When talking about women in technology, Funke Opeke is not just one of the very few, she is also pioneer. In Funke lies the strength and courage required to pursue one’s dream in a novel area where many had feared to tread. At a time when ICT was still fresh in the formation, Madam Funke founded MainOne Cable Company, a Nigerian based company that provides innovative telecom services and network solutions.
Funke Opeke grew up in Ibadan, where she attended the Queen’s School before moving to study Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife. After obtaining a B.Eng in 1981, she went on to obtain a Master’s degree at Columbia University, New York. Upon graduation, she pursued a career in ICT where she worked as an executive director of Verizon Communications Wholesale Division in New York. In 2005, Opeke moved back to Nigeria where she joined MTN as the Chief Technical Officer and served briefly as the interim Chief Operating Officer of NITEL. However, Opeke had bigger plans than NITEL. Unable to contain the corrupt practices associated with the organization, she moved on to founding MainOne in 2007, a company that would provide internet and telecom solutions. According to a documentary by Aljazeera, Fola Adeola founder of GTBank, said upon Opeke’s request for laying a cable, “that’s what foreigners do, not what we do.” But this would not deter Opeke. She was bent on doing it whether Nigerians had done it before or not. Today, MainOne is reputable for providing internet and telecom services with its world-class submarine cable systems, fiber optic networks and data center facilities across West Africa. It takes a bold visionary like Funke Opeke to make this happen.TechTuesday: Funke Opeke, Nigeria’s Woman in Technology
