The Nigerian Who Rejected Job Offer From Bill Gate

 

Nigerian Entrepreneur Who Rejected Job Offer From Bill Gate

A 23 year old Nigerian entrepreneur Chris Kwekowe reportedly turn down job offer as a software engineer at Microsoft, owned by the richest man in the world, Bill Gates to begin his own start up in Lagos.

The young entrepreneur, Lagos University graduate proudly revealed this to Bill Gates during a television interview for Africa’s brightest young entrepreneurs in August 2016, according to vanguard.

That he rejected the offer specifically to building a startup called Slatecube- a website that aims to solve Nigeria’s unemployment problem. Back in August, when Chris met the billionaire during a television Interview, he didn’t ask the Microsoft founder for a job or business advice. Instead the Nigerian told Gates how he had turned down a software engineer role at Microsoft.

 “When I told him, Gates was intrigued and he smiled. After the programme, all the directors were like, ‘Dude, you mean you actually turned down a job at Microsoft and had the guts to tell Bill Gates?’’

According to reports, a survey of 90,000 young Nigerians which was done in January 2016 discovered that 45% of college graduates didn’t have jobs with key reason on lack of professional skills such as: critical thinking, entrepreneurship, and decision-making.

HOW SLATECUBE WORKS?

Slatecube runs a three-tiered program. Users first complete a course in their chosen discipline (most are free). The classes range from corporate finance to anger management. Next, the startup assigns them virtual internships, allowing them to work remotely for companies including IT business Cisco and accounting firm Grant Thornton. Should the virtual internship go well, companies can hire the Slatecube graduates for full-time work.

The platform has an 80 percent employment rate for users, and Slatecube says businesses saved more than $100,000 in 2015 by recruiting skilled labor from its platform.

Interns using Slatecube say it helps align employers’ unrealistic expectations with the reality of the Nigerian labor market. “There are a million and one jobs in Nigeria, but employers are looking for people with experience

According to him, negotiations with several household names like Google and Microsoft to work with Slatecube are in order. And he also plan to branch out to other African Countries like Kenya, Ghana and South Africa.

“If Slatecube is as successful as we hope, I will put it down to the patience and tenacity I developed from starting out in Lagos.”

“If you can do business in Lagos, You can do business anywhere in the world. The struggle is real here.”