10 Nigerian Tech Leaders of 2022.

In 2022, Nigerian tech hit a major milestone. Last year, Flutterwave, Andela, and Interswitch hit unicorn valuation. It was also the year that African startups raked in over $4 billion of venture funding. The entrepreneurs listed here not only capitalized on these opportunities, but were also responsible for setting the rails that opened up the tech ecosystem. This article speaks to 10 outstanding profiles among scores of remarkable tech leaders who have defined African Tech in 2022. From the boardroom to the products interface, market entry through growth. As it is, most names on this list do not need any special introduction.

1. Iyinoluwa “Iyin” Aboyeji : Future Africa

Probably the most influential name in Nigeria Tech, Iyin Aboyeji served as cofounder of both Andela and Flutterwave, the continent’s two earliest unicorns, Aboyeji dedicated 2022 to his investment venture, Future Africa. A fund that champions a portfolio of mission-driven African startups. He also founded Itana, an audacious project aimed at building a Digital free trade Zone in the Lekki region of Lagos, Nigeria. He received the prestigious “Officer of the Federal Republic” (OON) last year in October for his significant contribution to the technology and business sector of Nigeria. He is considered by all a master of many accomplishments most young founders look up to on their business journey.

2. Mark Essien : Hotels.ng

Mark Essien, the Berlin-trained Computer Engineer behind Hotels. Ng is one of Africa’s highly regarded experts. He has been a fixture of the Nigerian tech industry since March 2013 after he developed what is recorded as ‘The very first indigenous online hotel booking platform’ in Nigeria. The expansion of HotelS.ng into neighbouring West African countries saw it become a dominant category leader in this niche. Essien gained equal recognition for “HNG” an intensive programming bootcamp that provides numerous Nigerians with entry level roles in Tech right afterwards.

3. Oo Nwoye : Callbase / TechCircle

Oo Nwoye, a much quieter but equally impactful voice has successfully built and designed an impressive resume over the years through Callbase and his renowned blog about startups and ecosystem models of Africa. He established TechCircle, thereby position himself, as not just a technopreneur, but also one who also provides commentary on the African Tech ecosystems. He is seen and acclaimed as a key influencer in  thee background of Nigerian tech and many founders and investors go to him for honest, practical insights. He invests in and supports the growth & expansion of several startups in Africa.

4. Tayo Oviosu : Paga

Before fintech was even a thing in Nigeria, Mr. Tayo Oviosu was already building Paga, Nigeria’s first mobile money platform, without a doubt, the country’s oldest. Mr. Oviosu has been regarded as a leading figure in the Nigerian fintech domain since 2009, with billions of dollars processed annually. Paga has expanded into other markets such as Mexico and The Philippines. He is regarded as a fintech visionary who saw the future of Mobile money over a decade ago.

5. Olugbenga “GB” Agboola : Flutterwave

The Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Flutterwave, “Gb” agboola dedicated his 2022 leading flutterwave, one of Africa’s most valuable  startup. Despite controversial circumstances, gb still ensured smooth operation across the platform which acts as digital infrastructure for crossing border payments behind most African businesses proving his Product Engineer expertise.

6. Odunayo Eweniyi : Piggy Vest

Odunayo Eweniyi the Co-Founder of Piggyvest, the app famed for cultivating a culture of digital savings among the Nigerian youth population. Last year proved to be among the most eventful year of her career as she was actively engaged with leading a campaign # ProtectYourFuture, a movement aimed at championing the protection of the rights of workers as well as Founders in the tech ecosystem; no other entrepreneurs on this list boasts of activism at  the scale that “Odun” has. Her accomplishments across business leadership, product and community growth and activism are immense.

7. Ayomide Onasanya : Acumen Digital

Onasanya doesn’t have the household-name recognition of the founders above, and that’s arguably the point. As founder of Acumen Digital, he built his reputation the unglamorous way through product design and UX work for clients like Deutsche Bank and Virgin while consulting in Johannesburg, before returning to Lagos to found a studio that, in its early years, turned away any work that wasn’t strictly product design. That discipline built Acumen a name among Nigerian startups like Trove and Ventures Platform, and by 2022 the studio had begun evolving into something closer to a venture builder, pairing design and engineering talent with equity stakes in the products it helps bring to life. Where many founders on this list built loud, visible companies, Onasanya has built a quieter kind of leverage: the design and product judgment sitting underneath other people’s launches. In an ecosystem obsessed with funding headlines, his bet has been that taste and execution compound just as reliably, even when nobody’s writing about them yet.

8. Sim Shagaya : uLesson

Sim Shagaya the mastermind behind the well-known African e-commerce company (Konga), turned to the next chapter of his work when he established uLesson. The company serves young African learners, providing digital and offline learning resources. Shagaya continues to focus on infrastructure development for the e-commerce industry back in 2019, and has come back to do the same for young African learners through ULesson.

9. Bosun Tijani : CcHUB

The founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Co-creation hub (CcHub), an organization responsible for powering the early years of African Tech with operations across Kenya, Rwanda and Nigeria. Bosun has worked tirelessly supporting  founders of several now-successful ventures such as Andela, and Flutterwave. Through CcHub, Bosun creates support structures for the development and funding of innovation hubs as well as enabling infrastructure for Africa’s Startup ecosystems.

10. Tunde Kehinde : Autochek

Mr Kehinde holds the distinct accolade of not only having developed the well known Nigerian Online shopping store (konga) at it earliest point. He is known for co-founding Lidya before that and of-course launching Autocheck last year. Autocheck is a first-of-its-kind Car Buying and Financing platform. Autochek successfully Expanded rapidly in Nigeria and beyond. Tunde Kehinde has a successful reputation as one of the leading serialpreneurs who is skilled at identifying “ underserved category “ and positioning to take up market share.