Afolabi Sokeye’s relationship with technology began with curiosity. Long before becoming a startup founder and product manager, he was fascinated by computers and mobile devices, questioning how they worked and what they could be used to create. That curiosity led him to begin learning Python and HTML in his early teens and, by university, to build projects addressing problems faced by students and people within his community.
Today, Afolabi’s work spans fintech, foodtech, SaaS and artificial intelligence. From developing personal finance products at Trakka and digital solutions for food businesses through Feest to founding Wetrocloud, his journey has remained connected by a practical question: how can technology solve real problems for the people who need it?
Beyond products, he has also contributed to growing GenZTechies, a community connecting more than 10,000 young people in technology. In this Spotlight Interview with CA, Afolabi discusses building useful products, widening access to AI, creating opportunities for young Africans and his ambition to use technology to improve lives across the continent.
CA: What first sparked your interest in using technology to solve real problems?
Afolabi: It started from using technology as a child. I was very curious about computers and mobile devices. I would always wonder how they worked and what they were created for.
That eventually led me down the path of software programming using Python and HTML, which I started learning in my early teens. By the time I was in university, I was building projects to solve problems for students and residents within the community.
CA: Having built across fintech, foodtech, SaaS and AI, what have you learned about what makes a technology product genuinely useful?
Afolabi: Each sector asks the same fundamental questions about the market, customer and business. How many people need this? Can they pay for it? Can we build it?
Everything else comes down to understanding the problem area you are solving in and how technology can be used to address it.
At Trakka, I also learned that observing consumers in real time can be very different from simply looking at usage data. People have different money management habits, and we had different groups of customers using Trakka for different reasons. Understanding those behaviours helped us build a better product.
CA: What did working with food vendors through Feest teach you about building technology for African businesses?
Afolabi: Feest has always been focused on food operations, making the process of ordering food online or offline between consumers and businesses seamless.
Our approach to technology is hybrid. We work with each food vendor to understand what solutions uniquely work for them so we can help them sell, grow and scale their food businesses.
CA: What problem convinced you to build Wetrocloud?
Afolabi: It was very simple. At the dawn of every new age, the big players have the resources and talent to adopt technology quickly, while smaller players are left in a race of discovery.
We decided to build tools that give smaller players a chance to integrate AI into their solutions without needing heavy resources and talent.
That remains one of the questions I am most interested in exploring: how can we use AI to move Africa forward, and how can we help the small guy utilise AI for their own use cases?
CA: How does your background in Software Engineering and Artificial Intelligence influence the way you build products?
Afolabi: It plays a big role because understanding how the technology works and how to use it for the customer is important when solving real-world problems.
Making those decisions on a micro scale helps achieve larger outcomes when the entire product comes together.
CA: GenZTechies has connected more than 10,000 young people in technology. Why has community building remained important to you?
Afolabi: I started learning about technology a long time ago, and I was fortunate to get myself into the right spaces. Not everyone starting out is that lucky.
My goal is to build a space that makes it easier for young Africans to learn about technology, network with each other and build solutions to some of our most critical problems.
We also host a hackathon every year where young techies have an opportunity to solve a local or global problem. That has sparked several innovations and ventures within the space.
CA: Looking ahead, what kind of impact do you want the products, companies and communities you build to create?
Afolabi: Impact can be subjective, but what we understand as people is ease of use, efficiency and human welfare.
My goal is for every project I work on to create breakthroughs for thousands or even millions of lives, whether by creating jobs for people or supporting them into technology.
Ultimately, I want the things I build to create opportunities and use technology to contribute to solving some of Africa’s most critical problems.
