How Mentorship Powers Nigeria’s Next Generation of Tech Talent

Nigeria’s tech industry is expanding rapidly, but the reality is that while thousands of young people are enrolling in coding boot camps and tech training programmes, employers consistently highlight that many new hires possess theoretical knowledge but struggle to apply it in real-world settings.

From navigating compliance reviews to managing cross-functional deadlines, the knowledge required to thrive on the job is often necessarily covered in boot camps and online courses. At the same time, fewer than one in five tech jobs in Nigeria are held by women, revealing how this gap is even wider for those from underserved backgrounds.

These were the views of Joy Unokanjo, a Nigerian with over five years of experience working across fintech and product-led startups, who is leading the mentorship change on the ADPList mentorship platform.

Unokanjo, in a statement released recently, said: “Mentorship has become one of the most quietand powerful forces shaping Nigeria’s tech talent industry. Global platforms like ADPList, which recently surpassed 100 million minutes of mentor sessions, are helping to structure this knowledge exchange across borders, and Nigerians are equally leveraging the platform.”

Giving her personal experience about mentorship, Unokanjo, said she had worked on products that have gotten into accelerator programs, withstood cyber threats, passed regulatory checks, and grown without losing user trust. She said she became exposed to the full product cycle from ideation to compliance reviews to strategic partnerships and revenue-driving proposals, even though it wasn’t a smooth path.

Unokanjojoined ADPList because she wanted to offer the kind of support she wished she had earlier in her career.