Deborah Giwa-Jones

A Nigerian entrepreneur empowering African women through education and entrepreneurship

Deborah Giwa-Jones

Deborah Giwa-Jones is a visionary entrepreneur and founder of She Leads Africa, a platform empowering over 10,000 African women entrepreneurs since 2015. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, she identified systemic barriers facing female innovators and created a network linking African women to global opportunities through mentorship, funding, and visibility. Her work has directly contributed to $250M+ in business growth for member startups.

Giwa-Jones' initiatives include the annual She Leads Africa Summit attended by leaders like Malala Yousafzai and Melinda Gates. She pioneered Africa's first women-led venture capital fund targeting tech and green energy startups. Her 2018 TED Talk "How African women are rewriting the rules of business" has over 1.2M views. In 2020, she launched the #BuyHer campaign mobilizing $40M in consumer support for women-owned businesses during the pandemic.

Her written works include case studies featured in Harvard Business Review and a 2022 collaboration with McKinsey & Company on African digital economies. Giwa-Jones was named one of Africa's 100 Most Influential Women by Forbes in 2019 and 2021.