Fisayo Fosudo Talks to Us About Technology in Africa & His Favourite Video Game in Today’s “Doing Life With…”

Doing Life With… is a BellaNaija Features series that showcases how people live, work, travel, care for their families and… everything in between. We are documenting the lives of all people and ensuring everyone is well-represented at BN.

Did you miss last week’s conversation with Nora Awolowo? You can catch up here.

This week, we’re doing life with Fisayo Fosudo, a visual storyteller and one of the leading tech content creators in Africa. Enjoy the conversation.

Hey Fisayo. How you are feeling?

I feel very elated and grateful for my journey and my work.

Awesome! Give me a peep into what influenced who you are today

From a young age, I have always wanted to make high-quality tech videos. I just didn’t have the means to do it at the time. I owe a lot of things I’ve done to being able to love reading books and learn as much as possible very early. I’m grateful to my uncle and dad for helping me grow as a reader. Reading, actively learning and not being idle helped me foster my skills as a graphic designer, and I used the income and knowledge from design to start my video production journey.

What inspired you to start creating tech-focused content on platforms like YouTube?

From a very early stage in my life, I understood that value was the main driver for my decisions. I was and still am inspired by one of the biggest tech creators in the world, Marques Brownlee. I was also privileged to have collaborated with one of the biggest tech creators in the world as well, MrWhosetheboss. It showed me what’s possible with the content I create and the value I give my audience.

What were the early challenges you faced when you started, and how did you overcome them?

Creating and publishing the kind of content I would love to make was a challenge. However, we solved that quickly as we grew the team and got more capable people to help create content. Another major challenge has been constant electricity, which costs us a lot to solve with solar inverters. Yet, we’re still facing a continual increase in the cost of getting tech products.

What role do you believe content creators like yourself play in shaping the perception of technology in Africa?

I recently made a tweet asking whether or not people watch or read reviews before they buy a product. To no surprise, almost everyone said they do. I’m the kind of buyer that watches videos before I buy a gadget, after I buy it, and as I’m using it. I love detailed reviews, and my team and I create some of the most thorough reviews for the smartphones we feature on our channel. We’ve also been able to start a series called The Leaderboard, where we speak with key figures in technology, finance, and creativity. This has led us to talk with many people on our channel, including Don Jazzy, Dr Kingsley Obiora, former CBN Deputy Governor and, just last month, the 3rd highest-ranking official in the US executive arm of government, the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken. The goal for us has always been to share valuable insights, knowledge and inspiration with our audience and Africans through these videos and the ones we produce on our own accord.

Speaking of Antony Blinken. The conversation went viral and was also insightful. Tell us about the significance of the conversation and its virality to your career

It was a great honour to have had this conversation. Something significant that we took from the conversation was how the US-Nigeria relations look and how much of a role Nigeria plays in the global economy. It’s also significant not just for me but for those who are trying to produce something. There’s a verse about being diligent and standing before greatness. We’ve done a lot of great things with my team as well. I’m not where I’d like to be, but we will keep doing better than yesterday.

Well done to you and your team, Fisayo

Thank you.

So from your experience in the industry, what are some of the key differences between the African tech ecosystem and other parts of the world? What do you believe are the biggest opportunities for growth and innovation in the African tech ecosystem?

Speaking directly to consumer technology, which I major in, I believe our market is largely shunned when it comes to many innovative new products or services. Whether technology or otherwise. A company like Apple is yet to have a significant official presence in Nigeria. Many might argue that the market cannot afford a lot of these services, and there’s some truth there. The market is dominated by many brands that bring high enough specifications for an affordable price that meets the needs of most Nigerians. The rest will settle for used higher-end products, or a minor number might buy it outright. There are still many opportunities here in Africa, particularly in Nigeria. An excellent example of growth can be seen in fintech, where we’ve produced a large number of unicorns compared to our African counterparts. With AI now, there’s a lot more coming, and I can’t wait to talk about it.

You regularly unboxes new gadgets. Do you have to buy them all the time?

Thankfully, I don’t always have to buy the gadgets. I had to buy everything I used when I made my first videos. I was fortunate to have spoken with a critical person in one of Nigeria’s largest mobile phone brands, TECNO, and that led us to our first smartphone review, which did well. We then created even more videos with them. I am also grateful to Chef Fregz for introducing me to Samsung at the time. With that, we started getting flagship devices on loan directly from Samsung. All of this was very pivotal to what we started creating and we were even able to work with other brands. We have used over 100 smartphones since I started in 2017.

One moment in your life you felt utterly proud of yourself and nothing else mattered?

I would say that moment was when we interviewed the US Secretary of State, but I know the best is yet to come.

An unconventional thought about the world that you think people might find uncomfortable or not agree with?

Many people are already preoccupied with their lives and won’t worry about what another person is doing, so it’s best not to be concerned about what people might think of you and “just do”. It’s not an unconventional thought, but I feel it’s something many people may need to hear.

What’s your favourite video game at the moment?

Superhot VR. It is a very immersive VR game dealing with time and space with some combat; be careful not to punch the wall, haha.

What’s Fisayo doing when he’s not making videos?

Watching documentaries, learning, reading comics, taking courses, and, of course, playing video games.

What’s a typical day in your life?

As a creator, there’s really no typical day. Some days, I’ll have to be at an event or speaking engagement; some days, I’ll have to go to the market and get things for my house; some days, it’s only filming we do throughout, but for the most part, I always try to make sure that everything I’m doing is contributing towards my overall long term goal.

Your trademark wear is the turtleneck. What’s the reason behind this? 

I would say that it’s become my uniform. While I don’t always wear it every time, I wear it whenever I want to record, go for a speaking engagement or somewhere I’ll probably get photographed.

If you could select a gadget to use forever, what would it be?

Honestly, it would be my phone. I can read all my comics, watch movies, play games and also communicate. That’s fine for me.

Thank you for being on Doing Life With…, Fisayo

Thank you for having me.

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Many Thanks to Fisayo Fosudo for having this conversation with us and answering all our questions – and swiftly too, we must add.

Do you love this content, have any feedback for us or want to be a BellaNaija Features contributor? We’d love to read from you. Shoot us an email: [email protected]. Join us on Saturday for the next episode!