Blessing Okwelogu

A Nigerian tech entrepreneur bridging gender gaps in STEM through innovative education programs

Blessing Okwelogu is a visionary Nigerian entrepreneur whose work in STEM education has made a transformative difference for girls across Africa. Founder of BlessingTech, she created the Girls Code Initiative, a program that has trained over 10,000 girls in coding and tech skills since its launch in 2018. Her TEDx Lagos talk highlighted how she turned a childhood passion for fixing household gadgets into a mission to democratize tech education.

Okwelogu's BlessingTech Foundation operates mobile tech labs that travel to rural schools, providing hands-on training in robotics and app development. Her YouTube channel features free tutorial series that have reached 500,000+ viewers. In 2021, she partnered with UNICEF to launch Nigeria's first national coding competition for girls, which inspired similar initiatives in Kenya and Ghana.

Her Quora blog chronicles stories of girls who've become software developers through her programs. Okwelogu's Medium articles argue that closing Africa's gender tech gap could add $31 billion annually to Nigeria's economy. She recently launched SheCodesAfrica, an online platform connecting 20,000+ female coders across 15 countries.