TECH PERSONALITY of The WEEK

Wole Abu is the Managing Director, Equinix West Africa, the world’s digital infrastructure company.

Digital leaders harness Equinix’s trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.

Prior to his appointment as Managing Director of Equinox West Africa, Wole Abu was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Liquid Intelligent Technologies Nigeria (LITN) and Africa Data Centre (ADC) in Nigeria.

Wole Abu also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Pan African Towers, a telecom infrastructure company he built to being one of the leading Towercos in Nigeria.

Abu also served as Vice President of Sales at Airtel Nigeria, where he also held several senior management roles in the Human Resources, Engineering, Operations, Finance, Legal, and Marketing departments respectively.

This polyfocal blend of functional skills, makes Abu a very experienced leader and force in the telecoms sector as he is poised to bridge the connectivity gap in Africa in an environmentally sustainable fashion.

This is demonstrated as he was recently named one of the top 20 Towercos Chief Executives in the World by TowerXchange.

He has managed across start-ups and mature companies, leading these businesses into periods of massive and rapid growth through new business service rollouts, while driving positive change in the respective companies.

Abu is creative, innovative, visionary and a strategic planner who has an excellent sense of business ethics and corporate governance.

With his continued leadership style, rare enthusiasm and heightened drive to revolutionise the telecom industry in Nigeria, Mr. Abu is dedicated to making a significant impact on the society.

He is an alumnus of the University of Benin, Lagos Business School, Indian Institute of Business Management, Ahmedabad & Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Highlights and Qualifications
Abu is a member of the Project Management Institute, and volunteers regularly for causes that protect families and empowers communities.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering with Honours from the University of Benin and an MBA from the Lagos Business School.
In 2012, Abu attended the Indian Institute of Business Management, Ahmedabad where he acquired a certification in Business Administration and Management.
Abu has attended several leadership courses in top educational institutions and consistently gives talks and makes presentations in top conferences and seminars globally… [Source]
Wole will also lead Equinix’s key local engagements to make a meaningful impact to society through the support of initiatives focused on education, sustainability, and the betterment of society as well as driving the vital environmental and community initiatives so crucial to the sustainable goals and vision of Equinix.

Wole’s appointment as Managing Director for Equinix’s West African business follows shortly after the opening of Equinix’s newest data center in Johannesburg.