Loy Okezie, Author at Memeburn

Loy Okezie is a digital marketing strategist and founder of Startups Nigeria, the first online technology startup community in Nigeria. He has consulted for several small and mid-size companies and helped start-up CareersNigeria.com, one of the leading job portals in Nigeria in 2007. He writes a column about internet companies in Nigeria for Technology Times and iWeek. Loy was recently hired as Content Strategist to help start a Web 2.0 search and information portal for Nigeria similar to Yahoo! and AOL. Loy is a conference speaker and has trained individuals and corporate bodies on personal and organisational effectiveness. A Business Administration graduate from the University of Abuja, Loy has worked with management and recruitment consulting firms in Nigeria, France and the UK where he learned and demonstrated skills in corporate training, professional speaking, strategic planning & marketing, customer relationship management (CRM) and recruitment sales amongst others. Loy was born in Lagos and grew up in a small town along Badagry Expressway, but has traveled around Africa and Europe with a passion for technology, startups and new media communication tools for business success. He currently lives in Lekki Peninsula, New Lagos with his wife. He speaks fluent French and is currently learning Spanish.

Website: http://www.loyokezie.com

Major shake-up in Nigerian web hosting industry
By Loy Okezie on December 9, 2010
The news broke in the early hours of Sunday, December 5th that a major acquisition in the African web industry had just taken place. Web4Africa Ltd, a leading web hosting company headquartered in Accra, Ghana has just acquired 100% control of Nairahost, a top web-hosting firm based in Lagos, Nigeria for an undisclosed fee. According to the official press release, The acquisition boosts Web4Africa’s current client base of over 8 400 to about 11 500 after...
Nigeria’s rapidly growing online job search market
By Loy Okezie on 17 November, 2010
When you start talking about online employment sites, you're likely to mention global behemoths such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com, both originating from the United States. Or perhaps you think about the UK's Reed.co.uk or India's Naukri.com. But with the success of these online career sites as an example, Nigerian entrepreneurs are finally keying into the online job search market. Today there are probably over 100 online job sites in Nigeria, all offering to match employers and employees, but with different business models and technical functionality. Some of the most popular online job sites in Nigeria include Jobberman.com, CareersNigeria.com (which I...

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From Nollywood to a President: 10 really big Nigerian Facebook Pages
By Loy Okezie on 10 November, 2010
Worldwide, Facebook has grown to become one of the most popular websites ever, due to its social networking tools and utilities, audience reach and its relevance to brands, celebrities and organisations. Over the past three years, Facebook has grown exponentially in Nigeria from less than 40,000 Nigerians on the network to over 2 million active members. However, in a country where the penetration of Facebook to population is only 1.38 % and the penetration of Facebook to online population is just 4.78 %, we’re left hoping that the buzz will, sooner rather than later, break all over Nigeria. If Nigeria’s...

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Are classified sites in Africa profitable?
By Loy Okezie on 18 June, 2010
You’ve probably heard of these very popular online classified sites, Craigslist and Gumtree. Both sites offer buyers and sellers an opportunity to engage in a free and open market. With the success of these sites in their respective countries and beyond, African entrepreneurs are keying into the online classifieds market. Today, there are probably more than 20 classified sites in Nigeria alone that offer the same service, but with different business models and technical functionality. Some of the popular niche classifieds sites include Nairalist.com, Txtoweb.com, Chukslist.com, Gbogbo.com, Bunchbay.com, Kerawa.com Nigeria, and WhoGoBuy.com. In addition, other Nigerian websites also offer online classified...

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20 hot Nigerian startups to watch
By Loy Okezie on 18 May, 2010
As we gradually approach the end of the first half of 2010, we are expecting to see more web 2.0 innovations and mobile-based platforms developed by Nigerian tech entrepreneurs. At this year's Barcamp Nigeria, coming up on 22 May at the University of Lagos, we also anticipate many new product launches. There is no doubt that Nigeria's startup scene is heating up. It deserves attention from the global webspace. Already, there are indications that an Android-powered tablet could be coming from Nigeria. Some quick facts and figures: Nigeria is a country of about 150-million people. The CIA Factbook also reports that Nigeria...

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