Abiodun Bakare – Redefining IT Infrastructure for Africa’s Mid-Sized Enterprises

By Tosin Clegg
A Leader in the Shadows of Africa’s Digital Transformation
When discussions of Africa’s digital transformation arise, the spotlight usually falls on fast-growing start-ups or multinational giants. Yet, behind the continent’s economic lifeblood—its mid-sized enterprises—stand professionals whose innovations quietly reshape entire industries. Among them is Abiodun Bakare, whose leadership at Salt Lake Megavision between 2009 and 2011 has become a touchstone for IT modernization in Nigeria’s media-tech sector.
The Crisis He Inherited
Salt Lake Megavision was gaining prominence in broadcast integration and advertising management when Bakare assumed the role of Chief Strategy Officer. However, its IT systems were dangerously outdated. Databases existed in silos, backups were manual, and key hardware was aging. The result was frequent downtime during live broadcasts, absent disaster recovery, and drained operational resources. Client trust was eroding at a critical moment in the company’s expansion.
Where others saw inevitability, Bakare saw opportunity. He believed IT could be repositioned from a reactive burden into the strategic foundation for growth. That conviction set the stage for a transformation that would reverberate across the industry.
Crafting a Homegrown Strategy
Rather than depend on expensive foreign consultants, Bakare designed reforms that emphasized local expertise, automation, and efficiency. He spearheaded the unification of disparate systems into a centralized Microsoft SQL Server environment, bringing coherence to financial, scheduling, and project data. This integration not only streamlined daily operations but also enabled meaningful data-driven decision-making.
Bakare personally authored a suite of PowerShell-based automation tools that took over critical functions such as backups, diagnostics, and user management. This reduced human error, eliminated repetitive manual work, and gave the company’s IT staff the breathing space to innovate rather than firefight.
He also introduced VMware-driven virtualization, allowing multiple services to operate on shared hardware without sacrificing reliability. Crucially, he implemented disaster recovery protocols that cut recovery times from open-ended delays to just a few hours. Finally, Bakare launched a real-time monitoring and alert system, ensuring administrators were informed of disruptions before they escalated.
From Fragile Systems to Sector Leadership
The transformation was not incremental—it was sweeping. Broadcast disruptions that once plagued the company became rare exceptions. Clients who had begun to doubt the firm’s stability regained confidence, and Salt Lake Megavision secured long-term contracts with major regional broadcasters. Operational costs also fell significantly as reliance on outside vendors diminished and internal resources were used more effectively.
The ripple effects reached beyond the company itself. Bakare’s automation scripts and recovery strategies were shared with peer organizations and eventually adopted as operational standards by broadcast teams outside Salt Lake Megavision. He was invited to technology summits and engaged as a consultant for firms in Lagos and Port Harcourt that replicated his framework. His model became a blueprint for modernization on limited budgets, demonstrating that African firms could achieve resilience and scalability without waiting for massive outside investment
Shaping a Philosophy of African Innovation
For Bakare, these achievements were not only technical milestones but also philosophical ones. He argued that mid-sized African firms—the real engines of the continent’s economy—need not depend on imported systems to survive. Instead, he demonstrated that locally adaptable, resource-conscious solutions could deliver global-class results. His approach rejected copy-and-paste frameworks from foreign markets and proved that African realities required African solutions.
The Enduring Legacy
More than a decade later, Bakare’s work at Salt Lake Megavision remains a defining chapter in his career. The principles forged in those years—pragmatic innovation, automation, and resilience—continue to guide his contributions in larger and more complex environments. But the story of Salt Lake Megavision is remembered as the moment when one strategist’s determination reshaped not just a single company, but the standards of an entire industry.