Tolulope Fatunbi does not see a lump of lithium as a rock, he sees a battery, a job, a supply chain and a future. As founder and chief executive of Dorogis Limited, the Nigerian entrepreneur is using artificial intelligence, satellite analytics and drone-enabled geophysics to find critical minerals such as lithium and rare earth elements. But his ambition goes beyond discovery, he wants Africa to process, refine and profit from what lies beneath its soil.
That message has won attention. In 2026, he was named African Entrepreneur of the Year in Mining and Natural Resources at the Pan African Leadership Conference and Awards.
The selection process drew more than 5,000 nominations from across Africa and beyond. He was also named among the 2025 Global 100 League of Distinguished Influential Leaders, a recognition of young changemakers making their mark across the continent and the world.
For Fatunbi, the awards are not trophies but tools. He has become a vocal advocate for moving Africa away from exporting raw materials and towards local processing, beneficiation and value creation.
He argues for stronger geological exploration frameworks, including a national geological institution modelled on Brazil’s CPRM. He also promotes mineral traceability, environmental sustainability and community engagement in mining.
His approach is technological and practical. Dorogis uses remote sensing and automated analysis to reduce the cost and risk of exploration. Drones map terrain. Algorithms sift data. The aim is to find strategic minerals faster and more responsibly, while building systems that keep more of the value in Africa.
Fatunbi often speaks to young Africans about the stakes. “Our generation must build the frameworks that turn Africa’s natural resources into long-term prosperity,” he said after receiving the African Entrepreneur of the Year award. “Africa’s young entrepreneurs have a critical role in building systems that convert what is beneath our soil into jobs, industries and lasting wealth”.
That is the change he is working to build in real life. Not extraction alone, but processing, industry and lasting value. The minerals are African. The technology can be African. The wealth, he insists, should be African too.
