31. Ladi Stephen
Country Director/USAID Global Health Supply Chain Program – Procurement and Supply Management
Angola
Ladi Agbenu Stephen currently serves as the Angola country director for the Global Health Supply Chain program – Procurement and Supply Management project. In her current role she provides leadership and strategic oversight to Angola’s GHSC-PSM Country Program, driving fundraising initiatives for program expansion and deepening.
She is a public health supply chain system strengthening specialist, pharmacist, and certified project manager with more than 16 years of experience in healthcare supply chain development in sub-Saharan Africa on malaria, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, maternal & child health, and essential medicines programs.
Ladi was part of the team that fostered the development of the National supply chain integration project, which entails Curriculum for supply chain and detailed processes for the malaria program under supply chain that was integrated into the Food and Drugs services unit in Nigeria. She also oversaw the first PPP process implemented by Ministry of Health to ensure pharmaceutical storage in Nigeria, which provided critical structure on how commodities get delivered to the last mile
Ladi has technical experience designing capacity building programs including applying the Human Centered Design approach, public-private partnership initiatives, health commodities quantification, international procurement for health commodities, project grant negotiations, and supply chain technical strategy development. She previously served as country director for Pharmaceutical Systems Africa in Nigeria, representing the organization on the board of People that Deliver. Prior to her role as country director, Ladi was a director of health systems strengthening for the GHSC-PSM project in Nigeria and Angola.
32. Lola Aworanti
Chief Digital Officer, FBNQuest Nigeria
Lola is a Digital and Innovation specialist with over 17 years of experience in the industry. She started her career as a software engineer at Investec Asset Management, London where she was responsible for the development of digital solutions in the asset management portfolio. Since then, she has worked in various capacities across different roles in the financial services industry in Europe and Africa at companies including Dresdner Kleinwort, Commerzbank and BNP Paribas.
In Nigeria, Lola has played a major role in the digital readiness and transformation of two of Nigeria’s oldest and foremost financial institutions to ‘Digitally-Led’ retail banks. Lola spearheaded the Digital Innovation Labs initiative at FirstBank Nigeria, Nigeria’s oldest financial institution (125 years old). She was responsible for formulating and implementing the bank’s digital transformation and innovation Labs strategy thereby accelerating its digital transformation journey for its over 13M customers and 16,000 employees in Nigeria and across its African subsidiaries.
Lola has also pioneered key initiatives designed to empower early-stage tech start-up companies through corporate accelerator programs, mentorship and capital in the bid to grow the African ecosystem and solve important problems in the Nigerian economy through private sector and industry collaborations.
Lola is the founder of Techstart.africa and serves as a mentor and on the Tech and Women Capital Committee of WIMBIZ Organisation, the Digital Transformation Committee of JA Nigeria, the Innovation/Tech committee of Osun State Development Association, Faculty Member at the Fintech Institute, Elev8 global academy for digital leaders and She Leads Africa as a mentor.
Lola has travelled to over 30 countries and has seen the value of efficient utilisation using innovative technologies across different sectors and some of the best methods of implementing new technology in the world at large.
33. Lucy Wairimu
Director of People and Culture, Mercy Corps Kenya
She is the Director of People and Culture, Mercy Corps. She is also a Non Executive Director at Predictive Analytics Lab. She also sits on several boards such as; CBM Kenya, EWD Foundation.
With more than 18 years of progressive global experience in international development organisations and collaboration with Ministries of health in Africa, she has led large teams and turned around People and Culture departments into strategic business partners that become an integral part in achieving business objectives.
She is an Internationally certified professional workplace Mediator and Trainer, certified Professional of Human Resources International and Society of Human Resources Management Certified Professional and a seasoned and active SPHRi and CHRBP Certifications Trainer, International and local Board Director, Board Evaluator and a Transformative leader. She is also a Fellow at the American Academy of Project Management ( AAPM), a member of the Kenya Institute of Directors Kenya (IoD-K), The Institute of Human Resources Management (IHRM), The Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) and MTI East Africa.
Lucy is an East Africa Acumen fellow and the founder of the True North Society, addressing mental health for soldiers and their families at a bigger scale. In 2015 she collaborated with IT and Tech professionals to design the diagnostic game app True North, which is available on Google and Windows play stores. Recently, she ran the first ever residential program for soldiers and their families. Some of her work has been featured via BBC and being leveraged to use the international platform to bring awareness, healing and care. True North also works with the government on trauma healing for families whose sons joined Al Shabab and the police.
Lucy is a member of the Kenyan Psychological Association and chair of the innovations and events committees.
An author and writer, she has published one of the series of the children’s book Mutenyo and Friends. She was featured in 2016 among Kenya’s Top 40 women under 40 years.
34. Mariama Wurie
Education Consultant and Communications Consultant, The World Bank Sierra Leone
Mariama is an international development professional (now specialising in public education sector building), a communications specialist, and a freelance journalist and multimedia producer. She had also once been the founder and business development lead of a start-up ethical biz-dev and communications consultancy firm in Sierra Leone. The Instagram blog turned firm, Foodies Salone, succeeded in bringing ethical and sustainable local sourcing, hiring and design practices to Sierra Leone’s foreign-dominated hospitality and tourism sectors.
After having obtained a BA in International Development and Political Science from McGill University, Mariama worked across local and international NGOs in her home country, Sierra Leone, on a progressive career track from program officer/advocacy and communications roles, to program coordinator and finally program consulting/leadership roles. These NGOs were largely in the fields of women’s and girl’s educational, professional and psycho-social services, as well as, the public health sector.
35. Mojisola Olurotimi
People Operations Business Partner, Maruchi Global Nigeria
Mojisola is a Global Career Coach that has helped 1000+ professionals in private sessions globally to build thriving and fulfilling careers. In over a decade of her career, she has garnered requisite skills in People development , Brand & Marketing Communications, Customer Service, Executive Coaching, Training and Development, Events Management, Social media marketing working with private and public sectors.
Mojisola Olurotimi obtained a B.Sc in Estate Management from Obafemi Awolowo University between 2005 and 2010. In 2012, they obtained a Certified Customer Service Professional (CCSP) from the Service Quality Institute. In 2014, they obtained a Digital Business Management certification from Google. In 2017, they obtained a Professional Diploma in Public Relations from the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations in Lagos. In 2019, they obtained an IADT- International Award in Delivering Training from Training Qualifications UK. In 2021, they obtained a Certified Career Coach certification from Transformation Academy and a Certified Career Analyst certification from Edumilestones.com.
Mojisola authored #TheGiftofPeople, a personal development book on developing #Networking skills for career and business professionals.
36. Nabila Aguele
Special Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget & National Planning, Nigeria
Nabila Aguele is a lawyer, public policy professional, and gender equality advocate with 17 years of combined experience. A global citizen, Nabila was born in Nigeria and raised in Nigeria, England, Qatar, and Canada.
As a Special Adviser to Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, she leads on international development cooperation and performance management. Her work includes the development of Nigeria’s Integrated Financing Framework to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (a pioneer achievement); women’s economic and social empowerment through the advancement of gender-responsive fiscal policies and budgets; and international cooperation initiatives focused on regional stabilization and climate finance.
A firm believer in the power of education to advance inclusive and sustainable development, Nabila serves on the Board of Directors for INSEAD and for Girl Rising, a global non-profit focused on girls’ education and empowerment. She has also been a member of the INSEAD “Force for Good” Campaign Board since 2019, and a member of the INSEAD Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Taskforce since 2020. Nabila also sits on the Advisory Board for Talentx Africa, a film financing marketplace that is leveraging technology to empower filmmakers and investors.
Before moving to Nigeria in 2016, Nabila practised law in the United States, representing Fortune 500 companies in complex civil patent litigations. Her passion for impact-driven lawyering and leadership development led her to also complete a two-year term as a Practitioner-in-Residence and professor in the Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic at American University Washington College of Law.
Nabila has a B.Sc. from the University of Toronto, a Juris Doctor from the American University Washington College of Law, and an MBA from INSEAD. She is a proud mum of three vibrant children 6 and under, and an acrylic artist.
37. Nkem Offonabo
Head, Employee Service and Wellness/Premium Trust Bank Nigeria
Nkem is a graduate of Psychology with a Special Executive Management Program (SEMP) MBA from Metropolitan School of Business and Management, UK.
A certified Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHRi®) and an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (ACIPM) with 14years+ experience in Human Resources, Product Management and Business Development in Financial Services and Consulting Industries, she is currently the Head, Employee Services and Wellness at PremiumTrust Bank.
As an Integrative Life Coach and Behavioral Change Therapist, Nkem founded The Work-Life Organisation Global Ltd, a Human Capital & Organisational Transformation Consultancy, where she works with organisations to provide Coaching, Therapy, Employee Wellness Programs, Corporate Training as well as Human Resource Advisory. Through her organisation, she has worked with brands such as NNPC, Oriental Energy Resources Ltd, Access Bank Plc, UBA, Union Bank Plc, LASWA, HerVest, etc to redefine their culture and concept of workplace flexibility, employee wellbeing and organisational effectiveness.
Nkem is the author of The Harmonised Life, a Personal Leadership & Organisational Transformation book, written for busy professionals who are burned out and unable to prioritise but wants to take charge of their personal and professional realities to achieve work-life harmony.
She serves on the board of 2 NGOs and 1 EdTech and was the Vice Chairman, Coaching, Mentoring and Counselling Committee for Association of Elite Human Resource Professionals in 2022.
She has been featured on Vanguard, Power Woman Network, TVC, PlusTV Africa, She Leads Africa, etc with global recognition as Top 40 HR Leaders and Innovators in Nigeria and Top 50 Leading Ladies in Corporate Nigeria by Leading Ladies Africa in 2020 where she also served as a mentor.
38. Nthabi Motsoeneng
Marketing Director South Africa & Sub-Saharan Africa at Pernod Ricard South Africa
Nthabi Motsoeneng is the Marketing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa at Pernod Ricard, where she oversees brand strategy and innovation. She began her marketing career as a Marketing Manager at 3M and then moved on to become a Marketing Lead at Kimberly-Clark. Following this, she served as Marketing Director at Tetra Pak for over two years before joining Pernod Ricard.
Motsoeneng’s career started in 2000 at SABMiller as a Sales Coordinator. She later became the National Merchandise Coordinator and eventually left the company as the Assistant Brand Manager for Amstel Lager after five years. She continued her career as a Brand Manager and Senior Brand Manager at The Coca-Cola Company. She also worked as a Brand Manager at GlaxoSmithKline and as a Senior Brand Manager at Tiger Brands. With over 20 years of experience in branding, marketing, and sales, she is an expert in her field, having acquired experience from top retail companies in South Africa.
39. Oge Maduagwu
West Africa Media Manager, Unilever Nigeria
Oge Maduagwu Is the West Africa Media Manager For Unilever. She is a consummate media & marketing communications professional with a bias toward innovative, insight-driven end-to-end media & communications for brands. With about 13+ years of experience under her belt, Oge is always poised to go above and beyond for the brands under her purview. Infusing the much-needed positive energies in teams to ensure staying power in spite of constraints.
She currently heads the Media team for the Unilever West Africa business and has a proven track record from both the agency and client sides. Prior to joining Unilever, she had spent 7 years with one of the largest media independent agencies in Lagos, Nigeria working across FMCG, Telco, Banking & Tech brands exiting as Team Lead of one of the business units. She executed and is still executing impactful marketing campaigns and strategies to turn in revenue in 9 figures.
Oge is a certified Digital marketing professional and currently holds memberships with APCON, NIMN & NIM. She is a One Young World ambassador, two-time jury member for Cannes Young Lions (Nigeria) Media competition & had cliched first place twice in 2010 & 2012 to represent Nigeria in Cannes, France in the Young Lions Media category for both years.
She was recognized as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Women in Marketing and Communications in Nigeria by WIMCA in 2022
40. Olufunke Baruwa
Program Officer, Ford Foundation Nigeria
She is the Program Officer for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice at Ford Foundation, where she leads work on ending violence against women and girls. She is a gender and development practitioner with almost two decades of experience from government and civil society focusing on public policy, gender advocacy, civil society strengthening and governance.
Prior to joining Ford, she was the Civil Society and Media Specialist in the Peace & Democratic Governance Office of USAID/Nigeria where she designed and led multi-million-dollar civil society strengthening projects.
She has led several social policies and reforms in Nigeria and has served at various times as Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Women’s Trust Fund, a technical and financial resource for women in governance in Nigeria; Program Officer at the defunct Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund and National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP); Gender Advisor at the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs; and as a Technical Assistant Research, Policy & Planning in the Ministry of Communication Technology.
41. Oluwasola Obagbemi
Corporate Communications Manager, Anglophone West Africa, Meta Nigeria
Since she started her career as a Public Relations & Communications professional 11 years ago, Sola has steadily climbed through the corporate ladder to become the Corporate Communications Manager for Anglophone West Africa at Meta (formerly called Facebook) overseeing the brand’s communications across Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, and Sierra Leone.
Prior to this, she was the Senior Communications Manager for Africa at Andela. She joined the Andela team in January 2018 as the Communications Manager for Nigeria, and in her first 6 months, she led strategic PR efforts that brought a significant increase in the brand’s visibility and also created the internal communications pillar, so she was promoted to build and lead the Comms team in Africa (Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Egypt and Ghana).
Before her move to Andela, Sola was the Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Red Media Africa and was previously the Senior Account Manager for Facebook, Union Bank, Uber, HP, Intel WestAfrica, Maltina, Heineken, British Council & Unilever. During this time, Sola coordinated the publicity and press viewing event of Mark Zuckerberg’s 2016 visit to Nigeria. In 2015, she worked with Waggener Edstrom Communication in South Africa where she handled the market roll out of various projects and PR campaigns for Microsoft, Intel Africa, and Samsung.
She graduated with a B.A Degree in Dramatic Arts from Obafemi Awolowo University and holds a Master’s degree in Communications Studies from the University of Ghana, Accra Ghana with a major in Public Relations and Advertising. Sola is also a certified member of the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR) and a certified management consultant + fellow of International Management Consultants (FIMC, CMC).
She is very passionate about the girl child and has championed causes, geared towards promoting equality and inclusion for women. Sola is also a vocal advocate for women rising to the peak of their career while having work-life-balance.
Sola was recently named one of 35 under 35 Marketing professionals in Nigeria by Africa’s No 1 brand and Marketing magazine in 2022 – BrandCommunicator.
42. Oluwatoyin Aralepo
Global Head of Finance, Program FP&A , Mastercard Foundation Nigeria
Oluwatoyin Aralepo is a first-class Accounting graduate. A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), Fellow of the Institute of Information Management of Africa and an Alumna of the London School of Business and Finance (LSBF), with over 15 years of experience across banking, telecoms and fintech. Her expertise includes finance strategy and business partnering, financial planning, analysis and reporting, audit and business assurance, financial controls and governance.
She was the Head of Budget in United Bank for Africa – responsible for over 400 business offices, budget preparation and consolidation. She was Commercial Controller and Financial Controller at Airtel Nigeria, where she managed a portfolio of over US$1bn and supported cost initiatives that saved millions of dollars. She was also former Chief Financial Officer of Cellulant Nigeria.
She is the founder of Africa Finance & Strategy Hub to support businesses, especially SMEs, with access to professional financial management skills and tools that will assist them in understanding, managing, and scaling their businesses. She wants to help companies build sustainable financial structures for profitable growth and become investor-ready. She has trained over 5,000 business owners on different platforms like She Leads Africa, Keystone Bank, Leap Africa, Wema Business School, FCMB SheVentures and so on. She is a passionate and unassuming entrepreneurial role model to young women. She is a mentor at WIMBIZ, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Techquest STEM Academy and so on. She is the Author of ‘How to Attract Billion Dollar Investors.’
43. Zethu Dlamini
Chief Marketing Officer, FNB Eswatini Eswatini
Zethu is an experienced communications executive and entrepreneurial game-changer. She is also a lecturer and communications consultant.
Prior to her role as the CMO of FNB Eswatini, she served as the Non-Executive Director of The Corporate Gap and provided strategic oversight with the Directorship of the Company. She also served as Head of Marketing at FirstRand.
For over a decade, she has specialised in providing marketing, communications, branding and events management solutions for leading public and private enterprises within Swaziland. She has also created valuable content for publications ranging from commemorative national magazines for regional summits (SADC & COMESA,) to sector based publications for Swaziland’s international trade fair, the accountancy sector, women-owned businesses as well as SMEs.
44. Vere Shaba
Carbon Monetisation Cluster, Built by Nature South Africa
With 13 years of experience, Vere Shaba is a multi-award winning engineer and green building consultant who has worked for multinational engineering consulting firms including Volkswagen, AECOM and WSP before founding Greendesign Africa in 2016.
For green buildings, her career began in 2010 when she was a part of the WSP-LUC-DHK winning team for the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace & Environmental Studies international design competition where the institute was to be carbon-neutral. Since then, she has been passionate about net zero green buildings that do less harm to people and to the climate and environment – understanding that Africa is the most vulnerable continent to climate change with women in Africa being disproportionately impacted.
As an ESG and green building consultant, Vere is experienced in green building certifications of office, hospitality, healthcare, retail, education, industrial, museum and precinct projects across the continent. The first Green Star project that she submitted to the Green Building Council South Africa as the Green Star Accredited Professional was awarded a South African Property Owners Association award for Overall Winner and her most notable project to date is the Green Star precinct certification of 600,000 sqm of Waterfall City in South Africa that is currently being targeted. As South Africa’s largest property development and the largest mixed-use development in Africa, Waterfall City is located on 2,200-hectares of land and has a Science-Based Target for greenhouse gas emissions reduction by 2030.
In 2020, Vere was invited to support the Middle East & Africa Regional Networks of the World Green Building Council. In 2021, she was then appointed as the Head of Africa Programmes for the World Green Building Council. In this role, she led the World Green Building Council’s Africa regional programmes with the African Union, C40 Cities, International Finance Corporation and UNFCCC High-Level Climate Champions. She developed a Middle East & North Africa focal point for Egypt and Tunisia and facilitated the membership of Nigeria, Ethiopia, Botswana and Zimbabwe resulting in the Africa Regional Network growing from 9 to 15 GBCs and 300 million to 700 million people represented across the continent in her one year tenure at World Green Building Council – before stepping down in 2023 to refocus on green building certifications and to support Member States of the African Union with the first global stocktake of the Paris Agreement at COP28.
45. Tolulope Osindero
Head, Legal & Compliance/Branch International Nigeria
Tolulope is a financial services and digital economy professional with experience spanning across Africa, UK and US. She has led multi million debt financing, working with lenders/borrowers in the Financial Services, Entertainment, Technology and FMCG Industries, managed significant equity/debt investment into leading Fintechs in Nigeria while actively contributing to the growth and development of the African Fintech Ecosystem through my participation at various industry initiatives.
She has over twelve years experience working with Startups, Founders, Investors and Ecosystem Enablers. This has seen her lead and collaborate on industry initiatives through the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Fintech Association of Nigeria etc; while also serving as a mentor, advisor and facilitator to accelerators and innovation hubs.
Tolulope has published several articles and facilitated trainings on Banking, Fintech and Technology topics. She also regularly speaks at Fintech and Startup events in Africa including the Nigerian Fintech Week.
She currently sits on the Governing Council of Fintech Association of Nigeria as the Secretary and Head of Accelerate Committee.
She is passionate about raising awareness for non- technical women in tech and diversity.
46. Tolulope Ita
Country Manager / International Beverages Consultancy Nigeria
Tolu is a versatile business leader and an aviation executive, with over 17 years of cross-functional experience in multi industries including Aviation and FMCG with unique expertise in stakeholder management, managing high-impact projects, and enterprise solutions development for the operational and strategic, needs of governmental, private and multinational organizations globally.
Currently, she is the country manager of International Beverages Consultancy a multinational Group, which provides a broad spectrum of services specific to the food processing and beverages manufacturing industry., where she successfully drives the adoption of global business strategies for continued sustainability, as well as leading and advising organizational leaders on various business strategies, and critical partnerships to amplify the business’ impact, boosts revenue targets and increases shareholder value in a truly significant way.
Before her foray into organizational management, she had successfully worked her way to the aviation industry’s top, championing operational initiatives, Corporate Governance, and Policy in the industry, in collaboration with global colleagues. In 2018, she successfully participated in a change management project involving an operations process to ensure seamless operations of Nigeria’s aviation entities under the NCAA during the COVID-19 period.
Tolu sits on the Board of a school (SIS) and a fully Integrated Aviation Specialist CopterJet International as an Advisor to the Board and she was an Adviser to the Nigerian Member of the Flight Operations Panel, ICAO Nigerian Member of the African Civil Aviation Commission (AFCAC) Policy review team. Aside from her professional engagements, she is a member of WIMBIZ and NIM.
47. Tesi Rusagara
Managing Director / Kigali Innovation City Rwanda
She is the Managing Director at Kigali Innovation City. She manages what one can easily describe as the ‘silicon valley’ of Kigali. Managing all tech innovations and investment by local and international institutions.
Before becoming Managing Director of KIC, she was a Senior Consultant-Strategy & Operations at Deloitte, San Francisco. She worked to develop academic scientific innovations to profitable business ventures.
She has worked in the Office of the President of Rwanda in the Economic Policy & Strategy Unit and also in the Bank of Kigali as an Investor Relations and Business Developer. Her expertise is in angel investment, start-up management, and economic policy development. She is also a Founding Member of Business Angels Rwanda, working to fund tech ventures in Rwanda
48. Temitope Yusuff
Director, Internal Audit and Risk Management / IHS Towers
Nigeria
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oUgvnkWncKAiNUUhbaPRjkrvzipfKAQE/view?usp=sharing
Temitope is a seasoned business leader and finance professional, with over eighteen years of financial experience, with exposure to both local and international organisations. Her varied experience in providing core business transformation, strategy, auditing, risk management and corporate governance services provided her with a well-rounded perspective necessary to meet the business and financial needs of organisations.
Currently, she serves as the Director of Internal Audit and Risk Management of one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure providers globally, and her work involves providing strategic leadership and direction in the planning, execution, and management of risk management and internal audit activities across IHS Africa (Nigeria, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia, Rwanda, and South Africa).
Temitope leads the organisation across a variety of global operational standards, which enables them to make efficient sound financial decisions, in line with global practices.
She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants(ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (CITN), an alumna of IESE Spain, with an MBA from the Lagos Business School.
As a consummate business professional, she possesses a drive to create and implement robust solutions that bring about sustainable impact, transforming the businesses of professionals and business owners.
Temitope recently won the Positive Role Model Award (West Africa) organised by Accenture in 2022.
49. Temi Dalley
Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO)/Sterling Bank/ Nigeria
Temi Dalley is a seasoned professional with over 18 years of exceptional performance in the HR space where she has built core expertise in strategic leadership, businesses management, people management, talent management, career development, transformational change, and project management with a track record of outstanding organizational, communication, consultative and influencing skills. She is the Chief Human Resources Officer at Sterling Bank Plc where she is responsible for building and managing a competent workforce to meet the growing demands of the workplace.
In addition to the traditional role covering employee benefits and compensation, training and development, employee engagement, recruitment and exit programmes at the bank, she also leads a team of Human Capital Experts whose mission is to create an enabling work environment in a highly demanding digital space.
Before Sterling Bank, Temi Dalley worked in various HR capacities at First City Monument Bank Limited – FCMB (January 2013 to June 2017), Katchey (January 2010 to December 2012), Southend University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (June 2008 to December 2009), EDF UK (June 2007 to June 2008), and Santander UK Corporate & Commercial (January 2004 to January 2007).
Temi obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science from Ahmadu University, Nigeria, and a Master of Arts degree in Human Resource Management from the Middlesex Business School, UK. She is an alumna of the Wharton School, a member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) UK, the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM), Nigeria among other professional bodies.
Temi was named among the 101 Most Influential Global HR Leaders by the HRD World Congress in 2018, HR Leader of the Year 2020 by the HR People Magazine Awards and was listed among the 122 Top Chief Human Resources Officers of 2022 by PeopleHum.
50. Tega Onojaife
Sports Producer/Presenter / SMOOTH FM 98.1 Nigeria
Tega Onojaife is a renowned Sports Caster for Radio and Television. She started a career in financial portfolio management but made her career switch to sports production in September, 2006.
Tega is well known for her versatility and in-depth knowledge of a wide range of sports; NBA, Tennis, Formula 1, Athletics, Boxing and, of course, Football. She has worked with reputable Radio and Television stations in Nigeria ; Rhythm 93.7fm, Classic 97.3fm, Cool fm, Nigeria Info, Silverbird TV, TV Continental, NTA, HITV Cable Network and OSMI.
She currently works with Startimes, Smooth 98.1fm and has independent productions with Upfront and Personal airing nationwide.
In 2013, Tega featured in a reality TV show as a Judge in the search for a pidgin english sports commentator for Supersport. She also has print media experience. Her articles are also featured on a daily sports newspaper “dailysports” and “Nigeria, the good news”, a Federal government rebranding publication. She is also the creator of sports blog “tegastake.blogspot.com”.
Tega Onojaife is the founder of Ladies in Sports conference also known as the LIS conference and Sports Unusual, a Federal government approved Unity Cup in secondary schools.
51. Tasha Mills
Director of People and Partnerships/NIYEL Senegal
Tasha Mills is a passionate Human Resources business partner who works closely with unit leaders to plan and implement Human Resource solutions aligned to the business. Beginning her professional career in the Accounting field, she quickly advanced to several leadership positions. None the less and true to her “never settle” mentality she realized her natural behavioral style was more suited for dealing with issues surrounding people therefore switching career paths and began work in the Human Resources field.
With 15+ years of progressive relevant experience, Tasha has demonstrated broad Human Resource management expertise and support for business objectives which includes: Talent Acquisition management, Leadership development, succession and workforce planning, compensation and benefits, performance management, employment law, HR technologies, employee relations and employee advocacy.
Naturally adept at building quality relationships with employees and management at all levels of the organization; Tasha quickly establishes connections with the general employee population to Executives, to gain knowledge of their business, issues they face and the dynamics of the team.
52. Sylvia Mulinge
CEO / MTN Uganda Uganda
Sylvia is the CEO of MTN Uganda, a telecommunications company whose intent is providing telecommunications and digital solutions for Uganda’s progress. It provides a diverse range of voice, data, digital, fintech, wholesale and enterprise services to approximately 16 million subscribers.
She is a purposeful and impact driven leader who is passionate about transforming customers’ lives using technology as an enabler of positive change that impacts communities and empowers women.
Previously, she served as the Chief Consumer Business Officer at Safaricom PLC where she was instrumental in increasing brand equity metrics for Safaricom, making it the most loved Brand in Kenya. She also spearheaded the growth of Consumer Business revenue resulting in revenue market share growth of 86% between 2018 to March 2022.
Over the last 22 years, Sylvia has developed a strong track record in strategic thinking, brand building, new business development, commercial execution, as well as people growth and development in the Telecommunications and Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) sectors.
Representing Africa in the Meta EMEA Client Council, Sylvia is part of a group of leaders from influential brands and agencies across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Sylvia is the recipient of several awards, with the most recent one being the Moran of the Order of the Burning Spear 2022. In 2020, she was named as one of the 100 Most Influential African Women, and was feted as one of Kenya’s Top 25 Women In Digital in 2019. She has also been cited as one of Kenya’s Top 40 under 40 Women for 3 consecutive years, and is a ‘2015 Young Global Leader (YGL) recipient.
Sylvia is currently serving on several boards including her most recent appointment in 2022 as the Chairperson of the Maasai Mara Wildlife Conservancy Association. In 2019, she was appointed to the Presidential Award Scheme, a self-development programme in Kenya. She also serves as a board member for Food4Education and SHOFCO. Previously, she served as a board member of Endeavor Kenya, and as one of the four Global Vice Chairs of the Unstereotype Alliance for four years since her appointment in 2019.
She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nairobi where she graduated with the highest distinction of First-Class Honors.
Sylvia is a certified executive coach and mentor in both her personal and professional life. She operates on the principles of partnership, humility, openness and professionalism.
53. Prudence Masako
Country Director/CARE Tanzania
Prudence is a versatile public health specialist leader with rich experience of over 19 years in executing needs-based strategy, change management, business development, monitoring and evaluating people’s management and coaching, and public relations with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry.
She is one of the known Champions in the integration of sexual reproductive health (SRH) information and services in maternal and child health, nutrition, HIV, cervical cancer, malaria, youth, gender and other non-health programs in Tanzania .
Prudence is a strong professional with a Master of Science focused in Public Health in Developing Countries from London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U. of London.
She has been recognized as one of the 50 Women in Top Management in Tanzania in 2020 (WIMA), Pioneering Woman Leader, Mumbai, India, in 2020, East African Woman Leader, Dar es Salaam Tanzania, in 2019 by World Women Leadership Congress (WWLC)
Prudence sits on the Board of Cardinal Rugambwa Hospital as a Board Chairperson and she is a Kofi Annan Global Health Leadership Fellow.
54. Patricia Luhanga
Corporate Affairs Manager/Electoral Commission of Zambia
Patricia is a premium and highly sort after corporate communications expert in Zambia. She combines high levels of intellect and outstanding leadership skills in her professional and personal growth. She was appointed Corporate Affairs Manager for the Electoral Commission of Zambia in December 2020. Prior to that, she worked as Head Public Relations at National Savings and Credit Bank Zambia where her role was to reposition the Bank’s brand and earn its share of voice on the market.
She has held similar roles at FNB (Zambia) and in the water and sanitation sector. Patricia has also served in mainstream media at the helm of news management. She is Zambia’s first specialized Financial Journalist having attained a Master of Arts Degree in Financial Journalism from City, University of London, in the United Kingdom.
She also holds qualifications in Mass Communication and International Relations from Cavendish University and Mulungushi University respectively. Patricia is a 2017-2018 recipient of the prestigious Chevening Scholarship, administered by the UK Government which enables emerging global leaders to study in the UK whilst joining a global community of professionals who are creating positive change around the world. During the course of study, she gained both academic and professional exposure. For instance, visits to top tier global financial hubs especially Shanghai helped her gain first-hand awareness of the global economy.
She also held several discussions with global leaders who include renowned Economist Dambisa Moyo. Her thought leadership moments include delivering a keynote at the Bloomberg Media Initiative Africa workshop where she shared on Financial Journalism Landscape in Southern Africa and its role in economic development.
Additionally, she was nominated for the 2019 World Economic Forum Young Global Leaders. In April 2022, she was among the six Zambians who were nominated by the US Department of State to undertake the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) on election management. The IVLP is the US Government’s premier leadership exchange programme where respective embassies nominate candidates who have contributed to critical sectors of a country to focus on professional development in a given area.
Later in May 2022, Patricia was named the Best Public Relations /Communications Practitioner of the Year 2021 by the 3 of 6 Zambia Public Relations Association in recognition of her professional conduct and well as a positive role model contribution to the PR industry in Zambia. These awards stand as proof of her leadership credentials that span over 10 years as a communications expert.
Perhaps one interesting aspect about Patricia is how she has evolved to provide strategic communication, at the pinnacle of one the country’s governance and elections management body – the Electoral Commission of Zambia. She was appointed to this role seven months before the 2021 General Election and at the time the Commission was undergoing a serious credibility test. For many, she has revolutionized the work of the Commission. She played a key role in the successful conduct of the 12th August 2021 Zambia General Election.
55. Osasuyi Dirisu
Executive Director / Policy Innovation Centre Nigeria
Osasuyi has over 18 years’ experience in implementing research and development projects in Agriculture, Education, Social Sciences and Public Health working with a wide range of donors. She has led a wide range of interventions and research projects working with hard to reach and vulnerable populations to improve access of women, children and vulnerable groups to health, inclusion and social empowerment. Her work has explored social determinants of health behavior in the context of poverty, norms, social inequalities and gendered issues to develop evidence for improving health outcomes using innovative strategies to work in complex/conflict settings requiring keen consideration for context and cultural sensitivity. recommendations.
She has conducted social norms assessments, gender analysis and GBV risk mapping for several donor-funded projects in Nigeria. She led the social norms exploration for the Nigeria for Women Project in Nigeria to facilitate an understanding of gender norms that influence joint house hold decision making for women empowerment. She also led the GBV risk assessment/action plan for the Adolescent Girls Initiative for Learning and Empowerment (AGILE) project in Nigeria.
Osasuyi co-led the evaluation of Breakthrough ACTION’s Advocacy Core Group Model for Integrated Social Behavior Change (SBC) Programming in Nigeria and led the UNDP Pillar 5 (data component) of the EU-Spotlight Initiative to eliminate inequality driven by gender norms. She also led the design and implementation of a groundbreaking research study that explored barriers to uptake of clinical management of rape (CMR) services in conflict settings in Nigeria. At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, she led development of the National Gender Based Violence Dashboard, an innovative data management and visualization platform for the collation of validated, real-time GBV data in Nigeria.
56. Peace Nnabugwu
Renewable Energy Consultant / Energy Commission of Nigeria
Peace is an Agro-Physicist with over 13 years of experience in Energy audit, Energy Research and Climate Advocacy. For almost 2 decades, she volunteers her time training the next generation on the role of physical sciences and energy sector.
Peace is a STEM career Counselor with a degree in education, through which the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Suisse Cooperation (SDC) and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAMEU) via Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWACA) funded member research works culled from a call for submission of proposals upon which she and her team emerged 1st at both national and regional levels. She Led the Research work on ‘Restoring Quality Science Education in Nigeria for Improvised Practical Training. She is a Renewable Energy Consultant with Energy Commission of Nigeria.
She is a Johnson & Johnson ‘Champion of Science’, an NGO invited guest of the Schlumberger Foundation Gender gap in STEM in Nigeria collaborative meeting. She is a scholar of; IITA-IFAD Agri Hub, Future Females BS UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, Tech-Women, USA, the Enterprise Development Center of the prestigious Lagos Business School on SSM to mention a few.
57. Ory Okolloh
Partner/Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures Kenya
Ory is currently a Partner at Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures, a pan-African focused venture capital firm that backs exceptional founders in and from Africa. Previously, Ory was the Managing Director, Omidyar Network and Luminate Group in Africa, both impact investing arms of The Omidyar Group.
She serves on the Board of Directors of several organisations including the Thomson Reuters Founders Share Company, the East African Breweries Limited, Deloitte Africa, the Board of Trustees of the Van Leer Group, the Adecco Group Foundation, the Harvard Africa Advisory Group and is the Chair of the Stanbic Bank Kenya Foundation. She is also an Aspen Global Leadership Network (AGLN) Fellow.
Prior to this, Ory was Google’s policy and strategy manager for Africa. Ory was also at the forefront of developing technology innovation as a founding member of Ushahidi. She was the organization’s Executive Director from inception until December 2010. Ory is also the co-founder of Mzalendo, a website that tracks the performance of Kenyan MPs and Asphalt & Ink, a strategic advisory firm. In 2011 Ory was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, and one of Africa’s most Powerful Women by Forbes Magazine. In 2014 she was named Time 100’s most influential people in the world. She was also a TED Talk Speaker.
Ory earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A in political science (summa cum laude) from the University of Pittsburgh.
58. Onemhinye Bayode
Senior Director – Strategy (Africa Middle East and South Asia)/ PepsiCo South Africa
Onemhinye Bayode is an experienced strategist and management consultant specializing in growth strategy, market entry strategy, and customer strategy across multiple industries like the financial, telecommunications, and public sectors in Africa and the Middle East. Onie currently holds the position of Senior Director – Strategy (Africa Middle East and South Asia) at PepsiCo. She has worked with leading global firms such as Accenture, Nokia Siemens Networks, KPMG, Visa and PepsiCo
She has supported C-level executives of prominent companies across Africa and Middle East to solve burning issues on growth and market entry strategy, customer strategy and digital transformation. Onie is a strong advocate of supporting and equipping small and medium enterprises in Africa with the skills and tools to access institutional finance to enable them to dominate the African and global markets.
Her qualifications include executive courses in strategy and leadership from INSEAD, London Business School, Harvard Business School and Oxford Said Business School.
She has co-authored several thought leadership publications on the financial services landscape in Africa covering topics such as market entry strategy, trends in eCommerce and business banking, as well as customer experience excellence in banking and insurance
59. Fatima Kyari Mohammed
African Union Permanent Observer to the United Nations, NY.
Fatima Kyari Mohammed serves as the African Union Permanent Observer to the United Nations in New York. Before this role, she worked as the Senior Special Advisor to the ECOWAS Commission, drawing on over 20 years of experience with various institutions in roles related to peace and security, regional integration, and organizational development. She previously held positions such as Executive Director of West Africa Conflict & Security Consulting (WACAS), Programme Manager for Regional Cooperation for West Africa at the European Union Delegation to Nigeria and ECOWAS, and Regional Project Manager for Security Policy Projects in West Africa with the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.
Her areas of expertise include peace and security, conflict prevention and transformation, gender, regional integration, and socio-economic development. Additionally, she founded the non-profit organization LikeMinds Project in 2006, which focuses on volunteerism and initiatives to improve livelihoods and promote peace among vulnerable communities such as women, children, and youth. The organization launched the IDP Support Project in North East Nigeria in November 2014.
Fatima Kyari Mohammed received academic degrees in peace, security, development, and conflict transformation from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and in sustainable economic development from the UN University of Peace in Costa Rica. She also holds an MBA in Business Communication from the European University in Switzerland and a BA in Environmental Design from the Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria. She is fluent in English, French, and Hausa.
