*Says no one will build Africa for Africans

The Founder and Chairman of the Board of Voriancorelli, Bolaji Akinboro has commended, Cellulant Corporation, an Africa-focused fintech company for setting the records straight on what led to his exit from Cellulant and litigation. 

Akinboro who founded the company alongside Ken Njoroge resigned in August 2020 following allegation of misconduct that led to the immediate sack of 14 members of staff and later 34 others.

In a press statement signed by Akinboro, he said: “I acknowledge and commend the courage demonstrated by the Board of Cellulant in publicly setting the record straight on all questions and aspersions that have arisen in the past 2 years regarding my exit from Cellulant, and putting to rest any notions of wrongdoing on my part. 

He reiterated his commitment to building a Fintech & Agritech sector on the back of the emerging web 3.0 infrastructure that will leave Nigeria & Africa a better place for the next generation, adding that “No-one is coming to build Africa for Africans, and so it is both our duty and responsibility as entrepreneurs to do so.”

Quoting Theodore Roosevelt in his speech titled: ‘The Man in the Arena’ : over a century ago, Akinboro said: “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

“An entrepreneur is the “doer of great deeds” and Africa needs its ‘entrepreneurs’, if she is to be a viable contributor to the global development story. As such, we must continue to trigger and stoke the fire of entrepreneurship on the Continent by doing the collective work of giving the next generation the encouragement of credible role models. This is a crucial factor for the advancement of the Nigerian and African tech ecosystem. 

“I thank everyone who worked hard and supported me during this unique experience, and continues to do so in my onward mission of bringing prosperity to millions of Nigerians and Africans through entrepreneurship,” he said.