Breakfast Connect

Titilayo Oyinsan Speaks with Jide Martin on building a comic book franchise in Africa
He is the founder of Africa’s first digital comic book company: Comic Republic. He is an illustrator, designer, producer, and entrepreneur with a passion for shaping Africa’s narrative through compelling stories and art.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, his desire to showcase the beauty of African art led to the creation of the largest comic book company in Africa and the only company to publish bi-weekly comics to its over 1.5 million page views on www.thecomicrepublic.com.
His books have received critical claims on five continents with features on CNN, Forbes, BBC, Comixology, Aljazeera for the quality of the art and content produced and the potential that the Comic Republic universe presents.
In 2017, his company became the first and only African Comic Book Brand to attract investors and a first of its kind licensing partnership that produced over 2 million school notebooks with stories about African heroes.
In 2020, his company also became the first and only African Comic Book Brand to create the world’s first crypto comic, which has raised over $200K in funding.
Jide is a Law graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife and the Creative Enterprise Programme for Entrepreneurs facilitated by the British Council and the University of Edinburgh, a TEDx Speaker, named an African change-maker by the UNICEF and was nominated in 2017 by MIPAD 100, a list of the Most Influential People of African Descent under the age of 40, an initiative in support of the United Nations’ International Decade for People of African Descent.

Simeon Tassev is the Managing Director of Galix, a company that assists organizations by partnering with their management on all levels, helping them to manage and improve their corporate IT infrastructure and security.  
 Tassev obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Economics and has been the Managing Director of Galix for 25 years, where he has garnered decades of experience in IT infrastructure and security.
 Tassev has been involved in designing, implementing, and managing the communications and information security infrastructure of a wide variety of organizations. 
As credit card security became increasingly important, especially with regards to fraud, Tassev obtained certification as a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) in 2012, certifying him to conduct Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) - a standard put in place by major card issuers - assessment audits.

Simeon Tassev is the Managing Director of Galix, a company that assists organizations by partnering with their management on all levels, helping them to manage and improve their corporate IT infrastructure and security.  
 Tassev obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Economics and has been the Managing Director of Galix for 25 years, where he has garnered decades of experience in IT infrastructure and security.
 Tassev has been involved in designing, implementing, and managing the communications and information security infrastructure of a wide variety of organizations. 
As credit card security became increasingly important, especially with regards to fraud, Tassev obtained certification as a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) in 2012, certifying him to conduct Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) - a standard put in place by major card issuers - assessment audits.

Simeon Tassev is the Managing Director of Galix, a company that assists organizations by partnering with their management on all levels, helping them to manage and improve their corporate IT infrastructure and security.  
 Tassev obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Economics and has been the Managing Director of Galix for 25 years, where he has garnered decades of experience in IT infrastructure and security.
 Tassev has been involved in designing, implementing, and managing the communications and information security infrastructure of a wide variety of organizations. 
As credit card security became increasingly important, especially with regards to fraud, Tassev obtained certification as a Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) in 2012, certifying him to conduct Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS) - a standard put in place by major card issuers - assessment audits.

Mrs. Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie is the founder of TEEOF Media and Simone’s Oasis. Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie is a wife, mother, and entrepreneur based in Lagos, Nigeria, and London.
Tonye created “Ugo and Sim Sim”, the first-ever picture book series to feature a black African main character with Down syndrome. The pilot (What is Down syndrome?) of the Ugo and Sim Sim animated series is now underway by 32ad animation studios, responsible for the African animated feature “Lady Buckit and the Motley Mopsters”, which has been picked up by Disney.
Tonye is also the author of the first-ever Nigerian produced Baby board book, “Ugo and Sim Sim: Fruits and Vegetables”, and a contributing author of the best-selling Amazon ebook “Nomad CEO’s: Adventurous Business Women Changing the World Whilst Traveling”.
Tonye has turned her entrepreneurial drive to children’s content after noticing a severe lack of entertainment representing black and African children, special needs children and those who fall into both categories. “Simone’s Oasis”, empowering the African child through entertainment, is a platform dedicated to black and African children. It aims to connect to our children's very sense of self because to see yourself represented is extremely powerful and what better way to do that than through entertainment.
You can find Simone’s Oasis at @simonesoasis on all social media, including YouTube. The Simone’s Oasis TV broadcast block airs weekly on both Pineapple TV and TVC.

Mrs. Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie is the founder of TEEOF Media and Simone’s Oasis. Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie is a wife, mother, and entrepreneur based in Lagos, Nigeria, and London.
Tonye created “Ugo and Sim Sim”, the first-ever picture book series to feature a black African main character with Down syndrome. The pilot (What is Down syndrome?) of the Ugo and Sim Sim animated series is now underway by 32ad animation studios, responsible for the African animated feature “Lady Buckit and the Motley Mopsters”, which has been picked up by Disney.
Tonye is also the author of the first-ever Nigerian produced Baby board book, “Ugo and Sim Sim: Fruits and Vegetables”, and a contributing author of the best-selling Amazon ebook “Nomad CEO’s: Adventurous Business Women Changing the World Whilst Traveling”.
Tonye has turned her entrepreneurial drive to children’s content after noticing a severe lack of entertainment representing black and African children, special needs children and those who fall into both categories. “Simone’s Oasis”, empowering the African child through entertainment, is a platform dedicated to black and African children. It aims to connect to our children's very sense of self because to see yourself represented is extremely powerful and what better way to do that than through entertainment.
You can find Simone’s Oasis at @simonesoasis on all social media, including YouTube. The Simone’s Oasis TV broadcast block airs weekly on both Pineapple TV and TVC.

Mrs. Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie is the founder of TEEOF Media and Simone’s Oasis. Tonye Faloughi-Ekezie is a wife, mother, and entrepreneur based in Lagos, Nigeria, and London.
Tonye created “Ugo and Sim Sim”, the first-ever picture book series to feature a black African main character with Down syndrome. The pilot (What is Down syndrome?) of the Ugo and Sim Sim animated series is now underway by 32ad animation studios, responsible for the African animated feature “Lady Buckit and the Motley Mopsters”, which has been picked up by Disney.
Tonye is also the author of the first-ever Nigerian produced Baby board book, “Ugo and Sim Sim: Fruits and Vegetables”, and a contributing author of the best-selling Amazon ebook “Nomad CEO’s: Adventurous Business Women Changing the World Whilst Traveling”.
Tonye has turned her entrepreneurial drive to children’s content after noticing a severe lack of entertainment representing black and African children, special needs children and those who fall into both categories. “Simone’s Oasis”, empowering the African child through entertainment, is a platform dedicated to black and African children. It aims to connect to our children's very sense of self because to see yourself represented is extremely powerful and what better way to do that than through entertainment.
You can find Simone’s Oasis at @simonesoasis on all social media, including YouTube. The Simone’s Oasis TV broadcast block airs weekly on both Pineapple TV and TVC.

Mudzithe Phiri is a festival Manager Africa Book and Design Festival. She is an experienced business developer with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing, media, and advertising industry.
She is skilled in Business Development Strategy, Business Planning, Sales, Sales Management, marketing, brand management, project management, content marketing, sales, and branding content development, and Event Management.
She has a strong business development professional with a Bachelor of Commerce focused in Marketing from the University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika.
Her passion is Africa and seeing it become a self-sustaining economy that will see an end to poverty on the continent. Her experience working in B2B marketing across various industries exposed her to just how much money is made in Africa and just how much money can be made.
The opportunities are endless especially because Africa is developing in the technology and creative age where new ideas and innovation are at the core of development. If there is something African's are, it's creative and innovative. The vision and mission across all the businesses she is a part of is to see the African opportunity belong to Africa.

Mudzithe Phiri is a festival Manager Africa Book and Design Festival. She is an experienced business developer with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing, media, and advertising industry.
She is skilled in Business Development Strategy, Business Planning, Sales, Sales Management, marketing, brand management, project management, content marketing, sales, and branding content development, and Event Management.
She has a strong business development professional with a Bachelor of Commerce focused in Marketing from the University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika.
Her passion is Africa and seeing it become a self-sustaining economy that will see an end to poverty on the continent. Her experience working in B2B marketing across various industries exposed her to just how much money is made in Africa and just how much money can be made.
The opportunities are endless especially because Africa is developing in the technology and creative age where new ideas and innovation are at the core of development. If there is something African's are, it's creative and innovative. The vision and mission across all the businesses she is a part of is to see the African opportunity belong to Africa.

Mudzithe Phiri is a festival Manager Africa Book and Design Festival. She is an experienced business developer with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing, media, and advertising industry.
She is skilled in Business Development Strategy, Business Planning, Sales, Sales Management, marketing, brand management, project management, content marketing, sales, and branding content development, and Event Management.
She has a strong business development professional with a Bachelor of Commerce focused in Marketing from the University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika.
Her passion is Africa and seeing it become a self-sustaining economy that will see an end to poverty on the continent. Her experience working in B2B marketing across various industries exposed her to just how much money is made in Africa and just how much money can be made.
The opportunities are endless especially because Africa is developing in the technology and creative age where new ideas and innovation are at the core of development. If there is something African's are, it's creative and innovative. The vision and mission across all the businesses she is a part of is to see the African opportunity belong to Africa.