Funke Opeke

Funke Opeke
Born	1961 (age 63–64) Ile Oluji, Ondo State, Nigeria[1]
Nationality	Nigerian
Education	Obafemi Awolowo University Columbia University
Known for	Electrical engineering
Notable work	Founder of Main Street Technologies
Awards	CNBC All Africa Businesswoman of the Year (2012) Africa's Most Powerful Women In Technology (2013)

Funke Opeke (born 1961 in Ile Oluji)[2] is a Nigerian electrical engineer, founder of Main Street Technologies and Chief Executive Officer of Main One Cable Company, a communications services company based in Lagos State, south-western Nigeria.[3]

Education and early life

Funke Opeke attended Queen's School in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria.[1]

She grew up in Ibadan, the capital city of Oyo State, although, she is a native of Ile-Oluji, Ondo state. Born into a family of 9, her father was the first Nigerian director of the Cocoa Research Institute of Nigeria while her mother was a teacher.[1]

Funke Opeke obtained a bachelor's and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University and Columbia University, respectively.[4] After she graduated from Columbia University, she followed with a career in ICT in the United States as an executive director with the wholesale division of Verizon in New York City. In 2005, she joined MTN Nigeria as chief technical officer (CTO). She served as adviser at Transcorp and chief operating officer of NITEL for a brief period.[5][6][7][8]

MainOne Cable

After moving back to Nigeria, Funke Opeke started MainOne[1] in 2008, when she noticed the poor internet connectivity in Nigeria. MainOne is West Africa's leading communication services and network solutions provider.[9] The company built[10] West Africa's first privately owned, open access 7,000-kilometer undersea high capacity cable submarine stretching from Portugal to West Africa with landings along the route in Accra (Ghana), Dakar (Senegal) in 2019, Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) in 2019 and Lagos (Nigeria).[11][12] Her desire to add value to her home country birthed Africa's biggest cable company. After pledging all her savings, facing more challenges of raising capital for the start-up cable business, carrying out in-depth foundational works, feasibility studies, business plans, and technical plans, Main One Cable Company become more tangible. In 2015, her company started operations of what is reputed to be Nigeria's largest Tier III Data Center, also extending a submarine cable from Lagos into Cameroon.[13] Her achievements are a source of inspiration to many.[14] Funke is the inventor of Mainstreet Technologies, the developer of MainOne cable, a leading provider in West Africa.[15]

Awards

• 2012, CNBC All Africa Businesswoman of the Year[16]
• 2013, Africa's Most Powerful Women In Technology[17]
• 2018, Forbes list The World's Top 50 Women In Tech[18][19]
• 2022, Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON)[20]

References

1. Oludimu, Titilola (5 May 2017). "5 things you didn't know about Funke Opeke, CEO of MainOne". Tech Point Africa. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
2. "Interviews: Funke Opeke". Interviewed by John D. Macomber. Harvard Business School. 11 July 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
3. "Hossam Elgamal Speaks During IGF 2015". AfICTA. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
4. "Executive Profile". Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
5. Femke, Van Zeiji (24 September 2015). "Funke Opeke: Nigeria's cyber revolutionary". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
6. "Shittu, Ndukwe, Ovia, others to enter DS-IHUB hall of fame". Vanguard. 13 July 2016. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
7. Emma, Okonji (11 August 2016). "Govt Urged to Leverage Power of Broadband Technology". This Day. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
8. Olubunmi, Adeniyi (8 October 2012). "Mainone becomes first west African carrier to connect London internet exchange point". Technology Times. Retrieved 13 October 2016.
9. Johnson, Yemi (14 August 2015). "MainOne's premier Tier III Data Center Receives PCI-DSS Global Payment License". Tech Point. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
10. Mátùlúkò, Múyìwá (16 September 2015). "Inside MainOne's top secret Data Centre in Lagos". Tech Point. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
11. Johnson, Yemi (4 September 2015). "MainOne partners Microsoft to provide Cloud Computing subscription service in Nigeria". Retrieved 2 September 2024.
12. Olarewaju, Jesuleke (6 June 2017). ""Raising money is the most difficult thing I ever did as an entrepreneur" -- Funke Opeke, MainOne CEO". Tech Point. Retrieved 14 September 2017.
13. "Funke Opeke". Alliance for Affordable Internet. a4ai. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
14. Opeke, Funke (5 May 2020). "Africa's Leading Women – Funke Opeke". motivating Africa. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
15. Adeboyejo, Adejoke (22 May 2018). "These Are Nigeria's Inspirational Women of Tech". Culture Trip. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
16. "Funke Opeke, CEO of Main One Cable wins 2012 CNBC All Africa Businesswoman of the Year". The Habari Network. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
17. "Africa's Most Powerful Women In Technology - 2013". African Leadership Magazine. 14 August 2023.
18. "The World's Top 50 Women In Tech". Forbes. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
19. "Funke Opeke". Forbes. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
20. Oluwole, Victor (13 October 2022). "Top Nigerian business leaders conferred with national awards by President Muhammadu Buhari". Business Insider Africa. Retrieved 2 September 2024.