Aminat Odunayo Lawal

Aminat Odunayo Lawal is a lawyer from Nigeria, currently pursuing an MSc in Law and Finance at the Faculty of Law, University of Oxford. She is a Mastercard Foundation Scholar at the University of Oxford and a member of Wolfson College. Aminat’s work focuses on gender-lens investing and the use of legal and financial frameworks to support inclusive growth and improve access to finance and opportunity for women-led enterprises across Africa.

She graduated with First Class Honours from the University of Ibadan and the Nigerian Law School, where she was recognised as the Best Graduating Student in a class of over 5,300 and received 14 academic awards. During her undergraduate studies, she registered a chapter of Girl Up—a United Nations Foundation initiative—which ranked second in impact across Africa. Before joining Oxford, Aminat worked in the finance and corporate teams of a tier-one Nigerian law firm, advising on high-value cross-border transactions and helping to structure innovative financing solutions for clients across multiple sectors. Alongside her legal practice, she has led projects to expand access to capital for women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

At Oxford, Aminat is eager to engage with scholars and practitioners committed to inclusive development and social impact. She hopes to use this opportunity to deepen her expertise in law and finance and continue building tools that empower women and promote economic equity. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and writing, and maintains a personal blog where she reflects on her journey and shares insights from her professional life.