10 Top Nigerian Senior Software Developers Making a Global Impact in 2025

• Nigeria is emerging as a global hub for software talent, with developers across cities like Lagos and Abuja leading innovations in fintech, open-source, cloud systems, and community building
• Top Nigerian developers are gaining international recognition, with leaders like Olugbenga Agboola (Flutterwave) and Shola Akinlade (Paystack) spearheading billion-dollar companies and transformative projects
• The featured developers combine technical excellence with global impact, contributing to education, healthcare, crypto, and more—while inspiring the next generation of African engineers

Nigeria is fast becoming a global hotspot for software talent. Across Lagos, Abuja, and beyond, a new generation of engineers is not only building world-class products but also shaping the global tech narrative.

These developers are contributing to open-source projects, driving fintech innovation, building scalable cloud systems, and nurturing vibrant developer communities that extend well beyond Africa.

Here’s a list of 10 outstanding Nigerian software developers who are leading transformative companies and projects in 2025:

1. Olugbenga Agboola (GB) - Senior Software Developer | Co-Founder & CEO, Flutterwave.

Olugbenga “GB” Agboola is a software engineer and entrepreneur who co-founded Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments infrastructure company. With technical experience from Google and PayPal, GB has scaled Flutterwave into a multi-billion dollar fintech unicorn operating in over 30 countries. He also serves as Vice Chair of the U.S.–Africa Business Center and sits on global councils such as the WSJ CEO Council and Fast Company Impact Council. GB is a symbol of technical excellence fused with strategic leadership.

2. Shola Akinlade - Senior Software Developer | Co-Founder & CEO, Paystack.

Shola is the technical co-founder of Paystack, one of Nigeria’s most successful fintech startups. With a deep software engineering background, he built and scaled the platform from MVP to acquisition by Stripe in a ~$200 million deal.

His work has inspired a generation of fintech startups and solidified Paystack's position as a foundational player in Africa’s tech ecosystem.

3. Virginus Alajekwu - Senior Software Developer | Founder, CTO & CEO, Afobata.

Virginus Alajekwu is a full-stack engineer and crypto-infrastructure specialist with over 10 years of experience. He founded Afobata Co. LTD, a Nigerian tech company building secure crypto-to-Naira payment systems, multi-tenant SaaS platforms, and developer tooling with global standards. He’s a contributor to the open-source project iron-session and one of the few African developers with a verified Google Knowledge Panel.

Virginus is passionate about privacy-first systems, scalable architecture, and empowering African developers to build fearlessly for the world. Afobata is a multi-purpose umbrella platform designed to solve diverse problems through a multi-tenant and multi-service architecture.

4. Mark Essien - Senior Software Developer | Founder & CEO, Hotels.ng.

Mark Essien is one of Nigeria’s first tech entrepreneurs. Self-taught and armed with a background in engineering from Germany, he launched Hotels.ng, now the country's leading hotel booking platform.

Mark also founded the HNG Internship, a developer training program that has mentored thousands of African developers. His story is proof that strong code and local knowledge can build sustainable tech businesses.

5. Julian Duru - Principal Software Engineer (Ex-Moniepoint).

Julian Duru spent nearly a decade at Moniepoint, where he led backend architecture, virtual accounts, and transaction automation.

From writing algorithms on paper as a teen to leading core fintech infrastructure, Julian exemplifies technical depth and system-level thinking. His contributions reflect the maturity and power of Nigerian engineering leadership in production-scale systems.

6. Abiodun Manasseh - Senior Software Developer (Freelance, Upwork).

Abiodun is a respected full-stack engineer active in West Africa’s freelance tech ecosystem. Specializing in NestJS, Laravel, REST APIs, and TypeScript, he consistently delivers secure and scalable applications across fintech and e-commerce.

With an impressive track record on Upwork and long-term global clients, Abiodun proves that independent developers from Africa can build world-class platforms from anywhere.

7. Ire Aderinokun - Front-End Developer | Co-Founder, Helicarrier (BuyCoins).

Ire is Nigeria’s first female Google Developer Expert in Web Technologies and a renowned front-end developer. She co-founded BuyCoins (now Helicarrier), a crypto platform built for African users.

Ire is an advocate for web accessibility, open standards, and inclusive design. Her blog and talks have educated thousands, and her code contributions power production systems across the web.

8. Chuka Ofili - Senior Software Engineer | Co-Founder & CTO, Helium Health.

Chuka is the technical co-founder of Helium Health, a healthtech platform used in hospitals across West Africa.

A seasoned full-stack developer, he architected Helium’s EMR and health management systems. His ability to align software with healthcare needs has saved lives and improved access to medical records across the continent.

9. Prosper Otemuyiwa - Software Engineer & Dev Advocate | Co-Founder, Eden Life.

Prosper is a full-stack engineer, open-source contributor, and dev advocate with a global following. He co-founded Eden Life, a lifestyle automation startup.

With deep roots in JavaScript, DevRel, and backend systems, Prosper bridges technical excellence with community building, helping new developers break into tech through education and mentorship.

10. Christian Nwamba (Codebeast)- Senior Software Engineer | DevRel Lead, AWS Amplify | Founder, Concatenate Africa.

Christian Nwamba, popularly known as Codebeast, is one of Nigeria’s most globally recognized software engineers and developer advocates. With deep expertise in JavaScript, React, and frontend architecture, he has worked with top global tech companies like Microsoft, Cloudinary, and currently AWS, where he leads developer relations for Amplify.

Christian is also the founder of Concatenate Africa, the first pan-African developer conference, dedicated to providing free, world-class tech education and exposure to African developers.

Source: Legit.ng