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.
In 1976 when Damilola Ogunbiyi was born, Nigeria, particularly Lagos, where she built much of her early career, struggled with reliable power. Today, she sits at the centre of global energy leadership.
In a sector where women make up only about 20% of the global workforce, she is not just part of the system, but among those shaping opportunities within it. She studied Project Management for Construction at the University of Brighton, UK, at both undergraduate and master’s levels.
- She was the Special Adviser on Sustainable Energy to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode from 2015 until 2017, when she was appointed Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Rural Electrification Agency of Nigeria from 2017 to 2019.
- Her success in national initiatives earned her appointment as CEO of Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL), a United Nations-founded global organisation for universal energy access and clean energy transition.
- She is also the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Sustainable Energy and co-chairs UN-Energy, the interagency for global energy work of more than two dozen UN bodies.
Her work at both national and international energy equity levels and multilateral diplomacy has made her oversee landmark expansion of off-grid and renewable energy deployment across underserved communities worldwide.
Very few women today sit in rooms where global investment decisions and policy architecture for the post-carbon economy are made. Ogunbiyi is one of those female thought leaders using their wealth of experience to shape the future of energy.
