Two powerful forces inspired me to start I-Train Africa.

The first was deeply personal. In 2018, I had just arrived in the UK as a proud recipient of a PhD scholarship. I was confident in my research expertise, but very quickly, I found myself struggling. Despite knowing my subject matter, I lacked the digital and workplace skills needed to thrive in an academic setting. Things as simple as creating proper slides, collaborating online, or delivering effective presentations were real challenges. I felt stuck and frustrated.

Everything shifted when I spent time in innovation labs in Singapore. There, I was introduced to design thinking, and I began picking up essential digital skills, on the job and through various programs. By 2019, I had developed a strong foundation in digital literacy and innovation. At first, I thought I’d bring these new skills back into academia. But I soon realized I couldn’t create the kind of change I envisioned within that system. At least, not yet!

So I made a decision: I would build my own curriculum using design thinking to teach others what I had painfully learned outside the classroom.

The second factor came from the market itself. As I built my businesses, I encountered the same problem every Nigerian and African employer was facing, a painful shortage of skilled workers. Time and again, I found myself hiring people who didn’t have the basic professional or digital skills needed to move the vision forward. It was discouraging.

Instead of complaining, I decided to be the solution. I started with my cousin Kunle. I trained him using the first version of the curriculum I had designed. Within three months, he wasn’t just learning, he was helping me build I-Train Africa.

From there, we tested the curriculum across nine different user groups (secondary school drop out, recent graduates, teenagers, women returning to workforce after a career break, artisan, MSc holder, entrepreneur, NYSC member, SAHM) over the next three years, refining it based on how real people learned and applied the skills. That work has now evolved into our flagship Skilled for Work Academy, built on our tested Workplace Foundational Skills (WFS) program.

Today, that curriculum has empowered over 12,100 individuals across 20+ countries, many of whom are now confidently navigating remote work, career transitions, and global opportunities.

With 3 years of rigorous testing across 9 diverse demographics, our workplace skills curriculum stands out as a proven solution for Africa’s employability gap. As the only academy with a tested and validated approach, we’re poised to empower 10 million Africans, driving meaningful impact and unlocking new opportunities for growth and success.