10 women shaping Nigeria’s telecom industry

The Nigerian telecommunications industry, valued as one of Africa’s largest and most vibrant, has been a pillar of economic growth.

With over 220 million active subscribers, the sector has seen unprecedented growth, characterised by advancements in mobile technology, internet connectivity, and innovative services. This boom has not been without the expertise of women in Nigeria’s telecom industry, who have risen, broken barriers and shaped the future of telecommunications in Nigeria.

They are not only redefining leadership within a traditionally male-dominated space but also driving critical advancements in network infrastructure, data services, and digital inclusion.

Funke Opeke

Funke Opeke is the founder and CEO of MainOne, formerly Main One Cable Company, West Africa’s leading network solutions provider. In 2022, Equinix, a multinational company, acquired her company for $320 million, and she was retained to serve as the managing director of West Africa.

Opeke is an experienced telecommunications executive who returned to Nigeria in 2005 as the Chief Technical Officer of MTN after a twenty-year career in the United States. She was the Executive Director of Verizon Communications Wholesale Division in the United States. After her return, she worked as the Chief Technical Officer at MTN and advised Transcorp on the acquisition of NITEL. She briefly served as the interim Chief Operating Officer after the acquisition of NITEL. Opeke obtained a first degree in Electrical Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria and a Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, New York.

Kemi Ariyo

Kemi Ariyo is a C-Suite Telecommunications expert with over 16 years of cross-functional and international experience across the IT value chain with a track record of providing technical solutions geared towards service efficiency, customer experience, and business profitability. She is currently the director of Information Technology at Airtel Nigeria. Ariyo began her career as an application support engineer. Her contribution to Airtel started from her days as a Business Operations Analyst under the management service at IBM, where she moved into several leadership roles until she fully joined Airtel in 2017. In 2019, she became the Head of Project Delivery at Airtel, where she led her team to execute complex projects like the CSDP platform. Beyond her role at Airtel, Ariyo also runs Brightstar Integral Technology, a company she started to provide innovative tech and consulting services. Brightstar has been pivotal in developing essential infrastructure for various sectors, including government and finance. She is a Forbes Technology Council Member. She had her undergraduate degree from Covenant University and a Master’s in Information Security from the Royal Holloway University of London.

Read also: Meet Bolaji Balogun, one of the men who advanced Nigeria’s telecoms industry

Adia Sowho

Adia Sowho, former Chief Marketing Officer at MTN Nigeria, was the telco’s first female CMO. She is an experienced executive with a background in engineering, consulting, and product development. She worked as a Radio Frequency Engineer at US Cellular Corporation in Chicago before transitioning into management consulting at Deloitte Consulting LLP in 2007.

Sowho was the VP of Growth and Managing Director for Migo, a machine learning-powered instant credit platform in Nigeria. At Migo, she grew the company’s user base to one million and led its expansion to Brazil. During the pandemic, she was interim CEO at Thrive Agric, an agri-tech startups. Sowho has also worked as the Director of Digital Business at 9mobile (formerly Etisalat Nigeria), where she partnered with startups to deliver mobile content, advertising, financial, and API services to the company’s 23 million users.

Before the role, she served 9mobile as Head of Strategy and Business Development and Head of Digital Media. She launched the company’s first Digital Business unit, grew revenue to $100 million in four years, expanded partnerships, and led the creation of mobile digital products and services. Adia currently serves on the board of Hover and Sankore Investments. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Sheffield.

Bella Disu

Bello Disu serves as the Chairman of Abumet Nigeria, the Executive Vice Chairman of Globacom, and the CEO of Cobblestone Properties and Estates Limited. She is also the Non-Executive Director at Julius Berger Nigeria PLC. Disu has a track record of providing strategic leadership across diverse industries. Beyond business, Disu uses philanthropy to empower people and communities. Her non-profit, the Bella Disu Foundation, works to improve socio-economic conditions in underserved communities. At Globacom, she founded the SheGlows program to accelerate women’s potential in the workplace.

Disu is also the director of the Alliance Francaise Mike Adenuga Centre and a long-term patron of the Musical Society of Nigeria (MUSON). She has written a children’s book, “Soso and The Kako Leaf,” published in June 2022. Disu’s work earned her the French Government’s Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres award and recognition in the Choiseul 100 Africa ranking as a key figure shaping Africa’s economic future. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts, Boston and a master’s from Northeastern University.

Ogo Ofomata

With about 20 years of experience, Ogo Ofomata is the Director of Airtel Business at Airtel Nigeria. She has been instrumental in driving digital transformation initiatives and improving customer experience in the ICT sector. Ofomata is passionate about closing the gender gap, a passion which has earned her a prominent seat on the ICT table largely dominated by men.

Besides helping Airtel Nigeria lead a new wave in Nigeria’s data centre landscape, the Computer Science graduate from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, is also using her role as the telco’s Director of Business to deliver data service to large, small, and medium-scale businesses.

Oyinye Ikenna-Emeka

Oyinye Ikenna-Emeka is a leader in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry with over 23 years of experience. She is currently the Chief Broadband Officer at MTN Nigeria, where she has spent over 20 years of her career. She has also served as the General Manager of fixed Broadband and Enterprise Marketing, among many other roles. She is known for establishing new markets and business streams, especially within the telecoms industry.

Ikenna-Emeka is an international speaker on Women in leadership, Commercial models, and Technology, presenting regularly across various platforms. She is also a guest faculty member at the Tekedia Institute and the PearlMutual Academy. A John Maxwell leader, she also co-founded theOIEhub, where she podcasts and delivers commercial tips to sales and marketing professionals. Onyinye is a Forbes Business Development Council member and a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Marketing Nigeria (NIMN).

She holds an MBA from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom, and a bachelor’s degree in Geology from the University of Calabar, Cross River State. She is currently pursuing her PhD at the School of Management, Cranfield University, UK. She is also a member of the governing council for The Grange School in Lagos.

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Ugonwa Nwoye

Ugonwa Nwoye is the acting Chief Marketing Officer at MTN Nigeria. She is also the Chief Customer Relations Officer at MTN. Nwoye started out in MTN Nigeria 20 years ago as a product manager responsible for customer relationship management services by creating products and services that endeared customers. In her years as a Chief Customer Relations Officer at MTN Nigeria, she has increasingly worked to aid the digitalisation of the MTN business with the introduction of channels like the MyMTNApp and the MTN Marketplace, both platforms which are ways for customers to interact and connect with other people. She also developed loyalty programmes that helped MTN connect better with its audience. Through her experience, she has mentored small business owners to help them decode the ever-changing customer behaviour and create customer relation models.

Ugonwa has a Bachelor’s in Engineering from the University of Nsukka (UNN) and a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, Boston, USA. She started her career in 1995 as a Senior Field Engineer at Schlumberger.

Between 2000 and 2001, Nwoye worked at Harvard Kennedy School of Government in the United States as a Researcher and Associate at Mercer Management Consulting in San Francisco, California. Before joining MTN Nigeria, she had worked at Bain & Company Inc. South Africa as a Strategy Consultant before accepting the Product & Services Manager position in 2003 at MTN Nigeria.

Yetunde Ojo

Yetunde Ojo is a Nigerian telecommunications executive and the General Manager of IT Operations at MTN Nigeria. She has over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. She has worked in various roles across several companies, from a Manager at Barclays to Head of Technology at the Nigerian Stock Exchange. At MTN Nigeria, she oversees the company’s IT operations and ensures the smooth functioning of its systems and infrastructure. She has a Bachelor’s in Mathematics from the University of Ibadan.

Veronica Onoja-Babayemi

Veronica Onoja-Babayemi is the Managing Director at Telkos MS, an enabler of telecommunications services. Prior to this role, she was the Vice President, Customer Experience Director at Airtel Network Limited and the Vice President, Regional Operations Director from 2015 to 2017.

When she became the Vice President of Airtel’s Mobile Money segment in 2017, she was tasked with driving Airtel Money’s business segment to profitable growth. Before the appointment, she had successfully led the South Region of the Airtel business to profitability with a financial success that earned her commendation as the best-performing region.

Veronica holds a Master’s degree from the University of Warwick and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Jos. She is an Alumnus of Harvard Business School, Lagos Business School, and the Indian Institute of Management and an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management.

Bukola Ajayi

With over 20 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Bukola Ajayi is the General Manager of Architecture and Engineering at MTN Nigeria. She is responsible for designing and implementing new technology solutions to improve MTN’s network infrastructure and operations.