In a recent interview with Business Insider Africa, Okunola opened up about his early life, career trajectory, and the lessons shaping the continent’s digital landscape.
Early Life and the Roots of Problem-Solving
Okunola’s early exposure to technology mirrored the constraints familiar to many Nigerians.
“Technology wasn’t ripping through Nigeria the way it was in other parts of the world, but I found my way in. When I was about 11 or 12, I remember accessing Google Search on a tiny screen with no images, just text, and getting answers through Wikipedia,” he recalled.
He and his brother would spend hours on Opera Mini, navigating 2G internet connections. “It was slow and frustrating at times, but it still felt like magic because we were discovering something new,” he said.
This early experience shaped what he describes as a lifelong ability to “work within constraints instead of waiting for perfect conditions.” His story reflects a broader African reality: according to the International Telecommunication Union, only about 36–38 percent of Africans are online, highlighting the ingenuity required to navigate limited connectivity.
Okunola’s entrepreneurial instincts appeared early as well. Inspired by board games like Monopoly, he recounted how his father introduced him to Scrabble and Monopoly, but he “didn’t just want to play.” He created his own Monopoly sets with Nigerian cities and custom paper money.
“I was trying to make what I enjoyed feel closer and more relatable to the people around me,” he said. That experience gave him an early understanding of localisation: adapting what already works so it feels natural and accessible to a specific audience.
From Internship to Global Strategy
Okunola’s professional journey began as a digital marketing intern at Hotels.ng, where he quickly learned the importance of accountability.
“My first real job came with real responsibility. From day one, I had access to a Google Ads account with actual money and was expected to deliver results. As someone just starting out, that felt like a big deal, but it taught me to take ownership—not just of the tasks assigned to me, but of the results that came out of them,” he said.
Over time, curiosity became another driving force in his career.
“When I was working in product marketing, we spent a lot of time gathering user insights and building strong cases for product changes. Sometimes we would present all the evidence and still get a ‘no.’ Instead of getting frustrated, I became curious about how decisions were actually made and what I might not be seeing from my angle. That curiosity pulled me into Strategy and Operations, and it has been the driving force behind most of my career moves. I’ve never been afraid to be a beginner if it means I get to learn.”
His journey mirrors Africa’s rapidly growing digital ecosystem, where internet adoption has expanded at one of the fastest rates globally over the past two decades, highlighting vast opportunities for professionals at the intersection of technology and emerging markets.
Building Technology for African Realities
A hallmark of Okunola’s work has been adapting Google products for African users. Research in Lagos revealed a gap between global products and local expectations.
“The technology didn’t feel familiar. It felt robotic, almost distant from how people actually speak and interact daily. In a country like Nigeria, where trust and word of mouth matter, that gap becomes a barrier. People want to feel like the product understands their context,” he explained.
This insight contributed to introducing Nigerian English into platforms like Google Assistant and Maps, with broader expansion into Yoruba, Hausa, and Igbo.
“One moment that stayed with me was when an Uber driver said he was relieved that Google Maps no longer had ‘the foreign lady.’ He said the directions finally felt natural while driving,” Okunola recounted. That moment underscored the real impact of their work: shifting the experience from mere functionality to connection and usability.
According to GSMA, more than 400 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa now use mobile internet, yet a significant portion of the population remains unconnected. Okunola’s work emphasizes the importance of products that are both accessible and culturally relevant.
Lessons for African Startups
Okunola stresses that success in African markets comes from building from the ground up rather than adapting global products downward.
“A lot of global companies take a rich product and try to scale it down for emerging markets, but that approach rarely works well. The experience ends up feeling second class, and users notice immediately. Local companies often have the advantage because they are not adapting down—they are building from scratch for their environment and their users.”
He also pointed out that insights from African users are globally relevant, as younger users in developed markets often behave like first-time users in emerging economies.
On startups, he advises founders to “think local but build global,” emphasizing that companies must define the core problem they are solving.
“If you’re a food delivery company, you’re really a logistics company first; the tech is just the enabler. If you don’t solve the core problem well, no amount of great technology will fix that.”
Africa’s mobile data consumption is projected to grow at one of the fastest rates globally, signaling strong demand for locally relevant digital solutions.
Data, Trust, and Global Perspective
Data must be handled with discipline and trust, Okunola says.
“The first thing is to separate data from monetisation because combining them too early can create the wrong perception. The goal should never be to sell user data. Trust is not optional in this space. It is foundational to whether your product succeeds or not.”
He also warns against common pitfalls: focusing on vanity metrics like downloads or sign-ups, using data to confirm existing beliefs, or delaying investment in data infrastructure, which can lead to unreliable decision-making later.
Having worked across Africa, North America, and Europe, he noted that regional differences in risk tolerance have shaped his approach to global strategy.
“The biggest difference I’ve seen across regions is risk tolerance. The U.S., for example, is much more comfortable with risk compared to places like Canada or Nigeria,” he said.
Africa at the Center of Global Tech
As the continent’s digital economy expands, professionals like Okunola are increasingly at the heart of global decision-making. Internet penetration has risen steadily, reinforcing Africa’s status as one of the fastest-growing digital markets worldwide.
His journey, from a curious child navigating 2G internet in Ibadan to a global tech strategist, embodies a larger reality: the future of technology will not only be built for Africa but increasingly by Africans.