Wednesdays are set aside for our Woman Crush and Lola Masha having ticked all the boxes is in the spotlight. Lola is a business leader grounded in product development, entrepreneurship, and operational transformation across several industries including technology and financial services.
She is the Executive Director of Babban Gona, an agriculture-focused social enterprise dedicated to transforming the lives of farmers in Northern Nigeria. Before joining Babban Gona, Lola was first the Nigerian Country Manager for OLX Group, and then its Global Director for Trust and Safety, working across 30+ OLX markets to ensure that buyers and sellers can transact seamlessly and securely on the platform, with over 11 million items are exchanged every single month.
Lola had also spent four years at Google leading various product partnership efforts across EMEA and Emerging Markets. Establishing herself as one of the earliest Googlers in sub-Saharan Africa when the technology company began its operations in the region, Lola shaped the regional strategy, executed several core initiatives, and led business development efforts with key SSA partners, including telcos, OEMs, digital content providers, and local entrepreneurs.
In addition to her contribution to the African business landscape, she has substantial international working experience in North America, Europe, and Asia. Among her other working experiences is the time spent in the Chicago office of McKinsey & Company, where she advised senior executives on extensive strategic management topics.
Lola is an erudite scholar who holds a Doctorate degree in Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Virginia. She is happily married and blessed with two lovely kids. Undoubtedly, Lola is one of the leaders changing the business landscape not just in Africa but the world at large. This is highly commendable. We are impressed by this and deemed it necessary to make her our Woman Crush Wednesday.