By Pascal Oparada
We know of Tara Durotoye of House of Tara, Deola Sageo of Deola, Mo Abudu of EbonyLife TV, Olajumoke Adenowo of AD Consulting and Adenike Ogunlesi of Ruff ‘n‘Tumble, but few know that there are other Nigerian amazons blazing different trails in their different fields.
From fashion and fashion accessories, skin care products, health-care and even housing and electricity, Nigerian women are caving enviable niche for themselves and country.
Bilikis Adebiyi, Founder, WeCylcers
In today’s world, recycling is a big deal and in fact the future. Adebiyi started WeCyclers to give low-income communities in Africa the chance of capturing value from waste and clean environment and also give them incentives to recycle.
She holds MBA from MIT and a Master degree from Vanderbilt University. She is a Echoing Green Fellow and her, WeCyclers won Sustainia100 award in 2014.
Ola Orekurin, Founder, Flying Doctors
Dr Orekurin, a medical doctor founded Flying doctors as West Africa’s first Air Ambulance Services. It is dedicated to helping trauma victims from remote parts of West Africa.
After losing her sister died while traveling in Nigeria because of lack of emergency services to take care to the hospital, Ola began to think of ways of mitigating the impact of accident victims.
She graduated from York University and is a member of the American Academy of Aesthetic Medicine.
Flying Doctors has been featured in international broadcast stations like CNN and BBC.
Nkemdilim Begho, Founder, Future software
This woman techie is dedicated to providing other women to become savvy in software development. Her passion is hinged on innovative thinking and setting standards in the Nigerian tech space.
Kofo Akinkugbe, founder, SecureID Nigeria Ltd
In the world of tech, security is important. Kofo Akinkugbe owns a leading smart card security and digital security company. SecureID is a world-class manufacturing company, specialising on in smart card production in West Africa.
SecureID serves 16 countries in Africa and has been certified by leading giants in the industry like VISA, Verve and MasterCard.
In 2012, Kofo won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award.
She is one of Africa’s thought leaders in the subjects of entrepreneurship and innovation in the technology sector.
Chinwe Ohajuruka, Founder, Comprehensive Design
Chinwe‘s passion is affordable housing and renewable energy. She founded Comprehensive Design to meet both needs.
She has three degrees in architecture and has had three accreditation in green building. She left US in 2011 to volunteer in the establishment of the Green Council of Nigeria.
Banke Kuku, Founder, Banke Kuku Textiles
Known as the Queen of Colours, Banke relocated to the United Kingdom where she started Banke Kuku Textiles at the age of 8 to unlock the African culture.
She promotes African tradition and culture through her exquisite designs.
Leslie Okoye , Founder L’Okoye Cosmetics
According to Leslie, L‘Okoye Cosmetics develops and distributes quality skin care products for women of colour.
L’Okoye Cosmetics sells and distributes worldwide to online and physical stores, supermarkets and spas. The company aims to redefining the meaning of beauty among men and women of African descent by making holistic skincare that doesn’t perpetuate the idea that beauty is based on skin colour. Instead, through its quality skin care products, L’Okoye Cosmetics aims to empower, build confidence and increase self-love in women of color through its brands, campaigns and seminars
