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The call for global conversations around equity and representation faces renewed scrutiny, Africa’s influence in shaping international discourse is becoming more critical than ever.
From the creative and tech industries to policy and governance, African perspectives offer essential counterpoints to shifting global narratives.
Taking the driver’s seat of this shift are creatives, thought, and business leaders promoting meaningful contributions that challenge outdated perceptions and advocate for a more inclusive global dialogue.
Among them is Nkiru Balonwu, an entrepreneur, strategist, and the leader behind the Africa Soft Power Group. Through her work, she has championed creativity, effective communication, and cultural influence in redefining Africa’s global positioning.
As the founder of African Women on Board (AWB), Nkiru has also created a platform for advancing female leadership across industries and communities, ensuring that women are not just part of the conversation but leading it.
“We cannot afford to have our stories told for us,” she says. “Africa is too diverse, too complex, and too full of promise to be reduced to a single narrative.”
But Nkiru’s journey didn’t begin in boardrooms or at the helm of global conversations, it started much earlier, at the dinner table in her family home. Growing up, her house was often a gathering place for lawyers and judges, including Court of Appeal and Supreme Court justices, who would stop by to share a meal and engage in lively discussions.
It was during these evenings, amid the clinking of cutlery and the hum of conversation, that a young Nkiru began to absorb the rhythms of debate and the art of critical thinking. Surrounded by great legal minds dissecting complex issues, she developed an insatiable curiosity about the world and a passion for the law. With her father, the first Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in Eastern Nigeria, as both a role model and mentor, her natural inclination for debate was nurtured and sharpened.
Those formative years laid the groundwork for the woman she would become. So, it was not a surprise when she pursued a law degree at the University of Manchester, followed by a master’s at University College London (UCL). Her thirst for knowledge and impact led her to earn a doctorate from the University of California, Berkeley.
Her early days with law
When Nkiru Balonwu began pursuing a law degree at the University of Manchester, she carried with her the weight of lofty dreams and familial expectations. Raised in a family of lawyers, she envisioned a future that mirrored their paths – climbing the ranks of the legal profession. But life, as it often does, had other plans.
Upon returning to Nigeria, she was offered an unexpected opportunity: to become the first-ever lecturer in Gender & Law at the University of Lagos. With a background in Internet and Intellectual Property Law, she hesitated at first. “I said no,” she recalls with a laugh. “But it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made because it fundamentally shaped the way I think today.”
- That role at the University of Lagos proved to be a turning point. It was there that she began to deeply engage with issues of gender, equity, and the law, laying the groundwork for her future work in advancing women’s leadership.
- The experience not only broadened her perspective but also sharpened her approach to ensuring women’s voices were not just included but prioritized in spaces where decisions were made.
“This was the point I began thinking of women’s leadership as active participation across all spheres of society and life – and how policy was such a huge part of that,” she says.
- Nkiru would later deepen her engagement with policy and governance as a Senior Fellow at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at Harvard Kennedy School (2022-2023) where she examined the role of the private sector in shaping gender policy in Africa.
Her career took an unexpected turn when she was appointed CEO of Spinlet, at the time the largest indigenous music streaming platform in Africa. “My ambition was to follow in my family’s footsteps and become an SAN or a Supreme Court judge, until I was asked to become CEO of Spinlet, the biggest indigenous streaming platform on the continent at the time,” she explains.
It was an opportunity she seized with only a hint of hesitation. “We were early pioneers in music streaming, playing a role in pushing Afrobeats to global prominence. But being first in any industry comes with its challenges: investor fatigue, market education, and ecosystem gaps.”
- For someone drawn to solving big problems, nothing fully prepared her for the rigors of building in Africa’s tech ecosystem. After leaving Spinlet, she started her own consulting firm, a decision that would bring its own set of hurdles.
For the first couple of years, she struggled to keep the business afloat, facing challenges she had never encountered before. “But I had the privilege of working with some of the biggest global companies looking to enter the Nigerian market, helping them map critical stakeholders and mitigate risks.”
Those experiences sharpened her ability to see multiple dimensions of an issue, to ideate, execute, and drive solutions from start to finish, she reflected in a recent LinkedIn post.
Building industry expertise across multiple fields
In 2016, Nkiru Balonwu founded her consulting firm, RDF, which began developing comprehensive stakeholder engagement solutions for local and international clients. Over the years, RDF has advised some of the world’s most recognizable companies, as well as government agencies and institutions, on high-impact initiatives designed to strengthen reputation and drive strategic growth.
- In 2017, she founded African Women on Board (AWB), a non-profit organization dedicated to amplifying African women’s voices and reshaping how they are perceived globally. AWB launched internationally at the Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York on September 26, 2019, during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), a fitting stage for a mission centered integrating African perspectives into global discussions.
- She is also the Founder of The Africa Soft Power Group, an umbrella company which includes the Africa Soft Power Project (ASP) alongside RDF and AWB. Recognizing the need to integrate Africa’s often-overlooked perspectives into global discourse, she established these initiatives to bridge the gap between Africa and the world; an urgent necessity as intersectional global challenges continue to shape economic and social futures.
But behind these achievements, what truly set her apart was her hunger to learn, a quality she traces back to her childhood, sitting in rooms with her father, absorbing conversations that were often beyond her years. Yet, for all the wisdom she gained from those moments, Balonwu is quick to point out that some of her most profound lessons came from elsewhere: the pages of books.
“Most of my mentors have come from books. So much of how I think, how I make decisions, is shaped by the experiences and ideas I’ve encountered in what I’ve read. When I was called to be CEO, I read everything I could find on leadership, on being a CEO, on navigating challenges,” she says. “Now, with how much time I spend working, I supplement reading with podcasts—especially concise summaries like The Economist’s The World in Brief and In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen.”
There’s a humility in the way she speaks about her journey, a recognition that growth often comes from seeking rather than knowing.
High-stakes consulting at the Central Bank of Nigeria
For over a decade, Nkiru Balonwu has worked at the intersection of business, policy, and communication – helping global organizations, governments, and private sector players refine their messaging and strategy to drive impact. Whether through African Women on Board, the Africa Soft Power Project, or her consulting firm, she has consistently pushed African perspectives into global conversations.
So, when her firm was engaged as a consultant to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), it was yet another opportunity to apply her expertise; this time in one of the most high-stakes environments imaginable. Working closely with the CBN Governor, a hard taskmaster and relentless workaholic, Nkiru describes the role as “without a doubt, one of the hardest of my career – every bit as hectic as the first two years of building my own company.”
- Operating in an environment where every decision influences the economy, government, and millions of Nigerians, Nkiru has had to match the intensity of the job with relentless dedication. According to her, she often works 18 hours a day, fully immersed in the complexities of policy-making, financial regulation, and economic strategy.
- Her consultancy work at CBN spans stakeholder engagement, strategic communications, legal advisory, and high-impact projects that require critical thinking. In many ways, her diverse career path – from law to business to consulting – has prepared her for this role.
“It has reinforced my belief that effective engagement and communication are not just about delivering messages, they are about shaping perception, building trust, and ultimately driving meaningful outcomes.”
- Nkiru has long emphasized her ability to navigate complex challenges, a skill rooted in one defining trait: comfort with not knowing everything.
“I may not always know the technicalities or jargon of something, but I usually know what needs to be done, who the key stakeholders are, and how to get from A to Z—i.e., how to execute.”
What fuels this grit? A fearless relationship with failure. Nkiru doesn’t just tolerate failure; she welcomes it. “I have never been afraid to fail!”
She instills the same mindset in her team, emphasizing that the true value lies not just in finding the right answer, but in the reasoning behind it. “I tell my team that even if we don’t get it right, what matters is that we had a well-thought-out rationale for choosing one path over another. And more often than not, when you’ve carefully thought things through, you end up winning.”
- For many women, her journey is a masterclass in lifelong learning and the art of saying yes – even when you are not 100% sure you are ready.
“Early in my career, I said yes to most roles and figured it out as I went,” she recalls. “Now, I say yes because I’ve built the experience and know I can deliver. But just as importantly, I’ve learned when to say no – when something doesn’t align with my vision, my values, or where I can make the most impact. But that confidence didn’t come overnight; it came from those moments of jumping in headfirst and trusting myself to swim.”
From law to media to policy, Nkiru Balonwu has progressively carved a path that blends leadership with purpose. She has remained committed to solving big problems and has consistently sought to elevate African and women’s voices in spaces where they have historically been underrepresented.
