Obinna Okwodu is the co-founder of Fibre, a Nigeria-based company helping users find rental accommodation by reducing the entry barriers to renting property in the country.
In Nigeria, renters often need to make a one- to two-year down payment to find a place. The Fibre model reduces the time and costs to find rental accommodation from 200 days to a week.
“A lot of people struggle to get a place in Africa due to this heavy rental deposit,” Obinna told Inspire Afrika. “We have done before and after testimonials with fibre customers and we can definitely say that what we are doing is having a positive impact on tenant’s livelihoods and pockets more importantly. There’s still a lot of work to do but so far I’m definitely proud of where we are.”
Born in the US, Obinna grew up in Nigeria. As a teenager, he moved to the United Kingdom to do his A levels, then later moved to the US to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a dual degree in civil engineering and management science.
Prior to founding Fibre, he served as an investment banking analyst at Morgan Stanley’s Real Estate division in New York and the co-founder and president of Exposure Robotics Academy in Lagos, Nigeria.
Through Fibre, Obinna aims to serve his fellow countrymen by “making living in Nigeria simple.”
“This is why we started Fibre in mid 2016,” he wrote in a Medium post. “We set out to lower this barrier by allowing people to “Live in Lagos and Pay Monthly” for their homes. We partnered with landlords in the city providing them with guaranteed income on their property, and made it possible for working professionals to pay monthly for these homes. This meant that young families didn’t need to take loans to pay rent and that young people could live a more convenient life closer to work, finally move out of their parents houses, and not need to empty their bank accounts in the process.”