By Joel Popoola

In the hallowed halls of Oxford’s Saïd Business School, a quiet revolution is taking shape; Nigerian entrepreneur and investor Surayyah Ahmad has been named one of the Best & Brightest MBAs of 2025 by Poets&Quants, the world’s leading platform for graduate business education.

The accolade, reserved for a select group of the most outstanding MBA students across global institutions, recognises not only academic achievement, but also extraordinary leadership, community impact, and entrepreneurial innovation.
Surayyah’s inclusion is groundbreaking, not just as a Nigerian woman excelling on the global stage, but as a former Fulani girl who defied every odd stacked against her.

Born in Ibadan to a nomadic family with no formal education tradition, she began primary school late and by age 12 still could not read or write in English. Fast-forward two decades, and she now stands as one of the most recognised African voices in global business education, entrepreneurship, and impact investment.

She is currently completing her MBA at the prestigious Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, where she is not only excelling academically, but actively shaping Africa-focused initiatives on campus. She serves as Co-Chair of the Oxford Africa Business Alliance, a Laidlaw Scholar, and an Oxford Impact Lab Fellow, roles through which she bridges global capital, policy, and entrepreneurship with emerging opportunities on the continent.

The recognition by Poets&Quants is a fitting crown on an extraordinary journey, acknowledging both her story and the scale of her ambition. In addition to her studies, Surayyah is the Co-Founder and General Partner at Sabou Capital, a venture capital firm investing in underserved markets in West and Central Africa, with a particular focus on women-led enterprises and inclusive business models. Sabou Capital is not just providing capital, it’s reshaping who gets funded in Africa, and why.

“We invest in the parts of Africa the world often overlooks,” she says. “Not just Lagos or Nairobi, but Kano, Bangui, Maroua, places with talent, energy and ideas that are too often ignored. We want to fund African businesses that are scalable, inclusive and representative of real people.”
Before founding Sabou Capital, Surayyah was a successful entrepreneur in Nigeria.

She launched YDS Online, one of the country’s early logistics and fulfilment platforms for e-commerce businesses. She grew and scaled the company in a challenging business environment and exited in 2022, an experience that gave her a deep, firsthand understanding of the barriers African founders face, and the systems needed to support them.
What makes Surayyah’s journey even more compelling is the consistency with which she connects personal experience with broader systems change. Her work is not limited to investing—she is actively advocating for inclusive growth models, shaping policies that support emerging markets, and advising global stakeholders on how to rethink investment strategies for Africa.

At Oxford, she has continued to distinguish herself, not only through her academic performance, but as a thought leader engaging peers and global investors in dialogue about Africa’s future. Her story has inspired business leaders, students, and aspiring entrepreneurs across the globe, many of whom see in her a role model who has lived and led from the margins to the centre.

For a young woman who once doubted her ability to catch up in school, her global recognition today represents far more than personal achievement, it is a beacon for others. Her journey reminds us that excellence can emerge from anywhere, and that Africa’s next generation of leaders may not be born into privilege, but they are rising nonetheless, equipped with vision, grit, and boundless potential.

As the first Nigerian to be featured on Poets&Quants’ Best & Brightest MBAs in recent years, Surayyah Ahmad has not only made history—she has set a powerful new precedent.

Joel Popoola is a Managing Partner at Anchora Advisory, and Chair of the Institute of Directors Africa Group