Kesiena Owho-Ovuakporie

The Mastercard Foundation 2014 - 2015

Alumni

Legatum Fellow

From:

Nigeria

Sector:

IT/Telecom

Location:

Nigeria

Degree:

MS, Technology and Policy, School of Engineering

OneText improves the operational efficiency of Nigerian organizations by providing them with a low-cost automated platform for broadcasting SMS messages to clients. SMS is widely used for mass communication in Nigeria because most people do not check their emails regularly. For this reason, organizations maintain online bulk SMS accounts, which require them to enter their clients’ phone numbers and subsequently manage the contact list manually. The effort required makes it difficult for organizations to manage contact lists for a large client base. Those that do struggle to keep the contact list up to date and they waste money by sending messages to invalid phone numbers.

Kesiena’s venture offers a solution by providing Nigerian organizations with a low-cost platform for managing their clients’ details and broadcasting SMS messages. OneText allows clients to subscribe to or unsubscribe from an organization’s contact list, thereby relieving organizations of the burden involved in managing customer data.

Kesiena first gained experience in software design and web technologies during an engineering internship with Google. He also has three years’ experience as an application developer with Deutsche Bank’s technology division. He also taught advanced mathematics in a public school in Nigeria and also serving as a guidance counselor as part of the National Youth Service Corps program.

Kesiena holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester. He is a Master’s candidate in the Technology and Policy Program at the School of Engineering.