Austin Okere

Austin is the Founder of CWG Plc and the Ausso Leadership Academy. He has an MBA from IESE Business School, and over 25 years entrepreneurial experience. Currently an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Columbia Business School, New York, he has also been appointed to the Advisory Board of the Global Business School Network in Washington DC in recognition of his major contribution to the development of business education and knowledge transfer in Africa.

Austin has taught at the United States International University (USIU) in Kenya, and has served as a Consultant to the Sustainable Development Goals, African Center (SDGAC) in Rwanda. Austin is a Non-Executive Director at Globus Bank and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Risk Management Association of Nigeria (RIMAN).

Austin was recognized with a Lifetime Entrepreneurship Achievement Award by the American University of Nigeria in 2017 for his outstanding entrepreneurial accomplishments. He received the Nigerian Computer Society Special Presidential Award in 2016, and was named ICT Personality of the year by the Society in 2014.

He was also named ICT Man of the Decade by ICT Watch – Africa Digital Network in 2012 and was listed on the United Kingdom’s C.Hub Magazine 100 Most Influential Creatives in 2016. He was named among 100 Leading Telecoms & ICT Personalities in Nigeria by the Association of Telecoms Operators of Nigeria (ATCON) in July 2018. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Nigeria.

Further afield Austin is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Agenda Council. The company that he founded CWG Plc, has been recognized as a ‘Global Growth Company’ by the World Economic Forum and is the largest security listed in the Technology Sector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.