According to GitHub’s latest report, Nigeria has been listed among the world’s fastest-growing countries for software development in 2023.
This comes as no surprise, given the country’s remarkable growth in the tech industry.
Over the past decades, Nigeria has witnessed a significant rise in the number of software engineering professionals. Just two years ago, the developer talent pool grew by an impressive 45.6% between Q3 2022 and Q3 2023, reaching 872,162.
This metric positions Nigeria as the fastest-growing country for software developers in Africa and the second-fastest globally, following Bangladesh.
Building on this momentum, the surge in startups and accelerators has further fueled the growth of the Nigerian tech industry, producing a talented pool of software engineers who are pushing the boundaries of innovation and making groundbreaking contributions to the industry.
In this article, we spotlight ten exceptional Nigerian software engineers who drive innovation and growth at top companies, including Fortune 500 firms, unicorns, multinationals, etc.
These individuals are not only shaping the future of technology in Nigeria but also putting the country on the global map as an important player in the field of software engineering.
1. Olaoluwa Okelola
Olaoluwa Okelola is a respected software engineer with over 20 years of experience shaping the tech industry.
Having completed his secondary education at the International School Ibadan, Okelola proceeded to Avi-Cenna International School and Howard University, Washington DC, to complete his secondary and university education, respectively.
He then joined Microsoft as an Explorer Intern in January 2005 and left in August of the same year for Google, where he worked as an Engineering intern from May 2006 until August 2006. In 2007, he joined Facebook, becoming one of the first Nigerians to work at a global tech company.
During his tenure of over ten years, he played a pivotal role in developing some of the products we use and love today.
2. Prosper Otemuyiwa
Prosper Otemuyiwa is a full-stack software engineer and technology advocate involved in different aspects of the software ecosystem for over a decade. He is one of the biggest names in the Nigerian developer universe, not just for his skills but also for being a great tutor and speaker.
He was an early member of the Andela team and has participated in several developer conferences worldwide. Also an avid open-source contributor, Prosper built open-source packages that millions use worldwide.
Currently, he is the chief technology officer at Eden Life, and the company has raised USD 2M in venture funding. Prosper is also the co-founded forLoop Africa, the largest African developer community with members across 40 countries.
Over the years of his career, he has been invited to speak at over 100 developer events globally, and some notable ones include Zeit SF Day California, Facebook Developer Summit, Google Developer Agency Day, CMS Africa Summit, and CodeFest Conference Russia, among others.
In 2016, when Github published its ranking, Prosper was in second place on the top chart of the world’s leading PHP developers, ahead of Facebook.
This achievement gained him widespread recognition and further solidified his position as a world leader in the tech industry.
3. Adora Nwodo
Adaora Nwodo is a multi-award-winning Software Engineer and Google Associate Android Developer who works at the intersection of Cloud Engineering and Developer Platforms.
With a First Class Computer Science degree from the University of Lagos, Adora has a strong software engineering background.
She is the Founder of NexaScale, a social enterprise that fosters the growth and development of technology enthusiasts by providing resources and opportunities for project building and work experience – helping them start and scale their careers.
She has courses online that teach people about Infrastructure automation. She has also published multiple articles on software engineering, productivity & career growth on her blog, AdoraHack.
She is highly passionate about the developer community and often drives inclusion for women in technology.
She co-organizes community events for unStack Africa, contributes to open-source projects, and speaks at technology conferences worldwide. Adora is extremely passionate about the developer community and is trying to drive inclusion for women in technology.
She co-organizes community events, contributes to open source and speaks at technology conferences/meetups worldwide.
4. Favour Ohanekwu
Favour Ohanekwu is a respected open-source software engineer in the African tech community. With over 3 years + of experience, he has always been at the forefront of using open-source to build innovative solutions.
Favour gained widespread recognition when he beat 7,634 students at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), to emerge as the university’s best graduating student in 2021. He graduated with an outstanding 97.8% grade which is equivalent to a 4.89/5.00 CGPA from the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering. He also bagged a total of 9 awards at the university.
Today, Favour works with unicorn and global companies around the world to harness the power of technology to solve complex problems and create value-driven solutions. As a thought leader in the industry, he has been invited to mentor at various organisations. He has also been featured on Tribune and Scholarshipregion.
Currently, he works as a senior software engineer at Appsmith, an open-source low-code application platform that simplifies custom application development for businesses, allowing them to streamline operations and automate processes quickly.
5. Ire Aderinokun
Ire Aderinokun is a software engineer, entrepreneur, and investor from Lagos, Nigeria. She has worked in the technology industry for a decade.
As a respected technology leader in Africa, she has been invited to speak at over 60 conferences around the world and some of them include Google Developer Experts Summit San Francisco, WeAreDevelopers World Congress Germany, Google Women Developer Academy, and Front Conference Zurich, among others. Ire is a Google Developer Expert, specialising in core front-end technologies.
She organised Frontstack, a conference for front-end engineering in Nigeria and started a small scholarship program to sponsor Nigerian women to take a Udacity Nanodegree in a technology-related field of their choice. She is the co-founder, COO and VP of Engineering of Helicarrier, which builds cryptocurrency infrastructure for Africa.
Outside her job, she is passionate about women and education in Nigeria. Ire is one of the founding members of the Feminist Coalition, a group of young Nigerian women who promote equality for women in Nigerian society.
She is also a board member of Day Waterman College and the Stand to End Rape Initiative.
6. Chukwuemeka Afigbo
Meet Chukwuemeka Afigbo, a Visionary Technology Leader. Chukwuemeka is a highly accomplished technology leader in Nigeria’s software industry, with a proven track record of driving innovation at global tech giants. Currently, he is the Senior Director and Developer Success at Okta.
He has previously held strategic roles in big tech such as Google and Facebook.
Afigbo’s academic background includes a degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Nigeria, a Master’s in Technology Innovations Management from Carleton University, and a certificate in Advanced Project Management from Stanford University.
At Facebook, he led the Platform Partnerships team in the Middle East and Africa, collaborating with diverse developers. During his tenure at Google (2011-2015), he led the developer relations team, crafting and implementing programs that empowered Sub-Saharan African developers, fostering the region’s tech ecosystem growth through Google’s developer platforms.
Currently a Senior Director of Developer Success at Okta, Chukwuemeka keeps pushing boundaries and paving the way for innovation.
7. Tunmise Ogunniyi
Meet Tunmise Ogunniyi, a highly accomplished software engineer from Nigeria known for developing revolutionary solutions to tackle pressing world challenges.
With just 3+ years of experience, Tunmise has already significantly impacted the industry, working with unicorns like Andela and some of the world’s fastest-growing companies like Firmatek and ShipStation. Through his work, Tunmise has demonstrated exceptional expertise in designing and building cutting-edge products that cater to a global audience.
His passion for innovation and problem-solving has led to the creation of scalable, efficient, and user-friendly solutions that have transformed lives and industries.
As a rising star in the Nigerian tech industry, he inspires and empowers others through his work, paving the way for technological innovation and growth in Africa.
8. Fara Ashiru
Fara Ashiru is the Founder & CEO of Okra, an open finance infrastructure that enables developers and businesses to build personalised digital products & services.
Fara raised $1 million in a pre-seed round for Okra in just six months and before founding Okra, she was building and scaling products in emerging markets and venture-based startups by working with multiple Fortune 500 companies and startups in the USA, including JP Morgan, Sana Benefits, Fidelity Investments, BMW, and Canva.
Fara also served as a co-founder and CTO of Shixels Studios, where she led the design and development of core technology for blue-chip clients, including Airtel, AXA Mansard, RenMoney, MTech, Sanofi Pharmaceuticals, and Nestoil.
She has expertise in over 20 programming languages. She is also listed in Forbes as a tech problem-solver.
9. Segun Famisa
Meet Segun Famisa, a Senior Software Engineer based in Berlin, Germany. Segun is a seasoned Android developer and a Google Developer Expert For Andriod with a background in electronic engineering. With over six years of experience in Android development, he has honed his skills by working as a software engineer at multinational companies like Andela, Door Dash, Delivery Hero, Soundcloud and Wolt, he has worked with various partners on their Android projects.
As a passionate professional, he loves to share his expertise by speaking at tech conferences and publishing technical articles. Outside of coding, Segun enjoys playing the bass guitar and painting in his spare time.
10. Moyinoluwa Adeyemi
Moyinoluwa Adeyemi is a Nigerian Senior Android Engineer and Google Developer Expert for Android currently based in the United Kingdom.
With over nine years of experience in the software industry, Moyinoluwa has worked on several projects to solve world challenges. Some apps she has worked on include Tour9ja, which she created in 2012.
It is an Android app that allows tourists/natives in Nigeria to learn more about the state of Nigeria. In October 2013, she developed a web application/android mobile app called ‘Efficacy’ at the National Software Competition, where she emerged as the 1st runner-up. Efficacy was designed to detect counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.
She was also part of the team that developed an educational app called “Kawe” (which means read in Yoruba language).
Kawe came in 2nd place at Google ILO. Moyinoluwa obtained a computer science and mathematics degree from Obafemi Awolowo University in Osun state, Nigeria.
After gaining experience in her early days, mentoring junior developers and planning tech events and conferences as the Admissions Manager of the Google Developers Group in OAU, she worked with Swifta Systems and Services as a software engineer.
She joined Zola Electric in April 2017 and became a senior Android developer in April 2019. In 2020, she joined Twitter (now X) as a senior software engineer and made significant achievements.
11. Babatunde Fashola
Babatunde Fashola is a seasoned software engineer and application developer with over 8 years of experience in the industry. As a staff software engineer at X (formerly Twitter), he leverages his expertise to create innovative products that millions of people use worldwide.
With a proven track record of delivering high-impact solutions, Babatunde continues to push the boundaries of technology, shaping the tech space with his exceptional skills and expertise.
12. Wisdom Matthew
Wisdom Matthew is a Backend Engineer with over three years of experience in the tech industry, specialising in solving complex challenges related to scaling business software. He has worked with leading technology companies in both Africa and the United States, contributing to innovative solutions across diverse sectors.
Currently, Wisdom is a backend engineer at NALA, an international money transfer app enabling seamless global transactions for individuals and businesses.
With a $10 million seed round in 2022, NALA is one of Africa’s fastest-growing fintech companies. Before NALA, Wisdom held roles at Citizen and MEGHEE, where he further honed his technical expertise.
He is proficient in a variety of programming languages, including Go (Golang), JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, and Python.
