Germany offered Adekoyejo Kuye a future. He chose Nigeria

Adekoyejo Kuye sits with an unhurried air, the kind of person you can listen to for hours without noticing the passage of time. I meet him on July 28 at Somerset Westview in Kilimani, Nairobi, a chance encounter that would reveal the remarkable story of his choice to return to Nigeria. Kuye is in town for Halcyon's 2026 Africa Food & Climate Resilience programme, where his company, KAMIM Technologies, is part of the cohort. As we chat, I notice the ease with which he speaks, rarely searching for a thought, and it's clear that he's a man at peace with his decisions.

Adekoyejo Kuye's path to becoming the founder of KAMIM Technologies was not always certain. Born to a chemical engineering professor and a nurse, Kuye grew up with a curious mind, taking toys apart to understand their inner workings. He expected to become a mechanical engineer, working on cars, but his experiences in rural Nigeria during his national youth service would change the course of his life. Posted to a community in Enugu State, Southeastern Nigeria, Kuye worked unpaid for a solar company, carrying panels and batteries into communities. It was during this time that he began to grasp the everyday problems faced by farmers, a realization that would shape his future.

Kuye later left for Germany to pursue a master's degree in renewable energy, financing his studies with factory jobs and night shifts at Amazon. When he finished, he was offered a chance to stay, a safer, more obvious path that many would have chosen. But Kuye had other plans. Buying a one-way ticket to Nigeria without telling anyone, he returned home, leaving behind the security of a foreign life. Friends and family asked if anyone was using "juju" (a Nigerian term for witchcraft) to pull him back home. Kuye's decision to return to Nigeria was not taken lightly, but it was one that would ultimately shape the country's agricultural landscape.

• Adekoyejo Kuye is the founder of KAMIM Technologies, a Nigerian climate-tech company.
• Kuye holds a master's degree in renewable energy from Germany.
• His company builds solar-powered cold storage infrastructure and connects farmers to markets.

As we delve deeper into Kuye's story, it becomes clear that Nigeria's biggest agricultural problem is not production, but preservation. With an engineering background, Kuye began his career at a solar company, building mini-grids in rural communities. However, he soon realized that many farmers couldn't afford to pay for solar home systems because they didn't have productive value for their livelihoods. This epiphany led Kuye to ask the farmers about their problems, and they told him that they faced significant challenges once they harvested their crops. They had to quickly take everything to the market and sell it because there was no infrastructure to preserve their produce.

Kuye's return to Nigeria was not just a personal decision; it was also a response to the country's agricultural challenges. His company, KAMIM Technologies, is working to address this issue by building solar-powered cold storage infrastructure and connecting farmers to markets. A notable step, but one that has the potential to transform the way Nigeria approaches food preservation.

As a writer, I'm struck by the parallels between Kuye's journey and the broader conversation around Nigeria's agricultural sector. There's a growing recognition that the country's biggest challenges lie not in production, but in preservation. Kuye's story serves as a powerful reminder that the solutions to these challenges often lie within, and that it's the people who are closest to the problem who are best equipped to find the solution.

In the end, Adekoyejo Kuye's decision to return to Nigeria was not just a personal choice; it was evidence of his commitment to addressing the country's agricultural challenges. His story serves as a reminder that even in the face of uncertainty, the power to create change lies within us all.