Category: Interview

Pan-Africanism can contribute to successful initialization of zero emission technology in Nigeria, a Nigerian-American serial entrepreneur, Adetola Anifalaje, has said.

Speaking in a chat with The Nation, Anifalaje said, Pan-Africanism advocates for self-reliance of Africans and strengthens the bond between indigenous and diaspora groups to discuss issues on furthering technology in Nigeria or other African nations.

She explained that Pan-Africanism can be successful through the combined knowledge and expertise of professionals in Africa and in diaspora in the field.

“Their coming together would help introduce a significant approach to targeting corporate consumer in a niche industry. This would provide zero-emission advanced solutions with intricate knowledge from the design, development, and deployment of the most effective and advanced energy solutions The energy solutions includes battery packs or power walls for numerous applications including portable nuclear power supplies.”

According to her, batteries have endless applications in space, military, defense, and automotive industry, noting that it can be used to invent machinery to aid in the development.

Adetola Anifalaje’s looks are as smart as her brain. In this interview with The PUNCH, she discusses her approach to issues and how to succeed in business. Excerpts…

As an entrepreneur who has investments in Nigeria, what are your thoughts on the recent improvement in Nigeria’s ranking on the Ease of Doing Business Index?

I think they are making some sort of effort. For instance, it’s easier to register a business all by yourself with the CAC. They are being more lenient with the regulations on a few things to make it easier for businesses to survive. We can definitely improve our current ranking if we stick to these reforms.

Your LinkedIn page says you speak Mandarin, French, asides English and Yoruba languages. Could you please share with us your interests in language and what drives it?

I’m not very fluent in Mandarin, but I took interest in it because it’s the Language of the future for anyone in the business world. The Chinese economy is one of the strongest now and is even predicted to be for years to come. French was my mother’s influence — she speaks fluent French, so, I grew up learning the language.

As an engineer, which part of your work do you find most challenging but fulfilling?

Idealization; I’m a very creative individual and with each project I work on, I tend to think way outside the box to come up with some of the sickest solutions by theory. They seem impossible to replicate in reality, but in today’s world, and with technology, “impossible” is not a valid dictionary term. The process to bring that alien solution to reality and finalization is, however, fulfilling.

Made-in-Nigeria vehicles have come to light. In view of your work in the automotive industry, what are your thoughts on this development?

It’s a pretty exciting phenomenon. I think it’s a good start for us as a people, and definitely, we could branch out into the introduction of different technologies to improve aesthetics and appeal for commercialization. IVM currently is doing a great job at it. The question we need to ask ourselves, though, is, how many Nigerians are willing to drop their American-made or Japanese-made cars for the Nigerian ones? We, as a society, are too quick to damage our own creations. We don’t even buy made-in-Nigeria toothpick! So, that says a lot on how far we have to go to convince ourselves on our competence.

In what ways can your work in engineering be used to solve some of Nigeria’s challenges?

So, I always tell myself, ‘Determine your own legacy because quixotism is the killer of tomorrow.’ I can foresee my expertise helping solve some of the challenges by providing clean energy to the millions of individuals living off the electricity grid, for starters. I’m also an avid believer in the growth of young leaders; so, I create a platform for networking with experts and career development to help young and inquisitive minds connect to the STEM field. Fixing Nigeria requires a team of likeminded individuals to come together and share ideas on what sort of solutions can best suit a sector to make a difference. Only then can a glimpse of the future of Nigeria be seen.

You claim to have worked on NASA EPSCoR on Bio-Mimetic self-healing composite sandwich for impact tolerant next-generation aerospace structures. What does that mean to a layman?

It’s a classified project; but just for the sake of clarification, sure. Basically, think of an airplane manufactured out of a material that can heal itself when cracked, so in the case of a crash, there’s less damage to human lives because the material is able to absorb so much on impact.

Adetola Anifalaje is a mechanical and systems engineer as well as a serial entrepreneur resident in Los Angeles, California, United States of America.

She’s a woman breaking new grounds in a men’s dominated profession. In this short interview with Ayo Onikoyi, she takes us through her private world and the world of engineering. She tells us about how innovative advancements in engineering can help improve developing nations like Nigeria. This will be highly influential to Nigeria’s present state.

What intrigues you about engineering?

The creativity, the room for innovation and the ability to provide extreme solutions to almost anything. I don’t think there could have been a better field suited for me.

What’s the most exciting projects you have worked on?

That’s going to be hard to choose from. It’s going to have to be some of my work with NASA EPSCoR on Bio-Mimetic self-healing composite sandwich for impact tolerant next-generation aerospace structures.

What made it exciting?

It was a quite intensive research project funded by the NSF. Having to research and develop something innovative by finding the right structural composition with lots of testing that’s going to be possibly useful in the future of aerospace. Yeah, that was pretty cool.

How do you think Engineering can improve Nigeria as a developing nation?

Nigeria as a whole has a lot of potential, and untapped resources. It also houses some of the most brilliant people on the planet, whom, if the infrastructure is made available to, would have contributed immensely to the development of the nation through science and technology. Engineering could definitely improve a lot in the country by providing solutions to our already identified issues such as stable electricity, or even creating jobs for the youths if the economy allows or helps promote the mission entrepreneurs in engineering to bring about innovative advancements to the nation.