Breaking Barriers: Women in Africa's Fintech Industry

The financial technology sector in Africa has grown rapidly and this evolution has seen women take the forefront more than ever before.

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These women have shattered the existing glass ceilings (38 Fintech companies raised venture capital funding in Africa in 2018 and none had a female chief executive).

They have also continued to carve a niche for themselves – no thanks to the male dominance – in Africa’s fintech industry.

In this article, we look at – in no particular order – some of the women who are breaking barriers and setting the pace for other women who aspire to grow a career in fintech.

Odunayo Eweniyi

Eweniyi is a graduate of Computer Engineering who has achieved a lot of extraordinary feats. Armed with a first-class degree, the co-founder of Feminist Coalition ventured into the fintech space in Nigeria in 2016.

Her remarkable achievements have been recognized by Bloomberg and Vogue. Eweniyi definitely serves as an inspiration to young women who aspire to build a career in Nigeria’s promising fintech industry.

Yvonne Johnson

Yvonne Johnson sits pretty on this list for her stellar contributions. After co-founding an innovative fintech startup for loan applications in 2018, the widely-acclaimed strategic thinker closed funding of $150,000 from Itanna in 2020.

Markie Idowu

Dr Markie Idowu brings on a wealth of experience in Finance and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to her role as MD/CEO at Xpress Payments Solutions Limited.

Before assuming her role as CEO/MD at the fintech organization established in 2016, Idowu was the Executive Director, Technology and Service Delivery Channels at Polaris Bank Plc.

Idowu’s experience includes 28 years in banking spanning retail, commercial and corporate banking, treasury management, international business finance, operations, electronic banking and information technology. Idowu has served on the board of several companies including Skye Bank, MainOne Cable Company, Equity Assurance, IHS and Mainstreet brokers.

Fara Ashiru Jituboh

Nigerian-born Fara has many years of experience from working with multiple Fortune 500 companies having studied Computer Science at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Upon her return, she identified infrastructural problems in Nigeria’s fintech space and sought to solve them. This made her team up with David Peterside to establish a fintech startup.

Tope Omotolani

Tope Omotolani is the pioneer of an impact-driven community committed to building relationships between individuals and businesses.

Her astute directorship has helped her fintech startup raise over $35 million through savings and investment for multiple businesses from a community of over 100,000 members in over a year.