Women: leaders, warriors, friends, mothers etc. that’s a few tags we use to celebrate these humans as we mark the International Women Day/Month (#IWD). The year 2020 was that period asides the global pandemic where women led the movement to call out the government for change, hence the #EndSARS movement. Among the pioneers of the movement were a number of women who are leading innovation in the Technology space. Coven Works recognizes 10 dynamic leaders who share insights and perspectives about how they scaled their way to the tech industry’s zenith.
These female tech leaders have become the face of change in the industry, trying to rule out sexism from within and encouraging higher visibility and responsibility for everyone. Such prominent and powerful women innovators continue to build and invest in future technologies and have set an example for others.
Coven Works has highlighted 10 women in her efforts to celebrate #IWD. The list is in no particular order:
1. Seun Runsewe
Seun Runsewe is the Vice President of Growth at Softcom, where she is leading efforts to deliver growth to Nigerian entrepreneurs through their digital bank, Eyowo. Prior to Softcom, she was the Director of Product at Opera-backed payments startup OPay. OPay has raised ~USD170m in funding in the last year and has over 300,000 agents in Nigeria — the largest agent network in the country — who process over $2 bn in monthly transactions.
Prior to OPay, she built and beta-launched Switch by Sterling Bank, a multi-currency digital bank with integrations to interest savings, health insurance products for the Nigerian middle class and Nigerians in the Diaspora to address multiple financial needs in one place, making her the youngest banking CEO in Africa at the time. Before building Switch, she was an early member and the Business Lead at Paystack, a Y-Combinator backed online payments company that got acquired by Stripe for $200m.
She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Covenant University and is professionally certified in Digital Marketing, Enterprise Resource Planning and Technology Project Management. In 2019, she was recognized by The Future Project as an honoree of #YTech100 for being one of the brightest and best Nigerian technocrats.
2. Temitope Omotolani
Temitope Omotolani is the Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Crowdyvest, an impact-driven tech company that creates financial solutions for a community of individuals and organizations that are
committed to long-term growth and financial freedom in alignment with the 17 SDGs.
The main focus of Crowdyvest is to provide all-in-one financial solutions for individuals and businesses to achieve
short or long-term goals while facilitating impactful growth in line with the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Tope was listed as one of the Top Female Founders in Africa who raised 2.5 million USD for the Nigerian agric-tech startup Farmcrowdy.
3. Damilola Solesi
Damilola Solesi is the CEO and creative director at SMIDS animation studios, a
company she founded in 2010.
SMIDS animation studios is one of the leading animation companies in Africa and also rated by the PWC (Price Water Coopers) industry report 2019 as being in
the top 2 animation companies in Nigeria.
Read Also: Nigerian women can lead
They have handled several 3D animation projects for several clients and are now busy working on children content for tv and the web. Their first TV series ‘The Makerbolts’ was a finalist at this year’s Annecy (the largest animation festival in the world) ‘Animation du Monde’. After qualifying through the regional and continental stages. One of their top projects is the BOXED series now showing on YouTube. Dami is also selected as a Juror for the 2020 International Emmy Awards by the prestigious International Academy of Television, Arts & Sciences.
Dami’s work in leading and managing the day to day strategic and operations of
the business has been critical to the success of SMIDS.
4. Ire Aderinokun
Ire Aderinokun is a self-taught Frontend Developer and User Interface Designer from Lagos, Nigeria.
She is the Cofounder, COO, and VP Engineering of Buycoins (YC S2018), a cryptocurrency exchange for Africa, and previously worked with eyeo, the company behind products like Adblock Plus and Flattr Plus, building open source software to make a better internet.
Ire is a Google Expert, specialising in the core frontend technologies HTML, CSS, and Javascript, but is passionate about all aspects of technology.
She has written over 100 articles on these topics on her blog, bitsofco.de, and regularly shares her knowledge through speaking at conferences around Africa and the world.
5. Ife Durosinmi-Etti
Ifedayo Durosinmi – Etti is an Author, Entrepreneur and Young Global Leader with over 10 years of management and leadership experience working in the fashion, marketing and manufacturing Industries. She holds a first degree in Biochemistry and an MBA in Global Business.
Prior to moving back to Nigeria in 2012, she worked with Arcadia Group Plc, a British multinational retailing company headquartered in London and Aspire Acquisitions. She later joined Nigerian Breweries (Heineken Operating Company in Nigeria) as a Young African Talent (YAT) and transitioned to their Corporate Communications Department as Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Support Manager where she successfully managed various corporate social responsibility and sustainability projects. Ifedayo is also an associate member of the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON).
She is the Managing Partner for AGS Tribe, a social enterprise created to democratize opportunities for entrepreneurs and non profits in Africa. It is also a platform that brings female entrepreneurs together to form cross boarder relationships with the aim of transforming Africa. She is very passionate about women and youth contributing to national development and has been able to empower female entrepreneurs through the AGS Enterprise Challenge, a program that empowers female entrepreneurs through funding, mentorship and training amongst other projects. Recently, she launched a $1,000,000 women empowerment fund to fund female businesses in Nigeria
6.Confidence Staveley
Confidence Staveley is a Cybersecurity Professional, Cybersecurity Awareness Advocate, Global Shaper, Author and Entrepreneur with over a decade’s worth of experience in technology.
Her wealth of experience garnered across diverse sectors including Consulting, Education, Banking and Government, has distinguished her as a leading female voice in the African technological space. Confidence is a Top 50 women in Cybersecurity Africa 2020 finalist, Young CISO of the Year Award 2021 Nominee, BBC Biz 100 expert, and an external faculty of The FINTECH Institute (Lagos| London| Toronto), an acknowledgment of her professionalism, influence, and expertise within the African tech ecosystem.
She contributes to social responsibility through CyberSafe Foundation; its flagship initiative #NoGoFallMaga, is combating digital fraud perpetrated through social engineering, by delivering simple, relatable cybersecurity education across Nigeria and beyond. She’s also authored Africa’s first storified cybersecurity awareness book, NoGoFallMaga-The Handbook.
Cybersafe Foundation also recently became a cybersecurity partner of the UK Government in Nigeria.
7. Damilola Olokesusi
Damilola is the Co–founder and CEO of a Transport & Tech Company called Shuttlers, a startup currently
revolutionizing the way professionals and organizations commute in Lagos metropolis. She has a Bachelors’
Degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Lagos with experience in Process Engineering and Investment
Management. Damilola’s passion to solve social and economic problems in her community birthed Shuttlers.
Shuttlers platform enables professionals and organizations share rides in corporate buses to and from work. With
Shuttlers, users book trips along fixed-routes at 60-80 percent lower fees than ride-hailing services and without
surge or peak pricings which is the first of its kind in Nigeria. This solution is contributing to a decline in the
menace of traffic in Lagos as young professionals can now join comfortable Air-conditioned buses with other
professionals.
8. Raquel Kasham Daniel
Raquel Kasham Daniel is a community mobilizer, social entrepreneur and educator working in low income communities in Nigeria focusing on education for children and sexual & reproductive health for adolescent girls through Beyond the Classroom Foundation.
She is also the Co-founder of Nzuriaiki.com, a transformational web platform that helps nonprofits organizations showcase their volunteer opportunities in Nigeria. Nzuriaiki.com provides an opportunity for people to improve their skills through volunteering for a project contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals while helping organizations to grow larger pools of supporters.
In 2015, she joined the Lagos Global Shaper of the World Economic and received the LEAP Africa Social Innovator Program fellowship. She is a Climate Reality Leader, a Walter Carrington Fellow and a two time Mentor of the Queens Young Leaders Program.
Raquel has received several awards including the 2021, Luther King Heroes Award, the 2019 Young Achievers Award, the 2016 Honour Nigeria Community Development Award, and the 2014 La Roche Exemplary Leadership Award.
9.TosinFaniro-Dada
Tosin Faniro-Dada is the Managing Director & CEO of Endeavor in Nigeria. Tosin is passionate about supporting entrepreneurs and helping them scale, not just for the immediate impact this has on their organization but more for the multiplier effect this confers on the larger society and economy. She has worked with entrepreneurs in various life-cycle stages, supporting them with interventions and resources to help them thrive.
A Certified Public Accountant licensed in Massachusetts USA, Tosin graduated Summa Cum Laude (highest honors) with a B.sc in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and an M.sc in Accounting from Boston College. She is currently participating in an Advanced Management and Advanced Leadership program at INSEAD.
Tosin was the Director, Programmes & Coordination, Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) where she led the fund’s intervention programs; providing access to finance to MSMEs, facilitating training and job placements for young people, and supporting entrepreneurs in Lagos State, under the Lagos Innovates program.
10. Sefunmi Fadahunsi
Sefunmi is a Management Consultant, Project Management Professional and CSR professional with vast Multi-Industry knowledge, Africa Wide She currently serves as the Country Programme Manager, Oracle Academy Sub-Sahara Africa; executing strategic initiatives and Government relations around Education & Technology.
She holds a B.A in Linguistics from Obafemi Awolowo University and a couple of certifications in Project Management, Social Enterprise, Operations Management & Sustainability.
Outside of her current work, Sefunmi’s passion for Community Development and Capacity Building evolves around her volunteering hours for mentoring sessions, speaking engagement and workshops. She is also an EduTech Advocate.
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