Meet Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor, The Face of Google In Nigeria

Juliet Ehimuan-Chiazor is a Nigerian technology expert and entrepreneur who is currently serving as Google’s country manager for Nigeria. She is a leading Nigerian woman in tech.

Educational Background

Ehimuan is a Nigerian native who earned a first-class honours B.Eng. in computer engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife. 

She had her MBA programme at the London Business School after bagging a postgraduate degree in computer science from the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom.

She was a Selwyn College Scholar and a Malaysian Commonwealth Scholar at Cambridge University. She also received the London Business School Global Women’s Scholarship.

Ehimuan is a leading expert on utilising innovation and leadership to spur change. She is a worldwide company executive, thought leader, and Beyond Limits Africa founder. Beyond Limits Africa is a capacity-building project that offers coaching, training for developing leaders, and creative workshops that guide individuals and organizations through transformation. In addition, Ehimuan is a highly sought-after keynote speaker, coach, and Forbes Coaches Council member. Juliet is an executive leadership coach.

Juliet is a Fellow of the Cambridge Commonwealth Society. She serves as a Director on the Boards of Nestle Nigeria PLC, the FATE Foundation, and the Nigeria Economic Summit Group (NESG).

Starting Out

She began her career at the Shell Petroleum Development Company in 1995, working as a performance monitoring and quality Assurance supervisor until 1997. She then took a job at Chams Plc as General Manager of Strategic Business Units, responsible for developing strategies for various business units. 

She also spent six years working for Microsoft UK, first as a program manager overseeing strategic projects for MSN Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and later as a business process manager overseeing 11 subsidiaries globally.

She was presented with the Microsoft “Ship-IT” award in recognition of her successful launch of the new MSN online subscription business in the UK, Spain, Italy, and Germany.

In 1995, she was one of the Academic Computer Network for Developing Countries founding members at OAU Ife. The International Centre sponsored the network for theoretical physics (ICTP) in Trieste, Italy. In 2005, she left her job at Microsoft to start her own company, Strategic Insight Consulting Ltd., UK. The company offers programmes connecting African business leaders and professionals with their counterparts worldwide.

Moving Back To Nigeria

She moved back to Nigeria after completing her education and working abroad for 12 years because she believed she could contribute more to advancing productivity and growth through technology. 

Joining Google

She later joined Google as the country director and is responsible for representing the company in all of its business development initiatives and partnership opportunities in this region. 

Despite its seeming difficulty, she completes it efficiently while maintaining her steadfast commitment to mentoring, empowering, and advancing women in technology.

Under her leadership, Google Nigeria has introduced several innovative products and services to enhance the online ecosystem in Nigeria. This has been accomplished through a three-pronged strategy: driving initiatives around Internet access to increase the availability and affordability of the Internet for Nigerian users, facilitating the creation of local content, and developing capacity.

“One of our key focus areas has been local content creation because the Internet would be more useful for people if they could find locally relevant information. To this end, we have deployed a number of products and programs to support local content creation. For example, in 2011, we launched a nationwide Get Nigerian Businesses Online program. As part of this program, we provided free and easy tools that any business owner could use to create a website in a couple of hours and also get listed on Google Maps,” Juliet said. 

She adds, “We have evolved that program over time and currently run a Digital Business Manager (DBM) programme. This programme leverages Google’s third-party model to grow the digital ecosystem by supporting businesses in their online journey.

Google has been committed to promoting local content from Nigeria by assisting with the upload Nigerian films, music, arts, fashion shows, educational material, news, sports, etc., on YouTube. 

Youtube.ng was created in 2011 when she was appointed and provided Nigerian multimedia and video content makers with an excellent platform to promote their country’s rich cultural, social, educational, journalistic, entertainment, and other pertinent information. 

Additionally, Google has been partnering with local businesses and entrepreneurs, monetizing their material on YouTube and tapping into the export market. The Internet’s ability to connect people worldwide provides an excellent opportunity for businesses to expand their reach and grow their customer base. “We are seeing a new generation of entrepreneurs creating entire business models based on the web, from content creation on YouTube to online publishing and e-commerce”, She added.

Potentials For Women In The Technology Sector

According to Juliet, there is potential for increased female involvement in Nigeria’s technological scene. She believes that more resources, groups that exchange knowledge, and support for women would lead to more success. 

For example, Google Nigeria celebrated International Women’s Day 2016 by hosting a developer summit for women and teaching female entrepreneurs digital marketing skills. 

To this she said: “The training in digital marketing gave female business owners from various industries a broader knowledge base to enhance their use of digital technology in their businesses. To assist female developers in creating outstanding products, the developer summit offered resources, coaching, a coding lab, and design sprints.”

With Nigeria having the most extensive internet population in Africa and mobile telecommunications being the primary source of technology, Juliet has a lot to do in her career. Google’s Android product powers much of the mobile telecommunications in Africa, so Juliet has her work cut out for her. However, she enjoys the challenges that her career provides.

Awards and Recognitions

Ehimuan was named among the 20 youngest power women in Africa by Forbes, and the London Business School listed her as one of 30 people changing the world. In addition, she was featured in the BBC Africa Power Women series and on CNN Innovate Africa.