Tobi Ade

A Nigerian tech entrepreneur and advocate for gender equality, founder of TechSpace Africa which empowers women in technology across West Africa.

Tobi Ade is a visionary Nigerian entrepreneur and social innovator best known for founding TechSpace Africa, an organization dedicated to bridging the gender gap in the tech industry. Born in Lagos in 1987, Ade's early exposure to the digital divide in her community inspired her mission to democratize access to technology education.

Launched in 2015, TechSpace Africa has trained over 10,000 women and girls in coding, app development, and digital literacy through its network of innovation hubs in Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal. The organization's signature program, 'GirlsCode', provides free training in partnership with tech giants like Google and Microsoft.

Ade's work has been recognized internationally, including a 2018 fellowship at the MIT Media Lab and a 2020 UNESCO award for women's empowerment. Her TEDx talk 'How to Close the Gender Gap in Tech' has over 500,000 views.

Her advocacy extends beyond training - Ade pioneered the 'TechMama' initiative to support women-led tech startups, securing $2.3M in seed funding for 87 ventures since 2019. A vocal advocate for policy change, she co-authored Nigeria's National Digital Strategy's gender inclusion framework.