Ernest Akinlola is a strategic advisor, Non-Executive Director, and startup mentor with over 20 years of global leadership experience across telecoms, renewable energy, and the digital economy. He has built, scaled, and transformed businesses across Africa and Europe, operating at board, executive, and founder levels.

Most recently, Ernest served as Managing Director and CEO of Bboxx Nigeria, where he helped expand access to clean energy and supported the delivery of energy solutions to over 100,000 Nigerians. He now focuses on advisory and board roles, supporting founders and leadership teams on strategy, market entry, partnerships, and scale in emerging markets.

A telecoms veteran, Ernest has held senior leadership roles including CEO of ntel (formerly NITEL Nigeria), COO of Lycamobile UK, CMO of Etisalat Nigeria (9mobile), and senior commercial and partnership roles at Virgin Mobile UK, T-Mobile (EE), BlackBerry, and One2One. He is a recognised expert in Mobile Virtual Network Operations, having led the launch of Virgin Mobile, the world’s first MVNO, which later IPO’d at £1.2bn.

Ernest is a World Bank startup mentor, and a frequent speaker on innovation and scale.