Top 20 Entreprenuers in Nigeria 2025
It essential to take note of people active in the business and entrepreneur world using technology and innovation to shape our world each day from providing maunfacturing service to filling up demand and supply needs in the region of nigeria and across africa as a whole, the reason we have taken a minute to highlight some of these people is to enable the younger generation of entrepreneur and innovators across the African continent to see and know that it is possible for they too to be key players in major roles across various areas of our environment. plus i personally enjoy studying the life’s of success entrepreneurs!
A majority of people within the continent live with the notion and a limiting believe that fixing and been accountable for the resources or providing solutions to the various problems that arise in our environment is a thing that is reserved for the western world through their various intervention programs or government or should only happen if and when God is angry with you, asa sign for our wrong ways asna people but here we have entrepreneur’s disproving that nation everyday with their day to day involvement in the world in terms of providing solutions to problems thats been facing the Africa continent employing the power of technology and mind power.
Here is our list of the top 20 entrepreneurs within Nigeria actively bringing change and innovation within the boarders of the continent, but not limited to this numbers.
1
Chief Michael Adeniyi Agbolade Ishola Adenuga Jr CSGGCON[3] (born 29 April 1953) is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, and the fifth richest person in Africa according to Forbes.[4] His company Globacom is Nigeria’s second-largest telecom operator[5] and also has a presence in Ghana and Benin. He owns stakes in the Equitorial Trust Bank and the oil exploration firm Conoil (formerly Consolidated Oil Company).
Forbes estimated his net worth at $6.7 billion as of May 2024.[6]
2
Mahmood Ahmadu (born 9 September 1966), is a Nigerian entrepreneur. He is Founder and Executive chairman of OIS, also known as Online Integrated Solutions Ltd
3
Sir Demola Aladekomo KJW HOA (born 31 December 1957) is a computer engineer from Lagos, Nigeria. Aladekomo is the chairman of SmartCity Resorts Plc,[1] Card Centre Nigeria Limited,[2] Treasure-nest Limited, Crops Nigeria Limited, Chams Consortium Limited,[3] Insider Concepts Limited, and the founder of Chams Plc.[4] He is a Fellow of the Nigeria Computer Society (FNCS)[5] and the Computer Professional Registration Council (CPN); a member of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), and the immediate past President of the Lagos Business School Alumni Association (LBSAA)[6] and the Nigeria Computer Society, respectively. Aladekomo has also served as the vice chairman of the Board of Trustees of SmartCard Society of Nigeria. He is the founder of DATA Foundation[7] and Volunteer Corps,[8] non-governmental organizations engaged in corporate social investments in Nigeria. He is a Patron and “Handler of the Order of Anchor (HOA)” of the Lagos State Council, of the Boys’ Brigade in Nigeria.[9]
4
Chief Folorunso Alakija (born 15 July 1951) is a Nigerian businesswoman and philanthropist.[1][2][3] She is currently the group managing director of The Rose of Sharon Group and also serves as executive vice chairman of Famfa Oil Limited
5
Tonye Patrick Cole (born 11 January 1967) is a Nigerian billionaire businessman, he is the co-founder and former Group Executive Director of Sahara Group[1] an energy conglomerate with operations spanning the entire energy chain in Nigeria and neighbouring West African countries to East Africa and beyond. The Group operates in 38 countries around the world with over 4,000 employees and annual turnover of $11 billion. He was directly responsible for building the Group’s global expansion and upholding her corporate governance principles, maintaining her status with global institutions like the World Economic Forum,[2] where he was a key member of Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI), The United Nations),[3] where he was a pioneer member of the advisory board of the Private Sector Advisory Group for the UNDP Sustainable Development Group Fund (SDG-F), The African Philanthropy Forum[4] amongst others.
6
Aliko Dangote (born 10 April 1957) is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. Born in Kano to a wealthy Hausa family, he was educated in Kano, and was the great-grandson of Alhassan Dantata, the richest person in West Africa at the time of his death in 1955. Dangote is the founder of the Dangote Group.
Aliko has an estimated net worth of US$28.3 billion as of 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and US$24.0 billion according to Forbes, making him 86th wealthiest person in the world.
7
Oluwatosin Oluwole Ajibade (born 19 July 1991),[2] better known by his stage name Mr Eazi, is a Nigerian singer, songwriter, and record executive. He is the pioneer of Banku music, a fusion of sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian chord progressions and patterns.[3] Mr Eazi relocated to Kumasi in 2008 and enrolled at KNUST, where he began booking artists to perform at college parties. He showed interest in music after recording a guest verse on “My Life”, a song that gained traction and became a popular record at KNUST. Mr Eazi released his debut mixtape About to Blow in 2013. He gained an international audience following the release of the Efya-assisted single “Skin Tight”. His second mixtape, titled Life Is Eazi, Vol. 1 – Accra to Lagos, was released in 2017.
8
Anthony Onyemaechi Elumelu CFR (born 22 March 1963) is a Nigerian economist, banker and philanthropist. He chairs Heirs Holdings,[2] Transcorp, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and is the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation.[3]
In 2020, Elumelu was named on Time‘s list of the 100 most influential people in the world.[4]
9
Thomas Akoh Etuh is a Nigerian businessman and entrepreneur from Kogi state, Nigeria.[1] He is known for his investments in various sectors including agriculture, fertilizer production,[2] banking, telecommunications, and aviation. He is the founder of TAK Continental Limited and has held leadership positions in several major Nigerian companies.[3][4]
10
Chinedu ‘Chin’ Okeke (born 27 February 1986) is a Nigerian-British entertainment entrepreneur and music executive. He is the founder of The Eclipse Group and co-founder of The Gidi Culture Festival.[1][2] In 2020, he joined Universal Music Group as the General Manager for Nigeria and was later appointed as the Managing Director (west Africa) in 2021.[3]
11
Tolulope Adesua Etomi-Wellington (born 22 February 1988)[a] commonly known as Adesua Etomi (Listenⓘ) is a Nigerian actress and entrepreneur.[3] She debuted her film career with Knocking On Heaven’s Door (2014).[4] Since then she has starred in several films and many awards. Amongst them is the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.[5]
12
Ruth Erikan James (born 9 June 1995) popularly known as Veekee James is Nigerian fashion designer,[1][2] gospel singer, skit maker, and entrepreneur.[3][1] She is the founder of Veekee James, a fashion brand and also the convener of Zion Warship, a monthly gospel concert.[4] In 2021, she was the recipient of the AMVCA for best designer of the year.[5] In May 2023, she debuted her first single “Nothing Less”.
13
Cletus Madubugwu Ibeto[1][2][3][4] (born November 6, 1952) is a Nigerian businessman from the industrial city of Nnewi. He is head of The Ibeto Group, the largest business enterprise from Nnewi, a city unique for its entrepreneurial spirit. In the early 1980s, when the oil crash and a controversial import licensing[5] system was making a dent on the Nigerian manufacturing environment, Nnewi went through a growth period. The Ibeto Group under the Ibeto’s leadership was a pacesetter in the region and nation’s trading and later manufacturing development.
14
Jason Chukwuma Njoku (born 11 December 1980) is a British businessman. He is the co-founder and CEO of iROKOtv, a video-on-demand service for Nigerian movies.[1][2]
A self-proclaimed serial entrepreneur, iROKOtv was Njoku’s 11th attempt at starting a business. He came up with the idea of launching a new distribution platform for Nollywood whilst living at home with his mum, aged 30, after a number of failed enterprises.[3]
15
Genevieve Nnaji// ⓘ (/ˈnɑːdʒi/;[1] born 3 May 1979)[2] is a Nigerian actress, producer, and director.[3][4][5] She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actor to win the award.[6][7][8] In 2011, she was honoured as a Member of the Order of the Federal Republic by the Nigerian government for her contributions to Nollywood.[9] Her directorial debut movie, Lionheart, is the first Netflix film from Nigeria and the first Nigerian submission for the Oscars. The movie was disqualified for having most of its dialogue in English.[10][11] After having spent decades in the movie industry, she was profiled alongside some celebrities and business executives in 2020 in two new books by the publisher and editor in chief of Yes International! magazine, Azuh Arinze.[12]
16
Mary Nzimiro, birthname Mary Nwametu Onumonu, MBE (1898–1993) was a pioneering Nigerian businesswoman, politician and women’s activist. In 1948, she was appointed principal representative of the United Africa Company (UAC) for Eastern Nigeria, while maintaining textile and cosmetics retail outlets of her own in Port Harcourt, Aba and Owerri. By the early 1950s, she was among the richest individuals in West Africa, becoming a resident of the exclusive Bernard Carr Street in Port Harcourt. On the political front, she was a member of the influential National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, becoming a member of its executive committee in 1957 and vice-president of the NCNC Eastern Women’s Association in 1962. During the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970), she organized Igbo women in support of the Biafrans. As a result she lost most of her property in Port Harcourt and returned to her native Oguta where she died in 1993
17
Sunny Obazu-Ojeagbase (31 December 1950 – 26 February 2022) was the first to publish sport news in Nigeria and he started publishing with Sports Souvenir weekly newspaper in 1984.[1] He was a business coach, author, pastor and a publisher. He is the founder of Complete Communications Limited, a company that houses Complete Sports newspaper and he also started two other magazines, now defunct, Climax Magazine and International Soccer Review
18
Uche Pedro (born by Uche Eze; 26 July 1984) is a Nigerian entrepreneur. She is the founder and CEO of BellaNaija, a media tech brand known for entertainment and lifestyle content. Under her leadership, BellaNaija’s social footprint has grown through its collective brands – BellaNaija.com, BellaNaija Weddings and BellaNaija Style – to be the largest on the African continent with more than 200 million impressions each month.
19
Stella Chinyelu Okoli // ⓘ(MON, OON) (born c. 1944)[1] is a Nigerian pharmacist, philanthropist and entrepreneur.[2] She is the founder and current chief executive officer of Emzor pharmaceutical manufacturing company founded in 1977
20
Abdul Samad Isyaku Rabiu CFR CON GCON[1] (Listenⓘ; born 4 August 1960) is a Nigerian businessman and philanthropist. As of 2024, he is the second richest man in Nigeria.[2] His late father, Khalifah Isyaku Rabiu, was one of Nigeria’s foremost industrialists in the 1970s and 1980s. Abdul Samad is the founder and chairman of BUA Group, a Nigerian conglomerate concentrating on manufacturing, infrastructure and agriculture and producing a revenue in excess of $2.5 billion. He is also the chairman of the Nigerian Bank of Industry (BOI).[3][4][5]
On 7 July 2020, Forbes estimated Rabiu’s wealth at $3.2 billion, putting him 716th in the global billionaire’s club.[6][7] In January 2022, he was reported to be the second richest man in Nigeria.[8] In April 2022 he was reported to be the fifth-richest man in Africa, with a net worth of $6.7 billion.[9] In January 2023, Rabiu was reported to have become the 4th richest man in Africa.
thats the conclusion of our list today like, share and drop your comments in the comments sections and lets us know your thoughts or who you think deserves to be in the top 20 list or who you admire most for their contribution and impact within Nigeria.