Nigeria’s telecommunications industry has become a major driver of the country’s digital economy, with mobile connectivity, data consumption and digital services increasingly shaping business and consumer activity.
Active mobile subscriptions reached 185.5 million as of March 2026, while teledensity stood at 85.67%, according to industry data reported by Nairametrics.
With subscriber growth slowing, competition among operators is increasingly shifting towards data, network quality, infrastructure and digital services.
The sector’s growing data economy is reflected in operator earnings. MTN Nigeria and Airtel Nigeria generated more than N3.6 trillion from data services in 2025, highlighting the increasing importance of internet consumption to telecom revenues.
MTN Nigeria reported N5.2 trillion in revenue in 2025, while data revenue accounted for more than half of the operator’s total revenue. Nigeria’s appetite for connectivity has also continued to grow, with telecom subscribers consuming 1.5 million terabytes of data.
As the industry expands beyond traditional voice services, women are taking increasingly prominent positions across its executive and leadership structures.
From technology and enterprise services to finance, marketing, customer experience and corporate governance, these executives are helping shape the next phase of Nigeria’s telecommunications industry.
Here are some of the top female leaders driving Nigeria’s telecoms sector.
Oluwakemi Young-Esumeh is a Nigerian business leader and digital transformation strategist who serves as Chief Executive Officer of Internet Solutions Nigeria Limited (ISN), a position she has held since March 2025. Her leadership at ISN follows nearly six years of progressive experience at the company, where she previously served as chief operating officer and head of operations.
Young-Esumeh joined ISN in 2019 as business development manager and rose through several leadership roles, including head of operations from 2020 to 2024 and chief operating officer from September 2024 to March 2025. Her career reflects a focus on business growth, operational efficiency, customer experience and organisational transformation.
Before joining ISN, she worked at Access Bank as a corporate business partner and at Diamond Bank as a performance monitoring executive. She also served as a treasury officer at Benson Idahosa University.
An accounting and education graduate of Ekiti State University, where she earned a second-class upper degree, Young-Esumeh has further developed her analytical and project-management expertise. Her professional certifications include Google’s Data Analytics Specialization and PRINCE2 Practitioner certification in project management.
As CEO, her public-facing leadership has emphasised digital transformation, reliable connectivity, business growth and organisational change. Her LinkedIn activity also highlights ISN’s participation in major technology and fintech events, including GITEX Nigeria and the Nigeria Fintech Forum.
Aisha Abdulaziz has built a career across technology, operations and business management, rising from roles in media distribution and corporate operations to become CEO of Legend Internet PLC, a Nigerian digital infrastructure company.
Abdulaziz joined Legend Internet in 2021 as Chief Operating Officer and became CEO in February 2023. She now oversees the company’s broadband operations and its push into fintech and digital services, including Legend Fibre, Legend WiFi, LegendMail and MailPay.
Before Legend Internet, she spent more than six years at Suburban Fiber Company, where she served as general manager and led teams across technology, finance, marketing and customer experience. During her tenure, she oversaw fibre and WiFi infrastructure rollouts and helped scale bundled internet and digital television products, which she said increased customer acquisition by 40%.
Her earlier career included roles in media distribution and public relations operations.
Abdulaziz holds a bachelor’s degree in biological sciences with molecular genetics from the University of Warwick and completed the Transition to General Management Programme at INSEAD Business School in France.
Under her leadership, Legend Internet has pursued an ambitious expansion strategy. In 2025, shareholders approved plans to raise up to N150 billion and pursue acquisitions in telecommunications and microfinance, positioning the company for a broader role in Nigeria’s digital economy.
Ugonwa Nwoye is a senior customer experience and operations executive at MTN Nigeria, where she has spent more than two decades helping shape the company’s customer, product and service strategy.
She joined MTN Nigeria in 2003 as a CRM Product and Services Manager and later became General Manager, Product Innovation, a role she held for about 11 years. In 2014, she moved into customer operations, where she has led the company’s customer care and experience transformation.
Nwoye’s responsibilities include customer operations strategy, service and support across customer segments, customer analytics and the development of omnichannel engagement tools and processes. Her recent public commentary has focused on improving customer experience, responding to feedback and strengthening service quality as MTN expands its network.
She has also represented MTN publicly on issues including the impact of Nigeria’s 50 percent telecom tariff adjustment, explaining the company’s investment in network expansion and service improvements.
Her career began in the oil and gas sector with Schlumberger, where she worked as a senior field engineer in Gabon. She later worked as a consultant at Bain & Company and as a research assistant at Harvard University.
Nwoye holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and completed a High Performance Leadership Programme at IMD. Her professional expertise spans customer operations, customer experience and product development.
Onyinye Ikenna-Emeka has built a more than two-decade career at the intersection of telecommunications, marketing and commercial strategy, rising through the ranks at MTN Nigeria to become chief marketing officer.
She joined MTN in 2004 as a sector sales manager for energy and logistics and went on to hold senior roles spanning financial services, corporate accounts, enterprise sales and marketing. In 2015, she moved into enterprise marketing, where her responsibilities included business planning, market development, partnerships, product development and sales enablement. She later took on leadership of fixed broadband before becoming chief marketing officer in October 2024.
Her career has tracked Nigeria’s telecommunications transformation, from the early days of mobile phones and scratch cards to today’s broadband and 5G economy. During MTN Nigeria’s 25th anniversary celebrations, Ikenna-Emeka helped highlight how the company’s infrastructure has become woven into everyday Nigerian life.
Beyond MTN, she is a member of the Forbes Business Development Council and a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Marketing. She is also a speaker on leadership, technology and commercial strategy and co-founded theOIEhub.
Ikenna-Emeka holds a geology degree from the University of Calabar and an MBA from Alliance Manchester Business School. She is currently pursuing doctoral research at Cranfield University while serving on the boards of two Nigerian startups and the governing council of The Grange School in Lagos.
Uto Ukpanah is a corporate governance and legal professional who has played a key role in shaping the governance, ethics and administrative framework of MTN Nigeria for more than two decades.
She joined MTN Nigeria in 2005 as Company Secretary and has since risen to become the company’s Executive Company Secretary. In the role, she oversees key administrative functions within the MTN structure and provides administrative support to MTN Nigeria and the MTN Foundation Limited by Guarantee.
Ukpanah has been actively involved in the development and advancement of corporate governance and ethics-related codes across various sectors, both in Nigeria and internationally. Her work has placed her at the intersection of legal compliance, corporate governance, ethics and business administration.
She holds an LLB from the University of Cross River State, now the University of Uyo, and is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, International Bar Association and the Ethics & Compliance Officers Association in the United States.
She is also a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (FCIS) and serves as a member of its Council.
At MTN, Ukpanah has built a career around ensuring that business operations are supported by strong governance principles and ethical standards. Her professional philosophy is summed up in her personal mantra: “Work Hard, Work Well, Work Ethically.”
Through her long-standing role at MTN Nigeria, Ukpanah has emerged as an important female voice in corporate governance and ethical leadership within Nigeria’s telecommunications industry.
For more than two decades, Ogo Ofomata has operated behind the scenes of Africa’s telecommunications industry, helping companies turn connectivity into commercial opportunity.
Today, she serves as Director of Airtel Business Africa, a senior role that puts her at the center of Airtel’s enterprise strategy in one of the continent’s most competitive telecoms markets. Since taking the position in 2021, Ofomata has been focused on business development, sales, strategic management and building relationships with corporate customers.
Her career stretches across more than 24 years, giving her a front-row seat to the evolution of Africa’s telecommunications sector, from traditional connectivity to a broader digital economy built around enterprise technology and services.
Before joining Airtel, Ofomata was Country Manager for Nigeria at PCCW Global, where she managed the company’s local sales and operations. She subsequently became Director of Sales and Marketing at Zili Limited, adding commercial strategy and business development to a career already rooted in technology.
At Airtel Business Africa, her remit extends beyond selling telecommunications services. The role involves helping businesses navigate an increasingly connected economy, where reliable networks, digital infrastructure and technology solutions have become central to growth.
Ofomata began her career with a strong technology foundation, earning a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
Kemi Ariyo has built her career at the intersection of telecommunications, technology and business transformation, rising through the ranks to become Director of Information Technology and Chief Information Officer at Airtel Nigeria.
Ariyo has more than 16 years of experience across the technology value chain, with much of her career tied to Airtel’s technology and commercial operations. In her current role, which she has held since September 2023, she oversees IT strategy and operations across Nigeria, managing six departments and 14 sub-units, with responsibility for a workforce of about 140 people.
Her mandate extends beyond keeping Airtel’s technology infrastructure running. Ariyo has led the company’s transition toward next-generation business support systems, covering customer relationship management, billing, revenue assurance, fraud management, sales and distribution, and value-added services.
Before becoming CIO, Ariyo served in several senior technology positions at Airtel, including Lead, Business System Support and Lead Commercial Projects. Her work included the delivery of platforms supporting credit services, sales distribution, customer engagement and revenue assurance. Her career also includes more than four years at IBM, where she was seconded to Airtel Networks Nigeria as a Telecom Business Operations Analyst.
She has a background in information and communications technology from Covenant University and a master’s degree in information security from Royal Holloway, University of London.
Funke Opeke is one of the most influential women to emerge from Nigeria’s telecommunications and digital infrastructure industry, having built MainOne into a major connectivity business serving West Africa.
An electrical engineer by training, Opeke holds a bachelor’s degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, and a master’s degree from Columbia University in New York.
She founded MainOne and led the development of its privately owned submarine cable system, connecting Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Portugal. The cable significantly expanded international internet capacity and created an additional route for businesses and consumers across West Africa to access global networks.
Under her leadership, MainOne expanded beyond the submarine cable into terrestrial fibre networks and data centres in Lagos, Accra and Abidjan, positioning the company as a broader digital infrastructure provider.
The company’s growth culminated in 2022 when Equinix acquired MainOne for $320 million, marking one of the most significant international investments in West Africa’s digital infrastructure sector. Following the acquisition, Opeke became Managing Director, West Africa, at MainOne.
Bella Disu has spent more than two decades building a career across telecommunications, business, real estate and corporate governance, rising from an entry-level role at Globacom in 2004 to become Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian telecommunications company.
At Globacom, Disu has played a central role in shaping the company’s strategy and growth while also championing initiatives aimed at innovation, technology and the development of its workforce. Her leadership portfolio includes Glo SPARK, an employee innovation programme, and the Glo Innovation Hub, which supports Nigeria’s technology ecosystem.
In 2024, she launched the SheGlows Program at Globacom, designed to support female employees and create a stronger pipeline of women leaders within the organisation. She also conceived and launched the Glo Foundation, expanding the company’s focus on education, women’s empowerment and community development.
Her influence extends well beyond telecoms. Disu is CEO of Cobblestone Properties and Estates and chairs the board of Abumet Nigeria. She is also a Non-Executive Director of Julius Berger Nigeria, where she chairs the Strategy Committee and serves on several board committees.
Disu holds degrees from the University of Massachusetts Boston, Northeastern University and Imperial College London and is a doctoral candidate at the University of Warwick. Her leadership has earned recognition from Forbes Afrique, Choiseul 100 Africa and the Lagos State #Eko100Women initiative.
Lynda Saint-Nwafor is a telecommunications executive and technology leader with more than two decades of experience at MTN Nigeria, where she has held senior roles spanning network planning, technology, business transformation and enterprise services.
She joined MTN Nigeria in 2001 and rose through a series of technical and leadership positions, including Core Network Planning Manager in 2003, Senior Manager for Systems Planning in 2004, General Manager for Network Planning in 2005 and Chief Technical Officer in 2011.
In 2016, Saint-Nwafor became MTN Nigeria’s Chief Enterprise Business Officer, a role in which she leads the company’s enterprise and ICT strategy. Her responsibilities include guiding the technology and business solutions required to serve corporate customers and Nigeria’s small and medium-sized businesses.
A strong advocate for the SME sector, Saint-Nwafor has consistently highlighted the role of small businesses in driving economic growth, innovation and job creation in Nigeria. Her work at MTN focuses on helping businesses access the technology and digital solutions needed to scale.
Saint-Nwafor holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), where she received the Dean’s Prize for the best academic results in her faculty. She also completed executive education at Columbia Business School in New York.
Her expertise spans network planning, project management, organisational and business transformation, and people management. Beyond the corporate sector, she has contributed to national technology policy, including serving as a member of a Presidential Committee established under former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Please note: This list is a Nairametrics snapshot of some of the top female leaders in Nigeria’s telecommunications industry. It is exclusive to Nairametrics but is not exhaustive and should not be interpreted as a definitive ranking. The list will be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect the evolving contributions of female leaders across Nigeria’s telecoms sector.
