GO54 founder Opeyemi Awoyemi exits board after sale to South Africa’s HOSTAFRICA
The deal marks Awoyemi’s second successful exit as a founder, having previously founded and exited from Nigerian job board Jobberman.
By Joseph Olaoluwa
Opeyemi Awoyemi, founder of Nigerian web hosting giant GO54 (formerly WhoGoHost), has resigned from the company’s board following its acquisition by South African competitor HOSTAFRICA.
“Happy to announce that @GO54_hq (fka Whogohost) has been acquired by HOST AFRICA. I have also resigned from the board following the sale,” Awoyemi said in a tweet thread on X.
“Whogohost’s final sale marks my 2nd exit as a founder and my last that’s fully focused on Nigeria. I remain committed to building but for the world while backing founders building local solutions with capital.”
GO54 was founded in 2007 by Awoyemi while he was still a student at Obafemi Awolowo University. In addition to web hosting, GO54 offers cloud hosting, reseller hosting, website protection and design, website backup and domain reseller APIs to over 130,000 customers using its services in Nigeria with a significant market share.
The company is no stranger to acquisitions. To expand its offerings, GO54 acquired cloud communications startup SendChamp in September 2023, gaining access to its customer base and enhancing its customer support capabilities.
In January 2016, GO54 acquired iHost Africa, a Nigerian web-hosting company, for an undisclosed amount. The deal was expected to bring in 1,500 new clients for the company, thereby increasing market share. Later that year in June, GO54 TheExpertHost, acquired another Nigerian hosting company, establishing its presence as the largest web hosting company in the country. The latest marriage with South African-based HOSTAFRICA will solidify the combined entity as a domain powerhouse on the continent with little competition.
In July 2023, Toba Obaniyi left GO54 after serving as CEO for 10 years. He has joined an insurance company based in Uganda, Turaco as General Manager.
Awoyemi, who is now an investor on the continent, expressed appreciation to Obaniyi for this support in the tweet he posted. “My eternal gratitude goes to @tobaniyi, my partner who took Whogohost from 1,000 domains to 150,000. Visionaries need partners like this to thrive.”
Awoyemi expressed that he is still interested in backing the founders and domains. He unveiled a website that can help individuals build their websites in the tweet thread.
