In Africa’s unfolding technology revolution, some voices often and inevitably ring louder than others, mostly due to cultural dynamics that have made access to funding and other resources relatively easier. But pay closer attention, and you’ll notice the steady motion of women building, innovating, and providing tech-enabled solutions to the continent’s needs as much as their male counterparts. Just as we see indefatigable female entrepreneurs scaling their businesses and impacting lives across other industries, there are also visionary women in the male-dominated tech ecosystem redefining what’s possible.

As conversations around women’s contributions gain momentum this month, it’s worth turning the spotlight toward those driving innovation in Nigeria’s tech space. On that note, here are five women taking gaint strides in niche tech spaces in the country:

Funke Opeke of MainOne

Internet connectivity and the wide range of telecommunication services in Nigeria and the broader West African coast gained a solid foundation thanks to the vision of Funke Opeke, who launched MainOne in July 2010. MainOne is the premier provider of Internet services in West Africa, with a network infrastructure that other telecom operators rely on.

Under Funke Opeke’s leadership, the company laid the first private undersea cable in West Africa to improve internet access just in time for the rise of smartphone adoption and 4G broadband in the region. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in Nigeria, like MTN and 9Mobile (formerly Etisalat), were among the earliest adopters of MainOne’s services.

In 2022, the company took a major step forward with its $320 million acquisition by the US-based data center company Equinix. With Funke as the Managing Director, MainOne has since doubled down on data, cloud, and colocation services.

Jehovah-Nissi Ogulu of Kemet Automotive

Electric vehicle production in Africa is gradually gaining momentum. Following the lead of companies like Innoson in local production, we’re now witnessing another rising force in Kemet Automotive, an automobile company co-founded by Nigerian singer and mechanical engineer Nissi Ogulu and Guinea-Bissauan entrepreneur Rui Mendes Da Silva.

Before establishing Kemet Automotive, Ogulu had already made her mark in the automobile industry. The Loughborough and Warwick University alumna was one of the youngest project leads at Jaguar Land Rover, where she played a pivotal role in developing several products for the UK and Austrian markets, including the standout fifth-generation Range Rover model in 2021.

Now, alongside her co-founder, Nissi Ogulu is on a mission to pioneer an innovative and sustainable mobility industry in Africa through Kemet Automotive. She recently won the Youth Icon Award at the 2025 Forbes Women Africa Awards.

Ruth Iselema of Bitmama

Inspired by a fraudulent transaction that saw her lose about $1,200 while trying to sell bitcoin, and backed by deep experience in crypto consulting for leading global exchanges and blockchain protocols, Ruth Iselema established Bitmama in 2019.

Bitmama started as a WhatsApp group where members learned about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and made transactions before it evolved into a peer-to-peer (P2P) digital currency exchange. The company has grown into a platform where individuals can trade and manage cryptocurrencies and other digital assets conveniently. Headquartered in the US, Bitmama’s services are now available in over 100 countries.

Judith Okonkwo of Imisi 3D

Judith Okonkwo, a technology evangelist and business psychologist, founded Nigeria’s first extended reality (XR) company, Imisi 3D, in 2016. For nearly a decade, Imisi 3D has been developing XR adoption on the continent, with a focus on training augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) creators to build solutions tailored to Africa’s unique challenges.

To drive the spread of immersive technology, Imisi 3D operates through three core pillars: promoting awareness and evangelisation of XR, supporting and investing in the development of an African creator community through meetups, events, masterclasses, and hackathons, and investing in initiatives in sectors with significant impact potential — like education, healthcare, storytelling, and digital conservation. Over the past nine years of operating, Imisi 3D has collaborated with global tech companies like Google, Microsoft, GitHub, Samsung, Facebook, among many others.  

Omolabake Adenle of AJA.LA Studios

Omolabake Adenle is a Nigerian-American engineer and entrepreneur who founded AJA.LA Studios, a language learning software company that specialises in natural language and speech processing applications for under-resourced African languages. AJA.LA Studios came into existence in 2017 when natural language processing (NLP) was gaining traction in the Western world.

Adenle, who holds a Ph.D. in Engineering from Cambridge University, combined her cultural interests and technical expertise to build AJA.LA while serving as Vice President for quantitative and derivative strategies at Morgan Stanley. The platform started with Yoruba and Kiswahili languages and has since expanded its reach.