In a world where innovation shapes the future, Nigerian women are no longer standing on the sidelines, they are leading from the front. From artificial intelligence labs to biotechnology firms, coding hubs to space research centres, a growing number of Nigerian women are breaking barriers, challenging stereotypes, and proving that brilliance knows no gender. Their stories are not just about personal triumphs, but about redefining what is possible for women in a male-dominated field. They are women who are not just participating in the future, but building it.
These trailblazers are transforming the face of science and technology in Nigeria, inspiring a new generation to dream beyond limits. Here are the top 10 Nigerian women making remarkable strides in tech and science.
Ire Aderinokun
Ire is a front-end developer and co-founder of Helicarrier, a startup building cryptocurrency infrastructure for Africa. She holds the distinction of being Nigeria’s first female Google Developer Expert in core front-end technologies: HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Her blog, Bits of Code, demystifies programming for beginners. She has carved out a space in user experience design and blockchain, fields often perceived as niche or male dominated.
Adenike Osofisan
Professor Adenike Osofisan became the first woman in Nigeria to hold a PhD in Computer Science (in 1989), later rising to become a full professor at the University of Ibadan. She specialises in data mining and knowledge management. Her leadership in professional organisations (e.g. Nigeria Women in Information Technology) helped push for inclusion of women in tech decision-making roles. Her career is especially instructive because she rose in a period when little formal support for women in computing existed. She faced gender bias, limited funding, and marginalisation, yet persisted.
Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazo
Juliet Ehimuan directed Google’s operations in West Africa for over a decade before stepping down to found Beyond Limits Africa, which provides training and support for entrepreneurs. A Cambridge scholar with strong credentials, Juliet has been an advocate for inclusive tech leadership and women’s participation in start-ups. Her contribution is both technical and cultural. She has leveraged corporate influence to create structural openings, mentorship programmes, coaching, and visibility for women in leadership.
Teju Ajani
Teju Ajani has built a global tech career, working with giants like Oracle, VMware, Google, and now Apple (as Managing Director, Nigeria). Her foundation in software engineering, combined with overseas exposure, positioned her to navigate both international benchmarks and local complexities.
exposure beyond the Nigerian context.
Funke Opeke
Funke built MainOne, the submarine cable connecting West Africa to Europe, drastically improving broadband access in multiple countries. She studied electrical engineering, worked abroad, then returned to confront infrastructure gaps. MainOne remains one of West Africa’s critical digital infrastructure successes. Her achievement is proof that investing in infrastructure often seen as male territory can be led by women.
Fara Ashiru Jituboh
As co-founder and CTO of Okra, Fara Ashiru Jituboh drives open banking in Africa. Okra enables secure, real-time sharing of financial data for fintechs and other financial service applications. Her technical knowledge and ambition position her as one of the foremost women in fintech. Her work has impact: improving access to financial services, enabling startups, and fostering financial inclusion.
Abimbola Alale
Alale is the MD/CEO of NigComSat, Nigeria’s satellite communications company. She is among the few women leading in space- and communication-satellite infrastructure. This puts her at the nexus of scientific research, national security, and digital access. Her role shows that roles in “hard science” (satellites, communications) are not off-limits to women. She also illustrates how leadership in government-adjacent agencies can advance tech innovation.
Odunayo Eweniyi
Odunayo co-founded PiggyVest, a platform that has enabled millions of Nigerians to save and invest through technology. A graduate in computer engineering, she has blended technical capability with business acumen to build fintech products with scale. Her path demonstrates that innovation in tech need not be exotic, solving everyday financial problems, packaging them in digital platforms, and scaling them matters just as much.
Nkemdilim Begho
Nkemdilim leads in tech solutions with software strategy, bioinformatics, and entrepreneurship. She shows how STEM careers can cross disciplinary boundaries such as biology, data, business. Her work is shaping Nigeria’s digital transformation both in rural and urban communities.
Temie Giwa-Tubosun
Founder of LifeBank, a health tech platform that connects hospitals in need with critical medical supplies (blood, oxygen, etc.), Temie has blended public health, logistics, and technology to save lives. Her work is a clear demonstration of how science, tech, and social mission can intertwine. She underscores that tech leadership can and should address pressing humanitarian challenges, not just market opportunities.
