11/04/2024
Meet Nnamdi Ezeigbo the Owner of Tecno, Infinix and Slot Nigeria.
Nnamdi Ezeigbo was born on 4 August 1966 in Sapele, Delta State, into the family of Mr. and Mrs. Anthony Ezeigbo. The entrepreneur, who is currently 56 years old, is of the Igbo Nation, and he hails from Nsukwe in Ubakala, Umuahia in Abia State.
His mother was a petty trader who sold bread, and Nnamdi was always around after school to help her out in hawking bread, while his father’s occupation is unknown. He is the first out of the nine children of his parents. Coming from a humble background, he grew alongside his other siblings under the care of their parents.
The 58-year-old entrepreneur has modified his brands to suit the people’s choice, making it one of the fast-selling and affordable brands in the country. Currently, his brand has over 43 outlets all over Nigeria and has served as a means of curbing unemployment so far. The brand has been known to be among the best in supplying electronic gadgets and gadget accessories such as phones, laptops, iPads, laptops, and other electronic devices.
Nnamdi Ezigbo spent most of his early years in Delta State. He obtained his primary education at Pamol Primary School, Sapele, Delta State. Having a passion for education, he further obtained his secondary education at Ogini Grammar School in Abraka, Delta State, receiving his senior school certificate in 1984.
In 1988, he enrolled at Yaba College of Technology, specializing in Engineering, having a good knowledge of sciences, especially physics and mathematics. He graduated with a Higher National Diploma in Electrical and Electronics Engineering. In 1996, he proceeded for his National Youth Service Corps, having his place of primary assignment to be the Nigerian Brewery under the Guinness Nigeria PLC.
Being a person who aspires for the best, he enrolled at Lagos State University in 1996 to study Computer and Electronics Engineering. In 2001, he graduated with second-class upper honors. He furthered to the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology at Ogbomosho, Oyo State, where he bagged his master’s degree in information and management technology. The entrepreneur moved on to Lagos Business School, where he obtained an MBA. Having greatness in mind and determination, he proceeded to Havard Business school, where he also graduated.
On graduating from the university, Nnamdi Ezeigbo could not secure a job, so he registered as an apprentice to learn how to repair computers. The deal lasted for six months as he could not continue with his boss as he was after money rather than having a good relationship with customers. He moved down to Lagos to perch with a friend, where he had lots of customers. The entrepreneur also diversified into phone accessories when it was introduced into Nigeria.
Being someone who counts on having good relationships with customers, he was helped by one of his customers in acquiring a bigger shop. The customer helped him with printers which he sold to acquire a bigger shop to stand on his own. Nnamdi, who is hardworking, didn’t take time to raise funds to pay the shop’s rent, which was N180,000, and continued with his normal business.
Nnamdi Ezeigbo started expanding his business and customer base and bought over the shop he rented previously for 100 million and launched his business Slot. The business enterprise, which was launched, sold phones and phone accessories, laptops, and other gadgets. Though he was making it big then, he still moved ahead to develop himself properly.
Today, Slot is seen in states like Lagos, Abuja, Rivers State, Enugu, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Ondo, Kwara, Cross River, Osun, Delta, Ekiti, Edo, Abia, Imo, Kano, Ogun, Anambra, with over 40 branches. Today, the slot company doesn’t sell only the Infinix and Tecno products; they also sell other brands such as Vivo, Itel, Redmi, Oppo, and many more.
The entrepreneur is no doubt someone that aspires for the best as he set out to produce his phone brand in the 2000s. Seeing that the masses possessed more phones to use various networks, he set out to produce a dual sim phone. The entrepreneur met with Nokia phones to carry out his business idea but was turned down because of their gain in people buying different phones. Though it was discouraging, he still pushed on till he met someone who had worked in the Bird phone company during one of his business trips to China. The business tycoon didn’t hesitate to bring the technology personal down to Nigeria to register and produce a dual sim phone named Tecno.
The first production, the Tecno T101, wasn’t accepted in the market by Nigerians because it had issues with the sim working together on the same phone. This made him develop the second version of Tecno T201. This second version was a bit accepted by the market but delayed him in profits because he gave them out on credit. As of 2007, the want for the Tecno product rose, which made him produce more phones and equally advanced. Today, the Tecno phone has many models, and the purchase of the product is equally on its rise as almost everyone in Nigeria has one way or the other used the product.
The emergence of Tecno in the market did not take time before it became a household name and users all over the country. This also gave rise to the introduction of the Infinix phone to meet the demands of the higher, middle, and lower classes in Nigeria.
Recently, Infinix and Tecno have been among the most sought-after mobile devices in the market today. These mobile devices have been modified to suit the demands of every Nigerian this day, and his outlet, SLOT, has been a major dealer across the country.
Nnamdi met his wife, Nkechi Ezeigbo, for the first time at an Ikeja bus stop, Lagos State, before they took things to the next level after a few encounters. The wife of the entrepreneur is from the Igbo-speaking part of Delta State. She also started the business with her husband and is currently a shareholder in the company. The duo tied the knot in 1998 and has welcomed four children together since then. Nnamdi and Nkechi Ezeigbo are blessed with three sons and a daughter.
