Just 20 years ago, Nigerian women were largely absent from top global leadership positions.
Fortune reported that in 2005, only eight women were leading Fortune 500 companies, representing as few as 1.6% of CEOs.
At the time, the number of women on corporate boards in Nigeria was also single-digit.
There were virtually no Nigerian women holding Class A roles in major multinationals or cutting the mustard in any leadership positions in global institutions.
More than 20 years on, as women globally are making waves, Nigerian women have not been left out. Women of Nigerian descent are not merely bystanders; they are now in charge, from the boardroom of the World Trade Organization, the United Nations, World Health Organisation execs league.
In 2026, women hold over 10% of Fortune 500 CEO roles, while Nigerian female decision-makers have now risen to over 30%. The country is now seeing a visible cohort of Nigerian women occupying senior decision-making positions across global firms and multilateral organisations.
In celebration of Women’s Month, Nairametrics spotlights 7 of the most powerful women of Nigerian descent operating actively on a global stage today. Their work reflects the growing influence of Nigerian women in global decision-making and institutional leadership.
From home in Abia state to the University of Nigeria in Nsukka, where she earned a first-class honours degree in Computer Science, Oteh had always been a shining light.
She then proceeded to the Harvard Business School, where she obtained a master’s degree in Business Administration. Arunma Oteh has become one of Africa’s most respected voices on financial governance, capital-markets reform, and development finance.
With decades of experience in national regulation and global institutions, she is a reference point in global discussions on development banking, regulatory reform, and institutional resilience.
Over the years, Oteh has occupied some of the most influential financial governance roles on the global stage, regardless of race or gender.
- Upon Senate confirmation on December 11, 2009, Arunma Oteh became Nigeria’s Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) from January 2010 to January 2015.
- She then became the Vice President of the African Development Bank from 2015 to 2018.
- She has also worked with the World Bank Group and has been a member of the FSD Africa Board of Directors since October 2022.
At 61, she has excelled at the heart of development finance, as an astute capital markets regulator who has sat in many multilateral boardrooms and national policy gatherings.
She now lives in the UK and holds academic, advisory, and leadership roles. Since January 2019, she has been an Executive-in-Residence at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.
