Meet Nigeria’s First Female Google Developer Expert Who Built Her First Website At Age 13

Ire Aderinokun is a front-end web developer and user interface designer based in Nigeria. He is also the co-founder, Chief Operating Officer (COO), and Vice President of Engineering at Helicarrier, a company focused on developing cryptocurrency infrastructure in Africa. Helicarrier is the company behind Buycoins, Sendcash, and Sendcash Pay, among other products.

Aderinokun’s interest in technology began at a very young age. She created her first website, a Neopets fansite, at the age of 13, on which she mastered her first basic HTML codes. She did not, however, consider it a career path.

After graduating from the University of Bristol with a bachelor’s degree in Experimental Psychology, she pursued a master’s degree in law at the same institution. While pursuing her law degree, she enrolled in a design course at Codeacademy to further her interest in computer science.

Aderinokun, who is rumored to be Nigeria’s first female Google Developer Expert, currently serves as COO and VP of Engineering for Helicarrier, formerly known as BuyCoins. Her platform’s mission, she explained, is to “financially connect Africans wherever they are in the world.”

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Her responsibilities include leading the front-end team, managing operations, and overseeing a small portion of the business and finance side, as well as ensuring that her company complies with applicable regulations. According to Nairametrics, users traded $141 million worth of cryptocurrency on Buycoins in 2020.

Additionally, the Nigerian tech guru runs a blog called bitsofco.de, where she provides programming advice to other programmers. Additionally, she manages a small scholarship program that enables Nigerian women to earn an Udacity Nanodegree in a technology-related field of their choice.

Apart from work, Aderinokun does little more than watch YouTube and TikTok videos. Occasionally, shattemptspt to make friends.

“Because I don’t listen to music very often and prefer podcasts, I’d recommend ATP” (Accidental Tech Podcast). Cortex is another podcast that she enjoys, as is Somehow I Manage, a podcast about the television show ‘The Office,'” she explained.

Aderinokun advises young Nigerian women who aspire to be like her to consider their career options and tailor their studies accordingly to ensure their degrees are relevant.

Using herself as an example, she stated: “I wish I had started this sooner because I ended up spending five years in school and earning two degrees for things I don’t use.” I’m not saying I didn’t need to do them, but perhaps if I had been more aware, I could have made a more informed choice.”