Obiageli (Obii) Okafor, a Nigerian-born Senior Product Manager at 8×8 and CEO of PMHelp, has been named the ‘Women in Telecoms’ champion at the ‘Comms Council UK Awards 2026’, becoming the first African to receive the honour.
The award recognises women making an outstanding contribution to the UK telecommunications industry.
Beyond leading strategic product initiatives at 8×8, Obiageli founded PMHelp, a nonprofit that has supported over 52,000 professionals across over 70 countries through mentoring, education and career development initiatives.
The recognition follows a string of national honours, including: TechWomen100 Winner; She Inspires Awards Winner (Women in Digital Innovation & Communication); She Inspires 100 Female Impact Leaders UK; Brummell 30 Rising Stars of London; and 50 Women Tech Titans Nigeria.
As an immigrant who moved to the UK and rebuilt her career from scratch, Obiageli hopes the award encourages more African women to pursue leadership careers in technology and telecommunications. She gave details in an interview with IGNATIUS CHUKWU.
