Meet Nigeria’s Highest-Paid Female CEOs Leading Billion-Naira Companies

For a long time, it felt like Nigeria's corporate boardrooms were mostly a boys' club. But thankfully, that's finally starting to change! 

More and more women are stepping into the top roles, leading huge companies in banking, hospitality, energy, and finance – the kind that are worth hundreds of billions of naira and employ thousands of people.

Here are the 5 highest-paid female CEOs currently leading billion-naira companies in Nigeria.

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Adaora Umeoji made history in 2024 by becoming Zenith Bank's first female Group Managing Director and CEO. 

Before taking the top job, she'd spent over twenty years climbing the ranks, including a position as Deputy Managing Director. 

Apparently, her pay package is huge. Some executive pay analyses, like those cited by Legit NG, put it at around ₦1.24 billion, making her one of Nigeria's top-earning CEOs. 

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With over 30 years of banking experience, Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe leads Fidelity Bank, one of Nigeria’s fast-growing commercial banks.

She stepped into the CEO role in 2021 after being the Executive Director for the Lagos and Southwest region, which is a huge part of the bank's business. Since then, she's been pushing digital banking, supporting SMEs, and trying to bring in more everyday retail customers.

Fidelity Bank now serves more than seven million customers and is definitely holding its own in Nigeria's super-competitive banking world.

When it comes to her pay, people estimate she makes around ₦110 million a year, excluding performance incentives.

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Not many female executives in Nigeria manage businesses as diverse as Owen Omogiafo.

She's the President and CEO of Transnational Corporation of Nigeria, or Transcorp—a huge company that has its hands in power generation, hotels, and energy infrastructure. Some of the companies under the Transcorp umbrella include Transcorp Power, TransAfam Power, and Transcorp Hotels.

Owen has over 20 years of leadership experience, covering everything from banking and corporate strategy to managing human resources. Before she became CEO in 2020, she was the company's Chief Operating Officer.

Given how massive the group's operations are, her annual pay is estimated to be around ₦90 million.

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Running a hospitality business is tough, especially when the economy isn't doing great. But Dupe Olusola has successfully steered Transcorp Hotels through all the big changes in Nigeria's tourism and hotel scene.

The company owns Transcorp Hilton Abuja, which is one of the most famous luxury hotels in West Africa. Since she took over as CEO in 2020, Olusola has led the company’s expansion into digital hospitality services and new hotel developments.

Before joining Transcorp Hotels, she held leadership positions in banking and investment management. She's estimated to earn around ₦62.7 million a year.

Oluwatomi Somefun has been the CEO of Unity Bank since 2015, making her one of the longest-serving female bank CEOs in Nigeria.

She began her career in financial consulting at KPMG before moving into banking. At Unity Bank, she has focused on growing loans for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and boosting the bank’s retail strategy.

Leading a mid-tier bank in Nigeria involves dealing with intense competition from both larger banks and fast-growing fintech companies. Despite those pressures, Somefun has maintained a steady leadership presence.

Her annual compensation has been estimated at around ₦41.7 million.

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Women still represent a small percentage of CEOs in Nigeria’s corporate sector. But the numbers are slowly improving.

From banking and hospitality to energy and international finance, the women on this list are running institutions worth billions of naira and influencing major sectors of the Nigerian economy.