes institutionalising entrepreneurship in select universities, as well as award of many local and overseas scholarships to Nigerians of all tribes and tongues to advance their quest for knowledge.

In the past two years alone, LSEF has launched three entrepreneurship centres at St. Augustine University in Epe, Lagos, Federal University, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, and Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, among others. On its part, the Zinox Group has trained and retrained over 3,000 Nigerians and donated tech centres to over 25 institutions nationwide – among other interventions.

Like fine wine that gets better with age, Leo Stan Ekeh gets better with philanthropy as he ages. The latest proof: Africa's foremost tech icon is not celebrating his 70th birthday (which falls today, February 22, 2026) with a mega party, preferring, instead, to offer university scholarships to additional 1,000 Nigerian indigent whiz-kids to study Computer Science in federal universities “so that the country’s private and public sectors could have a new generation of tech whiz-kids to support the growth of the economy.”

According to Leo Stan Ekeh, “Each shall have a tech mentor from year one, as I plan a partnership with Computer Society of Nigeria and every vocation they shall be engaged resourcefully. Beneficiaries shall be from poor homes and those with parents who earn below Government Level 10 and its equivalent in the private sector. The first batch starts this September, and I expect each to earn first class degree. This is my Group of companies’ and my little way of appreciating my country, individuals and corporates that gave us the opportunities in the last 40 years and still patronizing our Tech Group – Task Systems, TD Africa, Zinox Technologies, Konga, etc.”

On the cost of this gigantic philanthropic venture, he said: “It has an annual cost that shall run into billions of Naira and my group is committed to it amongst other social responsibility projects like TD Africa Project to produce 10,000 female tech experts out of which 400 have graduated and are fully employed in different corporates in Nigeria. This is a 10-year project with other perks. The full package shall be revealed online on April 22, 2026.”

As noted by the Ideas Nigeria Movement (INM), a pro-innovation advocacy group, this initiative is “the first of its kind in Nigeria.”

“The concept of such structured, targeted, youth-focused scholarship is rare and laudable. For the first time in the history of Nigeria, we are seeing a scholarship of such magnitude solely dedicated to the study of computer science. This scholarship targets the most critical segment of Nigeria’s demographics – the youths. We consider this not just as an investment in the youths, but an expression of confidence in the future of the country,” INM said in a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Nadodo Abubakar.

A Prophet with Honour

Thanks to his trailblazing exploits from business to religion and philanthropy, Leo Stan Ekeh has garnered numerous awards and recognitions both locally and internationally. One of his key national honours is the Officer of the Order of the Federal Republic (OFR). In addition, he was decorated by President Olusegun Obasanjo as ‘Icon of Hope’ on Nigeria’s Independence Day in 2003. He is also the Forbes Best of Africa Leading Tech Icon. Just recently, another honour came from home, as he was honoured with the Distinguished Star of Imo State (DSI) award at the grand finale of the Imo at 50 celebrations.

What Next for the Tech Leader?

In a country with the lowest average life expectancy in the world (approximately 54.6 to 54.9 years for males), hitting the Biblical three scores and ten is no mean achievement. Doing so in good health is a miracle.

But to the miracle child, whose full name is Dr. Leonard Stanley Nnamdi Ekeh, there are still many more miracles to come, which is why he is already projecting into how to mark his 100th birthday. Speaking on the 1,000 tech scholarship scheme he said: “If we are successful with this spiritual mandate, I can then celebrate my 100 years on earth with a bang.”

If it pleases God to add an additional 20 years to make the 120 years Leo Stan Ekeh is aiming to make “with God and AI”, who knows what else he may disrupt? With Africa’s Bill Gates, you never say never, for no dream is too big for him dream, and no mountain is too high for him to aim at. And conquer.

•Umunna, international award-winning journalist, is publisher of the Lagos-based News Express; NewsExpressNgr.com