Tonye Irims’ biography: What to know about the Nigerian behind WiSolar
There are several Nigerians living outside the country who have been able to make a name for themselves in their host countries and doing well.
One of them is Tonye Irims, who is the CEO of WiSolar, a South African solar energy company
For Tonye Irims, life didn’t come easy as a foreigner in South Africa, the Nigerian born CEO moved to South Africa when he was only 23.
During his first few years in the country, he had survived by relying on menial jobs; he would later get a sales position at a houseware company and gave him access to travel all over SA.
Aside from being an entrepreneur and businessman, Tonye Irims also, at some point in his career, ventured into commercial print modelling.
Due to his massive achievement in South Africa, he has become of public interest, which many would love to know more about.
This article is focused on everything you should know about Tonye Irims; continue reading to see more.
Profile Summary
Full Name | Tonye Irims |
Gender | Male |
Date of birth | December 2 1970 |
Age | 51 years old |
Place of birth | Rivers state |
Nationality | Nigerian |
Father | Captain B.T Irimagha |
Mother | Muriel Irimagha |
Occupation | CEO WiSolar |
Education | University of Port Harcourt, Imperial College London |
Tonye Irim’s biography
Tonye Irims was born on the 2nd of December 1970 in Rivers state Nigeria to Captain B.T and Muriel Irimagha.
The records revealed that Tonye Irims’ father, now late, was a mariner who worked with the Nigerian Navy, Mobil and NNPC, while his mother Muriel Irimagha is a businesswoman of the royal Bonny Kingdom descent.
Tonye Irims is the first of six sons of his parents; he is a Nigerian by birth and currently resides in South Africa; he celebrated his 51st birthday in December 2021.
Education
Tonye Irims attended Corona nursery & primary school, Apapa and Imola Day primary school, Alasia, Lagos and then proceeded to Command Secondary School, Jos, for his secondary school education.
Like his father, Tonye Irims had wanted to pursue a career as a mariner, but there were not enough options in Nigeria at that time; he would go on to bag a degree in Marketing from the University of Port Harcourt.
Tonye Irims also the Imperial College London where he studied Clean Energy. The Nigerian born entrepreneur has also attended prestigious institutions like the University of Maryland College Park, University of Virginia Darden School of Business and Harvard Law School.
Career
As stated at the beginning of this article, Tonye Irims started his career by doing menial jobs in South Africa; however, his big moment that brought about the change in his career came after he met Nigerian billionaire Dr Mike Adenuga, and he offered to work as a volunteer for the business magnate.
Tonye Irims launched Wikiglobal in 2006, during which he introduced the first dual SIM semi-feature phones with the nucleus O.S through its mobile arm Wimobile in South Africa. He would later discard the idea and licenced it to a South African company.
In 2016, Tonye Irims launched WiSolar and almost abandoned the idea due to low sales, but the company had a breakthrough in 2018. First, it raised $4000 seed capital, and the demand for coal energy In South Africa experienced a significant dip which made the power situation of the country worse, and the citizens had to opt for alternatives.
Personal Life
Tonye Irims lives in Lagos, Nigeria and Johannesburg, South Africa. On the 6th of January, Tonye Irims was in the news after a report revealed a robbery incident occurred at his farm in Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng province, South Africa. The report revealed the Nigerian businessman was shot on his foot and has since recovered from the incident.