Inside MTN’s pipeline for female leaders

Women-owned businesses are a critical backbone of the Nigerian economy, currently contributing a massive 37 percent to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product. Yet, the journey from untapped potential to economic power requires significant, structured backing.

Recognising this critical gap, the MTN Foundation has stepped into the breach, aggressively funding and equipping the bold ambitions of Nigerian women and girls from the classroom to the boardroom.

The Foundation’s targeted interventions – particularly its highly sought-after Y’ellopreneur, Scholarships and intensive ICT skills acquisition programs – are currently recording massive female participation.

The Y’ellopreneur initiative, that has just begun its call for application for its third phase, has trained over 5,700 female entrepreneurs (122 of them received equipment loan totaling over NGN301 million). By prioritising digital literacy and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education for young women, MTN is directly addressing the gender gap in Nigeria’s booming tech ecosystem.

These initiatives ensure that young women are not left behind in the fourth industrial revolution.

Perhaps the most inspiring testament to this grassroots-to-greatness pipeline is the MTN Spelling Bee.

Data from the initiative reveals a striking trend: three out of the five historic winners of the academic competition have been young girls. This speaks volumes about the academic rigour and determination of young Nigerian women when given a platform to shine.

In a move that merges youth empowerment with top-tier corporate exposure, the latest female champion of the Spelling Bee, 14-year-old Oreoluwa Alayande, was MTN Nigeria’s fifth CEO for a Day on March 11, 2026.

Handing the reins of Africa’s largest telecommunications company to a teenage girl, even for a day, is a strong statement about the company’s belief in the future of female leadership. A final reference point is the company’s Global Graduate Development Program, that seeks to accelerate top graduates from across MTN’s footprint in Nigeria. This year, all five graduates are women!

From equipping female-led SMEs with digital toolkits to facilitating scholarships, investing in women (there are even more like Women @ Y’ello (W@Y and Y’ello Mums initiative), and handing over the CEO’s seat to a brilliant teenage girl, MTN’s investments are sending a powerful message. The company understands that investing in women is a precursor to the entire ecosystem she will eventually sustain.