In the mid-1990s, when most Nigerian businesses still depended on paper files, fax machines and manual processes, Chuma Chukwujama was already betting on a different future, one built on software.
That decision led to the creation of his first company, Allied Technologies, founded in 1996 at the dawn of widespread business digitisation. By 2001, Chukwujama and co-founder Duke Obasi rebranded the business as AlliedSoft.
The company shifted focus towards custom software development for banks, telecom operators, and large enterprises.
It built systems for SIM registration, enterprise operations, and workflow automation at a time when Nigeria’s digital infrastructure was still in its infancy.
As client needs evolved, so did the company’s offering. By 2004, AlliedSoft had expanded into human resources software after identifying a recurring problem across organisations: fragmented and inefficient employee management systems.
What you need to know
At the time, enterprise software deployment was heavily constrained by infrastructure costs and technical complexity.
Mid-range enterprise servers from manufacturers such as Dell or HP could cost between $5,000 and $15,000 per unit, excluding supporting infrastructure such as cooling systems, networking equipment, and server racks.
For medium-sized businesses, full deployment often exceeded $30,000, making digital transformation accessible only to large corporations.
Smaller businesses were effectively excluded from enterprise-grade digital tools due to these capital requirements.
The cloud transition reshapes enterprise software
A major shift began around 2010 with the global rise of cloud computing platforms such as Microsoft Azure and improved internet infrastructure in Nigeria, including the landing of the MainOne submarine cable.
The emergence of local data centres such as MDXi and Rack Centre further reduced barriers by offering shared infrastructure for storage, computing, and connectivity.
The result was a significant reduction in operational costs, up to an estimated 40 per cent in some cases alongside improved reliability and scalability.
By this point, the enterprise software industry was undergoing a global transition from on-premise systems to cloud-native platforms.
“That was the conversation happening between 2010 and 2015,” he said. “Everybody had to decide whether to continue building software the old way or move fully into the cloud.”
His company chose the latter.
Reinventing the business for a cloud-first era
In 2015, Allied Software evolved into Xceed365HR Limited, a cloud-native human resources platform designed for enterprise clients.
A decade later, the company was restructured into Talpro Software, with Xceed365HR becoming its flagship product.
Today, the company describes its mission as building HR infrastructure tailored for African organisations.
That ambition places the company in a competitive market that includes global players such as SAP and Oracle, alongside African HR technology firms including Pade and SeamlessHR.
Despite global advances in enterprise technology, Chukwujama argues that many systems still fail to reflect Africa’s operational realities.
He points to challenges such as fragmented payment systems, regulatory differences, and infrastructure constraints that are rarely fully accounted for in global enterprise software design.
To address this, Talpro is integrating its systems with African fintech infrastructure, enabling direct linkage between HR processes, payroll, and payment systems within a unified platform.
AI becomes the next frontier
The company’s next major evolution is being driven by artificial intelligence.
Rather than adding AI features as supplementary tools, Talpro has rebuilt its upcoming version around AI agents that allow users to interact with HR systems conversationally.
The “V3” platform, set to go live on June 1, will enable employees to perform tasks such as leave requests using natural language commands.
The shift reflects a broader industry movement towards agentic AI systems capable of executing tasks rather than merely responding to queries.
Building without venture capital
Unlike many modern African startups, Talpro Software remains entirely self-funded, having grown without external venture capital investment.
The company has expanded gradually across multiple African markets, including Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa.
For Chukwujama, the journey reflects not just technological evolution, but survival across shifting infrastructure, markets, and paradigms.
“When we start seeing African companies becoming significantly more productive because of our software, and that contributes to improving Africa’s economic story, that’s success for me,” he said.
After nearly three decades in Nigeria’s technology sector, his story mirrors the broader trajectory of African enterprise software itself, from physical servers to cloud systems, and now towards AI-driven platforms built for a continent still grappling with foundational infrastructure gaps.
In his view, the ultimate measure of success is not just software adoption, but productivity at scale.
Talking Points
At Techparley, we see Chuma Chukwujama’s journey as a rare example of long-term conviction in Africa’s enterprise software space, with a career that has evolved alongside every major shift in global computing, from on-premise systems to cloud and now AI-driven platforms.
It is particularly striking that his early entry into software development in 1996 predated widespread internet adoption in Nigeria, reflecting a forward-looking bet on digital infrastructure at a time when most businesses were still fully analogue.
The evolution from Allied Technologies to cloud-native platforms like Xceed365HR, and later Talpro Software, highlights how African tech companies have had to continuously reinvent themselves to align with global technological shifts while adapting to local constraints.
The shift towards AI-powered HR systems is also significant, particularly the move from static software tools to agentic systems that allow employees to interact with enterprise platforms conversationally.
As the sector moves into an AI-driven phase, we see Chukwujama’s work as part of a longer transition towards building enterprise systems that are not only digital-first, but truly designed around Africa’s operational realities.
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