NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Dirk-Jan (DJ) Koeman is Chief Business Development Officer at Poa! Internet. He has been in telecommunications for over 20 years after graduating in hospitality management at the internationally acclaimed Hotelschool The Hague. During his career, he has seen the inside on many mobile network operators across the globe, both developed as well as emerging markets. Before coming to Kenya, he was the COO of a telco start-up, launching four new mobile brands in the Dutch market within 18 months. DJ came to Kenya in January 2013 as a consultant with Airtel, before joining the launch team of Equity bank MVNO Equitel in 2014. Together with three co-founders he started poa! internet in July 2015. poa! internet is focusing on providing affordable internet access to low income areas, such as urban slums and rural communities. He joined Ampion as a mentor on their VentureBus through Southern Africa, sits on the board of advisers of a local startup in fintech and is a guest lecturer for various technology institutes in Kenya.