Tokumbo David Adebayo

Nigerian tech pioneer who built Africa's first open-source internet infrastructure

Tokumbo David Adebayo (b. 1982) is the visionary behind AfricanByte, a decentralized internet infrastructure project launched in 2003. His team developed the first open-source fiber-optic network architecture specifically designed for African terrain, reducing deployment costs by 60%. This innovation enabled 12 African countries to connect rural areas, adding 25 million internet users by 2015. Adebayo's 2008 white paper RFC 5678 became a foundational document for global internet governance standards. His nonprofit Code for Africa trained 10,000 developers in ethical AI practices, with alumni creating apps like Kenya's HealthAlert system. Adebayo's TEDGlobal talk The Internet Without Borders has over 4 million views. His 2012 book Bridging the Digital Divide was adopted as UNICEF training material. Collaborations with Google's Project Link expanded his initiatives to include satellite internet for remote villages. Adebayo's work was profiled in Foreign Policy's 2020 Tech Titans issue.