The Nigerian Tech entrepreneur, and a graduate of Howard University, Washington DC, Desayo Ajisegiri, won the 2021 7up Harvard Business School Scholarship program. The winner was recently in Lagos at a media event. She joined the glittering list of past winners that include Misan Rewane (2011), Olujimi Williams (2012), Mayowa Kuyoro (2013), Oluwasola Olaniyan (2014), Bankole Makanjuola (2015), Chidozie Ibekwe (2016), Ahmed Alimi (2017), Ulunma Izejiobi (2018), Anyanwu Maureen Uzoamaka (2019), and Abdul Rahman Buhari (2020). These winners benefitted from the fully funded two-year program at Harvard Business School, sponsored by the bottling giant, Seven-up Bottling Company, (SBC).
Desayo Ajisegiri comes from a modest background. Having been inspired by the tenacity and courage of her mother, she sailed through adverse circumstances to graduate from Howard University, Washington DC, with Summa Cum Laude honors. She has dedicated herself to impacting the world through a fusion of entrepreneurial, and humanitarian, initiatives that address current global challenges. During her time in college, Ajisegiri, being very susceptible to malaria, found a way to prevent malaria by investing in a detergent made clothes serve as repellents and insecticides to mosquitoes. Her entrepreneurial spirit and passion for solving problems also led her and her friends to start up a micro investing platform – Trove -that allows Nigerians to invest in U.S stocks from the comfort of their homes with their phones.
According to the Managing Director of SBC, Ziad Maloouf, “SBC believes in the power of people to drive innovation and change. In line with its mission to inspire extraordinary people to create great ideas that make communities better, SBC continues to partner with Harvard Business School to train transformational leaders, who will contribute to national growth and development.” Restating the company’s unwavering support for the Nigerian youth, and its commitment to Nigeria’s development, Maloouf, said, “We believe in the transformational difference great leadership makes in a country. One person can make a huge difference in the trajectory of a people and their development. That’s what this scholarship is about. We are on a mission to inspire extraordinary people to create exceptional ideas.”
