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Mujahid Musa’s Role in Bridging the Digital Divide through EGL Africa

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A passion and desire to see as many Africans as possible keeping up with technological advancements that have ushered in the digital era sowed the seeds for Mujahid Musa to establish his company, EGL Africa Limited, in 2022.

For the past two years now, the Nigerian entrepreneur has built his company to become one of the local industry’s leaders when it comes to web design and development as well as the manufacturing of laptops, computing software, tablets and other products and services in the ICT space.

The company is also an ICT expert when it comes to professional repairs of computers and accessories, web management, IT Training, installations, application development as well as assisting with content creation.

Humble beginnings

Mujahid’s story begins in the Kano city of Nigeria, where he was born in 1996 and faced many challenges while growing up.

“I have always been driven by a passion for creating a positive impact and leaving a lasting legacy in Africa. I come from humble beginnings. Life was generally tough as I was raised in a lower middle-class family.

“Growing up, I faced numerous challenges that shaped my resilience and inspired me to become a changemaker. This created a deep-seated desire with me to venture into tech entrepreneurship, with a vision to address real-life challenges through innovative solutions tailored for the continent,” Mujahid explains.

Educational path

Successfully studying for a Bachelor of Science degree in Mass Communication at Bayero University from 2013 to 2017 not only equipped Mujahid with strong communication and analytical skills but also gave him a good academic grounding to implement the business idea he was considering.

However, it was his decision to pursue additional studies linked to his entrepreneurial vision – more than anything else – that fueled his growing desire to make a positive difference in the technology space.

“Recognizing the transformative power of technology, I furthered my knowledge through a focused program in Entrepreneurship at Dangote Business School in 2021, while at the same time also teaching myself essential tech skills, including software development, product design and IT systems management.”

The birth of EGL Africa

Armed with a good tertiary education, Mujahid recalls how his entrepreneurial path took a turn that resulted in him securing employment opportunities that would give him the experience and insights needed for setting up a technology-based business.

“My professional journey started with serving as commission-based salesperson for IT
products. I then became the chief marketing officer at Farm Center Kano Online Market from 2018 to 2020. While there, I gained knowledge about the IT sector and developed innovative campaigns to digitize local markets.

“These experiences gave me deep insights into the African ICT market and the challenges, combined with my work as a WSA InnovationBed Youth Ambassador for Nigeria, inspired me to create EGL Africa in 2022. Ours is a company dedicated to becoming the ‘Google of
Africa’ by building technology for Africa, in Africa and by Africans.

“EGL Africa was born out of my unwavering belief in Africa’s potential and my deep desire to make a positive impact by empowering its people through technology. While I was observing the continent’s technology consumption patterns, I realized the need for innovative as well as localized solutions to bridge the digital divide and address Africa’s unique challenges.”

Levelling the playing field

As his entrepreneurial journey comes full circle, Mujahid remains motivated and inspired by a commitment to build reliable IT equipment, infrastructure while also continuously finding solutions that solve real-life problems and foster capacity building, digital literacy
and economic empowerment.

Such a mission reflects on his ultimate goal to level the technology playing field in the industry and create sustainable opportunities for current and future generations.

As founder and chief executive officer of EGL Africa, Mujahid’s duties and responsibilities include setting the strategic vision and direction of the company, leading the development and implementation of innovative tech solutions, building and nurturing partnerships with key stakeholders and overseeing operations, growth and team development.

Mujahid also oversees an e-commerce marketplace for IT products and services that serves
thousands of satisfied customers globally, a virtual repair service for IT products offering convenient and efficient solutions, an upcoming AI-powered real estate platform addressing Africa’s housing challenges as well as a virtual training platform focused on equipping Nigerian youths with real-world AI skills.

Additionally, he represents EGL Africa at summits, conferences and in media engagements.

“We also partner with the government and NGOs and in this regard, we plan to train hundreds of thousands of youths in 2025 and beyond through hybrid physical and virtual sessions.”

Outstanding achievements

While EGL Africa has experienced its challenges in terms of securing access to funding, building market trust as well as infrastructure limitations, Mujahid also points to the company’s many milestones and how they have inspired his team to keep striving for excellence.

Such achievements have not only enhanced the growing profile of the company, but they have also helped many businesses and individuals.

“We won the MEA Outstanding Award for Best Startup ICT Support & Solutions
Company in 2024 and in that same year we were recognized as Best IT Hardware & Software Retailer in Nigeria by Innovation in Business (UK).

“I was also individually recognized for youth empowerment initiatives, and I serve as an
executive member of SKY Arewa Initiative which trains 200 000 youths alongside the
global personality, Shaykh Khalid Yasin.

“We have collaborated with NGOs like Life Plan to empower youths through training
programs and have also developed impactful tech tools and solutions such as EGL Stores which helps people source for affordable IT products as well as repair their devices without any physical activity.”

Embracing the future

Mujahid’s dream for EGL Africa includes an expansion drive that will result in an increase in the team’s number from the current 16.

“We plan to significantly expand our team as EGL Africa grows, with a target of
multiplying our workforce within the next five years. This expansion will primarily focus
on areas like AI development, empowerment, software engineering, marketing and on
site technical engineers for IT maintenance.

“We want to contribute to job creation and economic development in Africa. We are as well planning to indirectly employ more than 20 000 Africans in the next five years”

Owning and running a business is just the start for Mujahid, who plans to establish EGL Africa as a leading force in African innovation and empowerment.

His priority, within the next five years, also includes expand operations into at least 10 African countries as well as training over 500 000 youths with real life applicable skills in AI and the modern job market.

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