Funke Opeke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Funke Opeke
Born	1961 (age 63–64) Ile Oluji, Ondo State, Nigeria
Nationality	Nigerian
Education	Obafemi Awolowo University Columbia University
Known for	Electrical engineering
Notable work	Founder of Main Street Technologies
Awards	CNBC All Africa Businesswoman of the Year (2012) Africa's Most Powerful Women In Technology (2013)

Funke Opeke, born in 1961 in Ile Oluji, Nigeria, is a brilliant electrical engineer. She is the founder of Main Street Technologies and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of MainOne Cable Company. This company helps people connect to the internet in Lagos State, Nigeria, and beyond.

Funke's Early Life and School

Funke Opeke grew up in Ibadan, Nigeria. She went to Queen's School there. Her family was quite large, with nine members. Her father was the first Nigerian director of the Cocoa Research Institute. Her mother worked as a teacher.

Funke loved learning about electricity and technology. She earned two degrees in electrical engineering. First, she studied at Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria. Then, she went to Columbia University in the United States.

Her Career in Technology

After finishing her studies, Funke started her career in the ICT world. She worked in the United States for a big company called Verizon. She was an executive director in their wholesale division in New York City.

In 2005, Funke returned to Nigeria. She joined MTN Nigeria as their chief technical officer (CTO). She also worked as an adviser for Transcorp and as chief operating officer for NITEL for a short time.

Creating MainOne Cable

After moving back to Nigeria, Funke Opeke noticed a big problem. Internet connections in Nigeria were very slow and unreliable. She wanted to fix this. So, in 2008, she started her own company called MainOne.

MainOne became a top company for communication services in West Africa. They built West Africa's first privately owned, high-speed undersea cable. This amazing cable stretches 7,000 kilometers (about 4,350 miles) from Portugal to West Africa. It connects places like Accra (Ghana), Dakar (Senegal), Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire), and Lagos (Nigeria).

Overcoming Challenges

Starting MainOne was not easy. Funke used all her savings to begin the company. She also had to find more money to fund the huge project. She worked hard on detailed plans and studies to make MainOne a reality.

In 2015, MainOne opened Nigeria's largest Tier III Data Center. This center helps store and manage huge amounts of internet data. Her company also extended the undersea cable from Lagos into Cameroon. Funke's achievements are a great source of inspiration for many people. She is the inventor of Mainstreet Technologies, which developed the MainOne cable.

Awards and Recognition

Funke Opeke has received many important awards for her work:

• 2012: CNBC All Africa Businesswoman of the Year
• 2013: Africa's Most Powerful Women In Technology
• 2018: Listed on Forbes magazine's The World's Top 50 Women In Tech
• 2022: Honored as an Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON)