Meet Precious Eniayekan, the female founder empowering boys in tech

There is something unique about a woman dedicating her work to creating opportunities for boys in tech. 

While the advocacy for more women in tech continues to shape the industry, Precious Eniayekan is asking a different question: what happens when we deliberately create more pathways for boys to enter, grow and thrive in tech?

It has been over five years since Eniayekan started Boycode Africa, a nonprofit organisation created to give African boys and young men access, exposure, mentorship, and the skills they need to build extraordinary lives, with technology as one of the major enablers.

The organisation empowers young men aged 13 to 25, equipping them with digital skills, emotional intelligence and leadership training.

However, Boycode Africa is not simply about teaching boys how to code or preparing them for jobs in tech. Its larger ambition is to help shape young men who are ready to be capable, emotionally intelligent, economically independent and conscious of the role they can play in their communities.

“I founded Boycode because I became increasingly aware of a gap that bothered me deeply: there are incredibly talented young people who have the hunger and potential to build extraordinary lives, but don't always have access to the right exposure, skills, mentors or opportunities. I wanted to create something that could help close that gap,” Eniayekan said.

She envisioned a platform where young boys could gain access to technology, mentorship and skills development while also developing the character and confidence needed to navigate the world beyond the classroom. 

“Sometimes, the difference between a young person who succeeds and one who doesn’t isn’t necessarily talent. It is exposure. It is someone opening a door. It is having a mentor who says, “You can do this.” It is having access to the tools to turn an idea into something real,’’ she said.

The goal is bigger than producing young people who can work with technology. Eniayekan wants to help raise young African men who are skilled, emotionally intelligent, economically independent and equipped to contribute meaningfully to society.

The future may be female, but the founder of Boycode Africa is making sure boys are prepared for it too. 

Who is Precious Eniayekan?

Precious Eniayekan is a marketing and brand communications professional, entrepreneur and social impact advocate who currently serves as Head of Marketing at SLOT Systems Limited. The intersection of people, technology, communication and possibility has shaped her career.

She studied Management Information Systems at Houdegbe North American University and, over the past 13 years, has built experience across marketing, brand strategy, communications, digital, entrepreneurship and technology. She has also been a two-time tech founder.

Before Boycode Africa, Eniayekan founded PropFunds, a property technology platform, and VVEND, an online fashion rental company that allows users to rent high-end and luxury fashion pieces—including clothes, bags, shoes and jewellery at a fraction of their retail prices.

VVEND brought together technology, an extensive vendor network, sustainable fashion principles and the sharing economy to give people access to premium fashion without the economic pressure of buying every piece they wanted.

Across these different ventures, however, there has been a common thread in Eniayekan’s interest in understanding people and turning that understanding into ideas, brands and experiences that create value.

Technology, for her, became particularly compelling because she came to see it as more than devices and software. It is an enabler. It changes how people communicate, work, learn, build businesses and experience the world.

Marketing, on the other hand, is about understanding people deeply enough to communicate value in a way that moves them. And for Eniayekan, the intersection between the two has always been exciting.

That journey has now brought her to SLOT Systems Limited, a company with significant heritage in Nigeria’s technology retail space, where she is helping shape what its next chapter looks like.

Major challenges in building a future for boys in tech

One of the biggest lessons Eniayekan has learned is that building anything meaningful is rarely a straight line. 

“There have been moments when I’ve had to question my decisions, my capacity and even whether I had enough in me to keep going. Entrepreneurship especially, can be isolating because people often see the result, but they don’t necessarily see the uncertainty, difficult decisions, financial pressures, failed ideas, rejection and responsibility that come before the result,” she said.

During an interview with Technext, Eniayekan acknowledged that she had experienced her own share of difficult moments along the way, but she learned not to interpret difficulty as a sign that she should stop. Instead, she came to see difficult situations as information and signals that something needed to change.

“I've learned to ask: What is this situation teaching me? Do I need to become better? Do I need to change the strategy? Do I need to ask for help? Do I need to let go of something? Or do I simply need to keep going?” she said.

She also emphasised the importance of people, noting that no meaningful journey is built alone. Mentors, friends, colleagues, collaborators and people who believe in you when you do not have all the answers, she said, can make an enormous difference.

Perhaps the biggest lesson has been that:

Resilience isn’t pretending that things don’t affect you. It is allowing yourself to acknowledge that something is difficult and still deciding that you will find a way forward. 

What does life feel like right now at SLOT Systems?

For Eniayekan, joining SLOT Systems is one of those opportunities that feels both exciting and deeply significant. 

SLOT is a brand with enormous recognition and heritage in Nigeria’s technology retail space. It has spent years building a relationship with consumers and becoming part of the way Nigerians access technology. So when the opportunity came, she understood that she wasn’t simply stepping into a marketing role; she was stepping into a brand with history, scale and expectations. 

“My previous experience across marketing, brand building, communications, entrepreneurship and technology prepared me for the opportunity, but I also believe leadership positions are earned through more than a résumé. They require the ability to think strategically, understand the business, lead people, solve problems and take responsibility for outcomes. That is the mindset I brought with me,” Eniayekan said.

Interestingly, she has been in the role for two months, and one of the things she emphasised as most exciting is the opportunity to help shape the next phase of SLOT. 

“For me, marketing cannot simply be about creating campaigns or producing content. Marketing has to be connected to the business. It has to understand the customer, create demand, strengthen trust, support commercial objectives and build a brand that remains relevant as the market changes,” Eniayekan said.

She added that her ambition is to help build a marketing function that is creative, commercially intelligent, customer-led and capable of competing at an international standard. 

Final words from the Heart of Precious Eniayekan

The first piece of advice from Precious Eniayekan to women who want to build a career in tech is to stop waiting until they feel completely ready. While she acknowledges that preparation is important, she believes confidence often comes after taking the first step, not before it. 

There will always be a reason to wait for another qualification, another year of experience, another certification, another connection or another achievement. Sometimes, you simply have to walk into the room and learn how to own your seat.

The second is to become very good at what you do. According to Eniayekan, talent may open some doors, but competence is what keeps them open. Understand numbers. Understand technology. Learn how to
communicate. Learn how to negotiate. Learn how to lead people. Learn how to sell your ideas.

"Don't be afraid of ambition. There is nothing wrong with wanting to lead. There is nothing wrong with wanting to build something significant. There is nothing wrong with wanting financial success, influence or a seat at the table. You don't have to become less feminine to become more powerful," Eniayekan said.

The third is to understand that leadership is not about being the loudest person in the room. For Eniayekan, leadership is about clarity, competence, courage and the ability to create value. She believes women can lead effectively without feeling the need to conform to a particular idea of what a leader should look or sound like.

Finally, Eniayekan advises women to build something bigger than their titles. A title, company or position can change, but the value a person creates, the people they develop, the ideas they bring to life and the lives they impact can become their real legacy. 

If she could tell her younger self one thing, it would be:

Don’t spend too much time wondering whether you belong in the room. Spend that time becoming the kind of woman whose presence makes the room better.

Read also: From Aba hustle to the UK Award: What Obii Okafor’s journey means for Women in Tech