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Gossy Ukanwoke

Founder

Beni American University

POSITION

Founder

COMPANY

Beni American University

COUNTRY

Nigeria

Website

Beni American University

SCENE

Technology

SOCIAL

LinkedIn

Twitter

What makes Gossy Ukanwoke a Global Shaker?

Enterpreneur, investor and advisor Gossy Ukanwoke is the founder of Beni American University, the first online university in Nigeria.

Before his foray into education, Gossy was considered by many to be the “Nigeria’s Mike Zuckerberg.” He founded Students Circle Network, an online platform that combines a database with thousands of academic resources, notes and tutorials with a social media network, allowing students to “interact and communicate over educational resources, making education and e-learning social and human by giving resources, study groups, social connections, scholarships offers and university placements.”

“When I created Students Circle in 2010, I found out that … many were looking for certificates, hoping that they could get something they could use to maybe find employment or get a promotion in the workplace,” he explained to CNN in 2014.

Two years after founding Students Circle Network, at the age of 25, Gossy went on to found Beni American University Research and Development, through which he established Beni American University and BAU Executive Education.

“It’s not just about getting a certificate,” he said. “Education is about teaching people how to make a living and teaching people how to live; how to interact with others, how to lead their lives and make something out of themselves. With education comes discipline and we need a lot of discipline in Nigeria as well, so education is really important.”

As an equity investor with Nigeria’s Rhema University, his goal is to use BAU Research and Development to help the institution grow though capital investment, framework implementation, research support, technology and advisory.

The education-driven entrepreneur has also served as the president of EduTech ABS–Africa, the co-founder and former CEO of I-CUBE West Africa, an advisor with Stutern and a judge and mentor for The Anzisha Prize.

As the chairman of Alistair Maine Group, he works to foster high-quality lifestyle, hospitality and leisure experiences in Lagos.

Gossy was the class valedictorian of the Girne American University Class of 2013, where he received a bachelor’s in management information systems.

Tags: Africa, EdTech, higher education, Investment and Funding, Nigeria

Last updated: March 20, 2020