Oluchi Enebeli did not set out to become a blockchain engineer. In fact, there was a point when she was convinced that failing to graduate with a first-class degree had ruined the future she had carefully planned.
Instead, that disappointment pushed her towards technology, where she would eventually become one of Nigeria’s first female blockchain engineers and build a community helping more African women enter Web3.
When Mathematics Led Her to Technology
Enebeli studied Mathematics at the University of Benin, drawing heavily from a childhood shaped by her father, a mathematician and military officer who taught his children mathematics himself. She was determined to graduate with a first class, but health challenges affected her results in her third year, and she eventually finished with a second-class upper.
Read: Edidiong Ekong is Building AI That Understands Sign Language
The disappointment was difficult to process. Rather than immediately returning home, Enebeli remained on campus and began looking more seriously at technology.
She had initially viewed technology through the lens of desktop publishing and graphic design, having seen people attend computer schools to learn those skills. A networking course later opened her eyes to a much wider field, although financial constraints prevented her from sitting for the Cisco certification exam at the time.
Her real entry into tech came through an unexpected route. A WordPress training programme organised by her church introduced her to web development, which eventually helped her secure an internship at Crenet Tech Labs in Lagos in 2016.
The Hackathon That Changed Her Career
At Crenet, Enebeli encountered blockchain for the first time through a hackathon. She initially knew very little about the technology, but the technical questions behind it caught her attention.
She became particularly interested in decentralisation, cryptography and the possibility of using blockchain to solve practical problems. Her mathematics background also gave her a useful foundation for understanding some of the concepts involved.
Instead of stopping at the hackathon, Enebeli began attending more blockchain events and competitions, learning wherever she could and building relationships within the emerging industry.
One of those connections eventually helped her secure a blockchain engineering role at Sterling Bank. She went on to work with major companies in the global Web3 ecosystem, including Binance, Crypto.com, Bundle and Nestcoin.
Her career also changed her relationship with money. Enebeli has spoken about how working in blockchain made her more financially literate and pushed her to understand subjects such as money, finance and governance more deeply.
Read: Naom Monari and Kenya’s First Mobile Dialysis Clinic
Building a Path for Other Women
As Enebeli grew in the industry, she noticed another problem. Women were severely underrepresented in technical blockchain roles. She observed that women could account for as little as 2–5% of some blockchain engineering teams.
That gap inspired her to found Web3Ladies in 2021, with a focus on helping African women develop the technical skills required to participate meaningfully in Web3.
The initiative has used mentorship, training and practical projects to help women move from curiosity to actual technical careers. In 2022, Web3Ladies trained more than 2,000 women through its programmes, while earlier cohorts produced projects built by participating women.
The community has also expanded beyond Nigeria, with members across countries including South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Uganda. Its work increasingly includes university outreach and efforts to connect trained women with employment opportunities.
For Enebeli, the journey has therefore become bigger than becoming a blockchain engineer. Her experience showed her that access to the right knowledge, opportunity and community can change the direction of a career.
From a mathematics graduate disappointed by her final result to a pioneer in Nigeria’s blockchain engineering space, Enebeli has built a career around learning, curiosity and creating opportunities for others.
Read more inspiring stories of African innovators and trailblazers on RefinedNG.