Strategist, operator, researcher and policy advocate.

Summary

Obasa Olorunfemi, MBA is a Nigerian strategist, operator, researcher, and policy advocate whose work spans African market intelligence, entrepreneurship development, digital product building, and institutional policy engagement. Over the last decade, operating primarily through Extrafemi Ventures and its research arm, Praxis by Extrafemi, he has delivered strategy, design, and intelligence projects across 11 countries on four continents from Lagos to Nicosia, Tokyo to Tallinn.

His work has earned personal commendations from the President of North Cyprus, the President of the Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce, the former Director-General of Nigeria’s National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), and a former Commercial Counsellor at the Austrian Embassy in Nigeria. In 2024, he was admitted as a member of ForbesBLK.

Current Work

Obasa Olorunfemi, MBA currently leads three parallel workstreams:

Extrafemi Ventures: his primary engagement is a strategy, design, and advisory firm that has served clients across fintech, asset management, FMCG, digital commerce, healthcare, and mining across 11 countries. Notable engagements include Dangote Flour Mills (then Tiger Brands-DFM), Genesis Group: then Nigeria’s largest indigenous media and hospitality group, CSL Stockbrokers, then Nigeria’s largest stockbroking firm, FCMB Asset Management, Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, and My Black Market App.

Praxis by Extrafemi co-founded with Precious Obasa (nee Olusegun) PhD, is an African market intelligence and research firm that translates complex data, policy, and economic dynamics into clarity for decision-makers. Praxis operates three live intelligence products: the Hormuz Crisis Tracker (hormuzcrisis.live), which monitors the 2026 Iran War’s impact on global supply chains across 40+ countries and 14 industries; Hormuz Intelligence (hormuzintel.live), which maps the documented relationship between Trump’s late-night social media posts and Brent crude market movements; and ConstitutionNG (ngconstitution.netlify.app), a searchable Nigerian constitutional research tool for legal practitioners, journalists, and policy professionals.

Oneremit Payments — a Nigerian-Canadian cross-border remittance fintech where he serves as Head of Business, leading commercial strategy and go-to-market execution across four countries and five time zones. Within his role as head of business, the firm generated USD 100,000+ in transaction inflow within 12 months.

Research and Publications

Obasa Olorunfemi, MBA is a published researcher and author whose work spans economic policy, digital marketing, demography, historical biography, and climate science.

The Aspiration Horizon: Why development makes its own demographic continuation less likely (SSRN, April 2026) co-authored with Precious Obasa (nee Olusegun) PhD, proposes a new conceptual framework for understanding global fertility decline. The paper argues that development itself continuously generates the aspirations that suppress its own demographic continuation, introducing the concepts of the foreclosed-self cost and the Structural Impossibility Loop. 25 pages, 46 references, drawing on case studies from South Korea, Hungary, France, Japan, and the Nordic countries.

Iterative Adversarial Inquiry (IAI): The Whetstone Method (SSRN, April 2026) co-authored with Precious Obasa (nee Olusegun) PhD, a framework for generating theoretical contributions through structured adversarial debate. The paper proposes a methodology for using iterative challenge and counter-challenge i.e the whetstone process to sharpen and validate theoretical claims in academic and applied research contexts.

Chief Micheal Soyebo Sowole of Ipara-Remo: Legislator, Diplomat, and Public Servant of Western Nigeria, c. 1948–1970s (SSRN, April 2026) co-authored with Precious Obasa (nee Olusegun) PhD, Oluwatobiloba Obasa, B.Sc Hons and Temitope Obasa, M.Sc; a documentary biography forming part of the African Historical Biography Series, reconstructing the life, public service, and legacy of a significant but under-documented figure in mid-twentieth century Nigerian political and civic history.

The Impact of Digital Marketing on SMEs and MSMEs in Lefkoşa, North Cyprus (2022) MBA thesis supervised by Assoc. Prof. Dr. FİGEN YEŞİLADA recommended and added to the business library of the TRNC Chamber of Commerce (Kıbrıs Türk Ticaret Odası).

Africa 80 (2022) co-authored with 80 Africans from seven countries, identifying challenges facing Africans within the continent and across the diaspora and proposing solutions.

Impacts of Climate Change on Water Quality of Self-Supply Wells (2012) undergraduate research thesis supervised by Professor Grace OLUWASANYA investigating the impacts of climate change on the water quality of self-supply wells in Abeokuta-South Local Government Area, Ogun State, Nigeria.

T-VINE Publication (columnist, 2020–2022): Guest columnist for the UK’s leading Turkish and North Cypriot community publication, where his policy advocacy pieces on economic development, human trafficking, and university enrolment practices reached diplomats, senior government officials, and the Turkish Cypriot diaspora. One article directly contributed to the formation and passing of updated human trafficking legislation in North Cyprus.

He has also authored at least three books: My Under30 CEO Story, My $1.5k Lesson on Buying a Used Car in Nigeria, and Managing Debt in a Long Distance Relationship and published long-form research and analysis on Medium, including a 10-minute evidence-based investigation of Nigeria’s solar energy infrastructure and a Substack piece on AI-powered event automation at TEDxBAU Cyprus.

Policy and Institutional Engagement

Obasa Olorunfemi, MBA’s policy work is one of the most distinctive dimensions of his career.

In North Cyprus, his T-VINE columns directly shaped legislative outcomes. His ideas on solving human trafficking were presented to the North Cyprus parliament, contributing to updated legislation. He provided strategic advisory input to a consultant engaged on a World Bank-funded project on economic empowerment and wealth creation for poor and vulnerable women in North Cyprus. He created to the Olmak initiative (formerly Tech-TRNC), connecting the TRNC’s technology talent pool to global employers and engaging stakeholders from the private and public sectors up to the highest levels of government to advance policies for talent attraction and retention.

In 2013, he was invited by Ms Oyindamola Omosebi to provide strategic direction to Prafundatia Consults on carbon credits and carbon trading for the Partnership for Market Readiness (PMR), a World Bank-administered global initiative as part of the organising framework for the Kingdom of Morocco.

In Nigeria, his social listening work at Dangote Flour Mills (then Tiger Brands-DFM) prevented a major BOGOF campaign from launching on a product carrying strong negative consumer sentiment, saving millions in advertising spend and presenting findings directly to the Head of Marketing and C-suite. His human trafficking advocacy connected human rights and advocacy groups with NAPTIP, earning a personal commendation from NAPTIP’s then Director-General, Prof Fatima Waziri-Azi, PhD.

He previously served at the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA), an experience that laid the foundation of his understanding of regulatory frameworks and public sector operations in Nigeria.

Entrepreneurship and Ventures

Obasa Olorunfemi, MBA has founded, co-founded, or built several ventures across his career:

Extrafemi Ventures: strategy, design, and advisory firm operating since 2013, with active client engagements across 11 countries and four continents.

Praxis by Extrafemi: African market intelligence and research firm co-founded with Precious Obasa (nee Olusegun) PhD, operating three live intelligence and civic technology products.

ChatClass NG (2013): One of Nigeria’s early online higher education marketplace, serving students across five countries. Featured in TechCabal as an innovative solution to Nigeria’s higher education access gap. Shortlisted for the Tony Elumelu Foundation class of 2016, The Next Titan Season 2 (top 50 nationally), and winner of the Ignite Business Competition (First Bank Nigeria, Lagos State Government).

Find A Mech (2022): One of only two African startups accepted into the ITU Seed Accelerator in Türkiye, which also served as the TRNC’s Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Incubation programme. The startup addressed vehicle mechanic discovery and trust in the Nigerian market.

ReviewsApp: A reviews and reputation management product built under the Extrafemi umbrella.

Wakafire Photography: A product photography education platform that delivered smartphone photography masterclasses to over 600 business owners and international brands. At Social Media Week Lagos 2018, the Wakafire team broke records by hosting the first event covered entirely using smartphones operated by non-photography professionals.

Page IV Podcast: An audio content platform produced under the Extrafemi umbrella, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

In 2014, his startup Fleuri Consults was nominated for the Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition, an international contest by the GOI Peace Foundation, Stiftung Entrepreneurship Berlin, and UNESCO, with the award ceremony held at Germany’s largest entrepreneurship event in Berlin.

Civic and Foundation Work

As a Trustee and Board Member of the Oluwatonifemi Foundation, Obasa Olorunfemi, MBA has helped deliver photography, strategy, social media, and design solutions free of charge or at significant discount to at least eight non-profits and social enterprises, representing several thousands of dollars in pro bono support.

The Foundation’s Olmak sub-project drives technology skills awareness in North Cyprus, connecting young people to global opportunities and creating a talent pipeline between the TRNC and international employers.

His human trafficking advocacy work, conducted independently and through the Foundation, earned a personal commendation from Prof Fatima Waziri-Azi, PhD, former Director-General of NAPTIP: “Your efforts are a testament to the incredible impact that individual actions, when united, can have on the lives of others and society as a whole.”

Academic Qualifications

MBA — Cyprus International University, North Cyprus (2022, 3.5/4.00). Modules include international business, digital marketing, and consumer behaviour. Thesis: The Effects of Digital Marketing on Micro-Sized Businesses — The Case of North Cyprus (ISBN: 978–620–5–63306–9), added to the TRNC Chamber of Commerce business library.

B.Sc. Water Resources Management and Agrometeorology — Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Nigeria (2012, 3.3/5.00). Modules include community participation, gender mainstreaming, hydrology, and water policy.

Professional certifications: Three music certifications, Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON); Graphic Design, Abinibi Creative Academy (ACA); Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Levels II and III; Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA); Associate Project Management (CAPMP), Joint Professional Training and Support International (JPTS); Green Business Management, Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre.

Media and Speaking

Obasa Olorunfemi, MBA has been featured in Ventures Africa, TechCabal, BellaNaija, Cool FM, Punch Newspaper, Cyprus Today, Bağımsız Gazete, and Haber Kıbrıs, among others.

He was the first Nigerian and African guest on Island Talks; North Cyprus’s trilingual podcast and the first Nigerian and African guest on Girişimcinin Dünyası (Entrepreneur’s World), a business and entrepreneurship television programme broadcast across North Cyprus.

He has spoken at Social Media Week Lagos, Africa NEXT Conference, the SDGs Community Development Service Group, the CASA programme by Enterprise Hill, Cyprus International University Christian Fellowship, Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Rubies and Gold Schools, Glory Impact Christian Centre, the University of Lagos, and Treford Africa, among others.

In 2021, he and Precious Obasa (nee Olusegun) PhD, reached the semi-finals of the Digital Marketing Challenge organised by the Business and Economics Club of Boğaziçi University, Turkey, as international students from North Cyprus.

Personal Commendations

• Ersin TatarPresident, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus
• Turgay DenizPresident, Turkish Cypriot Chamber of Commerce (Kıbrıs Türk Ticaret Odası)
• Prof Fatima Waziri-Azi, PhDFormer Director-General, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), Nigeria
• Nella HengstlerFormer Commercial Counsellor, Advantage Austria, Austrian Embassy Nigeria: “Mr Obasa is punctual, diligent, has a positive attitude, and works well with others.”

How to connect with me

Connect with me on Twitter: @extrafemi or on Linkedin