Born and raised in the Nigerian port city of Calabar, Abasi Ene-Obong remembers the exact moment that changed his life's direction. Sitting in an introductory genetics class at medical school, in 2003, he heard the professor say that African genetic samples comprised less than 3% of health data bases in the world, creating a stunning vacuum in its ability to detect diseases and develop effective treatments for hundreds of millions of people.

Ene-Obong ditched his plan to become a doctor, and instead left for London, and later Los Angeles, to study genetics, finally earning a Master's degree in business focusing on the bioscience industry, at the Keck Graduate School in California, and a Ph.D. in cancer biology at the University of London.

With that, he launched 54gene in 2019—named for the 54 countries in Africa—with the mission to right the sharp racial imbalance in global health data. Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, and Washington, D.C., the startup was on TIME's 2019 list of best health inventions.

"The problem is that Big Pharma companies are developing drugs that are optimized for Caucasian populations," Ene-Obong explains. "When those drugs are brought to Africa, they might not be efficacious, or they might have adverse side effects. This is a fundamental inequity in global healthcare."

To address this, 54gene is building one of the world's most diverse genetic biobanks. The company partners with hospitals and research institutions across Africa to collect and sequence DNA samples. By making this data available to pharmaceutical companies, Ene-Obong hopes to spur the development of new treatments that are tailored to the specific genetic makeup of African populations.

"We're not just collecting data," Ene-Obong says. "We're building infrastructure. We're training local scientists and setting up state-of-the-art sequencing labs in Nigeria. We want to ensure that the intellectual property generated from African DNA benefits African people."

The stakes are incredibly high. The global pharmaceutical market is worth over $1.2 trillion, yet Africa accounts for less than 1% of that total. By leveling the playing field in genetic research, 54gene aims to not only improve health outcomes but also unlock significant economic value for the continent.

"It's about equity, but it's also about economics," he concludes. "If we don't have a seat at the table, we'll continue to be left behind."