Obinna Okwodu, a 27-year-old MIT grad and ex-Morgan Stanley Investment Bank analyst, is the founder/CEO of Fibre , a real estate booking start-up in Lagos that allows middle-income tenants the option to pay monthly. Renting residential real estate in Lagos, Nigeria could be a hassle. Not only are houses overpriced, Landlords typically demand potential tenants to pay up to 24 months years rent upfront. As a result, Fibre is growing fast and is gaining popularity with many middle-income earners in Lagos.

Obinna Okwodu is a 27 years old Nigerian who had the vision of offering young people access to affordable and comfortable living options. To fulfill this mission, he founded Fibre and in a short time has grown into one of the driving forces behind the remarkable growth in the modest network of real estate in Nigeria.

Obinna is a graduate of the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he studied Civil Engineering. He lived in the United States and worked as an investment analyst with Morgan Stanley Investment Banks. Upon his return to Nigeria, he was hit hard by the reality of an average Nigerian’s struggle to pay the compulsory two-year rent upfront from their salary. While that was a problem, he also saw an opportunity, he began to work on a solution.

“The idea that anyone looking for a home has to pay one- or two-years’ worth of rent upfront is 100%risky and is not the smartest thing to do,” Obinna says. It was this mindset that inspired him to set up Fibre in 2016. It is not that he did not encounter challenges on the way. It was difficult luring landlords to enlist their properties on such a payment plan but they eased up when they saw the potentials of the business model.  The plan became a huge hit such that last year Fibre made over 450 million in revenue for Lagos Island and its environs alone.

Fibre also offers flexibility in payment and also in the duration of stay – anywhere between 3 to 12 months. It also has an option where you can share houses with verified housemates, which also helps lower the cost.

Obinna Okwodu was named in Forbes’ 30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa list for 2018.With beautifully furnished (affordable) apartments in prime locations around Lagos, Fibre actually seems set to fix this problem.