Technology has dominated almost every aspect of our lives, including finance, education, bill payment, and real estate, among others.
The tech community in Nigeria isn’t merely catching up on the global tech trend but is also rolling out promising innovations to ease our daily activities.
In addition to securing their dream jobs in the tech sector, some of these innovations are making a significant impact on businesses within and around the world.
Here are the top 10 promising tech individuals from Nigeria whose impact is worthy of note:
Oluwasegun Adebayo Famisa
Segun Famisa, or SF, is a Google Developer Expert (GDE) for Android and a robotics expert based in Berlin, Germany.
The author of ‘Jetpack Compose Internals,’ Jorge Castillo, once described him as a role model: ‘I enjoyed reading this one a lot. Loved learning about his life experiences to become the role model he is today. Great guy.’
Even though he is currently based in Germany, SF continues to inspire tech minds in Nigeria and around the world.
Prosper Otemuyiwa
Prosper isn’t just a tech talent in Nigeria; he’s a ‘big mover’ in the programming space as well as the biggest tech influencer across Africa.
Having served as a top technical trainer at Andela Corporation, his mission to impact the lives of upcoming programmers in Nigeria and Africa is impressive.
One such initiative is the creation of the Laravel Hackathon Starter Pack, a programming package designed to uplift beginners and amateurs in the programming space.
A graduate of Computer Science from Babcock University, Prosper has not only spoken at several international programming conferences and workshops but also serves as one of the organizers of DevFest Lagos, the biggest tech event in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Prosper is also the co-founder of Eden Life and forLoop Africa, acclaimed as Africa’s largest non-profit community of developers, which now has a presence in more than five African countries. He is involved in other programming-related projects beyond Nigeria.
Ezema Ben Ike
Ben is a blogger, coding expert, app developer, and tech tutor on Udemy, an education technology company that provides an online learning and teaching platform, where he makes his tutorials extremely cheap for those who want to take career in programming and app development.
Some of these tutorials include: “Android and iPhone Software Repair with a Live Demo” and “Learn to Animate: Create 3D Animations with Free Software”
He has built several websites and mobile applications for businesses and individuals.
Wale Ameen
Wale Ameen is another promising tech talent in Nigeria and Africa, boasting about ten years of experience as an experienced business/tech journalist. He stands as a Nigerian tech entrepreneur reshaping the tech landscape in his own corner.
As the founder of Neema Communications, a media and tech-focused startup based in Lagos and Ibadan, his company is the brains behind Datastream Solutions, a bulk SMS messaging platform. Launched in 2009, the brand reportedly served clients such as the University of Ibadan Distant Learning Centre, The Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Citiserve, and many others.
However, in 2015, Datastream Solutions faced closure due to a challenging operating environment and the proliferation of cheaper messaging options by telecommunications companies.
In 2021, Wale rebranded Datastream as a utility bill payment platform. Unfortunately, the platform experienced a security breach in which hackers siphoned approximately N1.5 million.
Despite the setbacks, the tech journalist remains an inspiration to young Nigerians and Africans alike.
His resilience in the face of challenging circumstances, and his ability to make a comeback, serve as a valuable lesson for aspiring entrepreneurs.
Wale is also the author of “Future Focus: Tapping Into The Wealth In Digital,” a book that reportedly sold over 2000 copies.
Ire Aderinokun
Ire is one of the women reshaping Nigeria’s tech space. As a frontend engineer, she has been involved in numerous product design and development projects. She co-founded Helicarrier with Tomiwa Lasebikan and Timi Ajiboye.
Helicarrier is the company behind Buycoins Africa Pro and Sendcash.
While Buycoins exchange simplifies cryptocurrency trading and connects Africans to the global economy, Sendcash makes it easier for Africans to receive funds from their loved ones anywhere in the world within 10 minutes.
Like her co-founders, Timi Ajiboye and Tomiwa Lasebikan, Ire has spoken at many conferences. In January 2023, Ire was featured on BBC’s Focus On Africa, where she answered a couple of questions on crypto and app development.
Munnir Abdulhamid
Munnir Abdulhamid, the brain behind TechHausa is promising tech talent from Northern Nigeria. TechHausa is a platform that reports tech news in the Hausa language, making technology more relatable.
Through TechHausa, the interest of the Arewa, a name associated with the Hausa community, is growing in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem.
Blessing Emah
Blessing is the true definition of what can be achieved regardless of one’s qualifications. Trained as a lawyer, she continues to make an impact in blockchain engineering.
One of her brilliant ideas is co-founding Blockchain OAU, a campus club at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. There, they inspire undergraduates to enter the Web3 space by equipping them with digital skills.
Blessing is also a prominent voice in the Web3 space and has attended several conferences in Africa. She was recognized as the Tech Woman of the Year 2022 by BBI.
Idorenyin Obong
The impact of Idorenyin Obong is significant for Nigerian freelancers through his co-founding of Grey (formerly Aboki Africa) with his App developer colleague Femi Aghedo. He previously served as the Technical Lead at Yellow Card, a cryptocurrency exchange in Africa.
Idorenyin once disclosed that he faced multiple challenges while working as a remote worker for international companies, especially when converting his earnings (in Dollars or Euros) to the local currency (Naira).
The zeal to solve this problem for millions of young Nigerians working remotely gave birth to Grey, a platform that has simplified the process of sending and receiving foreign payments for freelancers. The Grey app now boasts close to a million users.
Maryam Aliyu Dikko
Maryam Dikko is a trained Computer Software Engineer from the University of Manchester, equipped with skills that span various programming languages, including Java, PHP, HTML, CSS, and XQuery.
She has collaborated with numerous private companies and individuals in the development of apps and other software-related products. Currently, she holds the position of a Software Engineer at the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC).
Obiwanne Hill
Obiwanne Hill is a trained Civil Engineering graduate turned Software and Web developer with skills in JavaScript.
He is the founder of Restive, a development and ideation company working on various principal concepts and interface-friendly tools that contribute to making the web super-fast, contextual, and responsive.
This list isn’t exhaustive because there are thousands of promising tech talents across Nigeria and other parts of the world. They influence the ever-growing tech community.
Featured Image: Attendees, Speakers, Volunteers and Sponsors of DevFest Lagos during the closure of the tech event on December 3, 2021. Credit: X @gdglagos
