Africa’s software talent pool is rapidly expanding. From groundbreaking global products to innovative local solutions, these ten software engineers are shaping the future of technology across the continent.
In this piece, Techeconomy highlights 10 software engineers; both established industry leaders and emerging talents who are contributing towards deepening Africa’s tech future.
They include;
1. Shola Akinlade — Nigeria Co-founder & CEO, Paystack
Shola Akinlade is a leading figure in African tech. Co-founding Paystack in 2015, he grew it into Nigeria’s premier online payment platform, culminating in its $200 million acquisition by Stripe in 2020.
With a strong engineering background, Akinlade laid the technical groundwork essential for Paystack’s secure and scalable payment solutions. Today, he actively invests in sports, education, and mentorship for upcoming founders.
2. Kudzai Gopfa — Zimbabwe Software Engineer, Bloomberg | Formerly at Nintex
Kudzai Gopfa is quickly becoming one of Africa’s influential tech engineers. His journey began at university with Dapper, a social app he developed independently, learning full-stack development and product management.
Joining Nintex post-graduation, he engineered cloud-based automation solutions for enterprise clients, powering efficiency across legal, financial, and healthcare sectors through robust APIs and optimized workflows.
Kudzai contributes to high-performance backend infrastructure supporting real-time analytics for global markets. Beyond his technical roles, Kudzai mentors aspiring African engineers and actively supports early-stage product experimentation.
3. Josiah Akinloye — Nigeria Founder, Mainlogix Technology
Josiah Akinloye leads innovation in AI and IoT for African markets through Mainlogix Technology. His recent product, SMART, is a multilingual voice assistant serving local languages.
Under Josiah’s guidance, Mainlogix earned recognition at the African Tech Awards for hardware innovation.
4. Regina Honu — Ghana Founder, Soronko Academy
Regina Honu has significantly impacted tech education for women in Africa. Expanding Soronko Academy to five regions in Ghana, she has equipped over 15,000 students with coding and entrepreneurial skills, highlighting her dedication to social impact through technology.
5. Rowena Turinawe — Uganda Head of Innovation, Centenary Technology Services
Rowena Turinawe drives digital transformation for millions of bank customers in East Africa, specializing in cybersecurity, cloud, and digital banking. Named among Africa’s Top 35 Women in Tech, Rowena mentors and empowers women in engineering.
6. Idorenyin Obong — Nigeria CEO, Grey
Idorenyin Obong co-founded Grey, a fintech startup simplifying cross-border payments. Rapidly scaling to over a million users, Grey thrives on his engineering expertise, ensuring secure, efficient currency exchange solutions for remote workers across Africa.
7. Nneka Eze — Nigeria Lead Engineer, Andela
Nneka Eze excels in mentoring remote engineering teams, delivering software solutions across healthcare, finance, and education sectors through Andela.
Her focus on inclusion has seen her lead numerous bootcamps supporting women in tech.
8. Chinedu Umukoro: Nigeria Engineering Scalable Solutions for Africa’s Digital Future
Chinedu Umukoro is a seasoned Software Engineer and Technical Team Lead with over eight years of experience building innovative, scalable, and user-centric web applications.
He has led cross-functional engineering teams across fintech, insurtech, and banking, delivering high-impact products such as Nova Bank’s mobile banking platform, Sterling Bank’s investment tools, and USSD admin dashboards for inclusive financial services.
Driven by a passion for problem-solving and digital transformation, Chinedu combines deep technical knowledge with a strategic mindset to deliver solutions that shape Africa’s evolving tech landscape. From building secure API integrations to mentoring emerging developers, his leadership is rooted in collaboration, performance, and impact.
As Africa’s digital future unfolds, Chinedu continues to drive progress by building platforms that not only meet business goals but also enhance everyday lives.
9. Samuel Mwangi — Kenya CTO, M-Paya Solutions
Samuel Mwangi is an innovator in mobile money technology across East Africa. Leading development at M-Paya Solutions, he ensures robust transaction infrastructure and AI-driven fraud prevention, enhancing financial security across multiple countries.
10. Fatima Diallo — Senegal Founder, TechSenegal
Fatima Diallo champions programming education for young women, training over 5,000 students through TechSenegal. Her goal is to significantly increase the representation of female engineers in Senegal, making tech careers accessible to rural communities.
These 10 software engineers are definitely shaping Africa’s digital future with their homegrown solutions.
