Businesswomen From Nigeria

"“I don’t like to be given any special treatment because I’m a woman; don’t put me in a box and stereotype me. I am a complete human and a legitimate member of society before being a woman.”"

"“I just want a Nation that works. I've run out of fancy speeches and motivational quotes about Nigeria.”"

"“Everything will come. Nigeria has the promise of a bright future.”"

"“Not all the young woman are ready to learn and give honour and I believe in service and respecting my elders. Please don’t give up on them and don’t use them as a yardstick to judge all of us.”"

"“You can build a Legacy. An Army, a circle of young, strong women into whom you pour yourself often, to whom you make yourself accessible; sometimes it’s not your money we want, a simple line of encouragement or guide on ways to run a business or advice on how to deal with sexual harassment at work or a word of prayer can change the world. You may give a book sometimes. You can also give money to those who need it if you have some extra cash.”"

"“You are in your 40s or 50s today, Minister for ABC or D, MD of that Company or the other, Wife of the Governor of State A, General Manager or HOD of Department Q, one day, you’ll be just a memory for some people so please do your best to be a good one because there is a place called TOMORROW when the younger woman you despised few years ago will now be the one occupying the position you currently have.”"

"“There are so many God Fathers in Nigeria, where are the God Mothers? The Men are making the Boys, Dear Nigerian Women, where are your Girls?”"

"“Everywhere one turns, the Older Men have a retinue of younger Men in their kitty to whom they owe their continued relevance. They mentor, support, teach and create opportunities for the next generation of Men and thereby lives their dreams in these young Men.”"

"“A woman who does not mentor another young woman or does not hold the hand of another woman up is working to diminish her own continued relevance within the public space.”"

"Raising money is the most difficult thing I ever did as an entrepreneur"

"Do not be afraid to take bold steps and ask for help. The most successful people did not make it on their own. You need to find mentors and advisors along the way: experienced, wiser people who know a lot and can help you fulfill your aspirations.Funke's leadership advice to African women and girls in TECH"

"We can promote more female empowerment in startups by creating a larger pool of women in tech, giving women in tech more visibility, and addressing challenges around gender bias with regards to funding.Funke speaking on the increased participation of women in the TECH space in Africa"

"The major challenges holding women back from success in this region are the lack of access to educational and professional opportunities and an inadequate number of female role models in the tech industry. However, African women are maximizing the opportunities that improved access to education and technology careers offer. Our representation in the industry is not far behind what you find in more advanced economies.Funke discussing the challenges facing African women in TECH"

"I believe mentorship programs for girls will provide the exposure, encouragement to acquire the foundational skills, and networks required for higher education and future career opportunities in technology.Funke on encouraging young Africans girls to pursue careers in tech"

"Through MainOne, my goals and ambitions have become more focused on improving Internet access for the citizens of West Africa in order to drive economic growth and human development.Funke speaking on her aspirations for starting MainOne"

"“I don’t know that I am unique in that regard. It is all the things we learn: hard work, integrity and focus, but it is really about value creation. Each individual has to think about how they can utilize the opportunity and the assets they have to generate value and if you create value, you will be successful in business. That is what I strongly believe.Funke on the secret of her success"

"When you look at the original vision and the potential and where we are, you will know that there is so much to do. If I get complacent I may have to step aside so that the vision can move forward.Funke speaking on the need to stay motivated"

"A connected Nigeria is a more economically prosperous Nigeria."

"“It’s not really that you are innovating new technologies, but you’re innovating processes. You’re innovating deployment methodologies. You’re being very resourceful in terms of how you get things done to deploy what is already known and established practice in other markets.”Funke speaking in an interview with Harvard business school"

"We can’t leave an entire generation of young people without proper access to the internet."

"While the developed world was fully connected, here in Nigeria the average young person didn’t know what the internet was."

"...Now, of course, there are opportunities here, because we haven’t fully developed our society, that are not available elsewhere as well. So, it’s a risk-reward type of situation."

"So if you are growing a business you have to be very deliberate and you have to do your homework on who exactly has the capacity to buy, how much money do you need, where should you prioritise your efforts."

"For anything you are trying to do, there are a thousand other people trying to do the same thing. Even if it costs a billion dollars."

"Every entrepreneur has to raise capital. If your business is going to grow, you have to raise capital. You have to be smart about raising capital, you have to be determined about raising capital."

"“If we’re going to transform our society, our society needs to be developed. It’s a youth population, it’s education, access to information, it’s the ability to innovate. It’s giving young people access that is going to bring about the full benefits of this.”Speaking on her vision and the importance of internet connectivity for the African youths"

"“I came back from the US and the Internet had been exploding over there, but in Nigeria there was no Internet and no infrastructure. So we decided to put the pieces together and make this happen."Funke speaking on her vision to bridge the Digital divide in west africa"

"There is so much opportunity, there is so much need here that we need to transform our society, when you look around us. No one is going to do it for us and we also have to get our government on board with us to meet the aspirations of Nigerians because that’s what democracy is all about."

"Africa's Most Powerful Women In Technology (2013)"

"It is important to grow people. To realise that people are individuals with their dreams."

"If success means living with joy, contentment, and doing great things with my talent, then failure is the opposite of success. It means not living with joy, contentment, or using my skills and gifts. Failure would also mean not pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and not daring to try new things and ideas."

"It is one thing to get girls to study these subjects, it is another thing to transit to the career and stay in the career. A lot of research shows that within the first ten years shows that women who are working in tech tend to drop out. So, the workplace must be also friendly to women. Things are changing but change also takes time."

"I see a bright future. Traditionally, we have had few women in this space. Globally in terms of people studying STEM subjects across the world, 35 per cent are women. In Nigeria, the figures are just about less than that. In terms of Women studying technology and engineering in Nigerian universities, you have about 25 per cent according to the figures from JAMB."

"It also encourages the girls to rise to the top to see these women as options."

"We encourage the women we find to give talks to the girls so that there is visibility."

"It also encourages women who are in technology all ready to step out."

"We need more women in the space because they bring their unique perspective to development, technology and policy."

"It is best at this age for parents, guardians and teachers to give the girls the opportunity to be the best, have confidence in themselves and basically dream as widely as they can."

"Gone are the days where girls are relegated to doing domestic chores, leaving boys to go to school and have a career."

"Over the years, we have been able to create awareness about the gender gap."

"There is a greater awareness of the issue of, the gender gap in technology."

"Revalidating the role of women in technology is not meant to compete with the men, it shouldn’t be like that because we all have our area of strengths and perspective. We are bringing different levels of exposure to the team or workplace."

"“I may not be a pastor but I am going to be a prophetess. I know that in the end, I am going to do the work of God. I would be a prophetess. Already I dream and it comes to pass...”"

"At a point, sex became a condition for getting movie roles so I just took a walk … But the passion was so strong … I took time to look for professionals; people who would be interested in my talent and not taking me to bed.”"

"“We can’t survive with money made from acting alone … I try to do other things aside acting … The money in the movie ‘thing’ is really not enough for us. I do buying and selling. When I travel, I come back with a whole lot of stuffs to sell and all that""

"So for me, I want people to come out and see this movie because it lends a voice to the physically challenged."

"Everybody’s heart has been broken once in a lifetime. I can’t really pick on anything that really broke my heart. But in as much as I have this innocent outlook, I am a very strong woman. Things don’t get at me the way people may think of me."

"Everybody is saying that I have an innocent look. Do I really have an innocent look? I guess this is my person and nothing more. For me, to be a good actress I need to be original."

"A lot has changed about me in terms of my way of reasoning and communication skill. Anybody who knows when I started will wonder whether this is the same Mary he or she used to know. The industry has helped in grooming me to become what I am today."

"My mission is to use technology as a tool to help people and businesses get from where they are now to where they want to be."