Afcacia

Dr. Angela Tabiri had not set out to become a mathematician. Growing up in Ashaiman, a bustling, working-class neighborhood in Ghana’s port city of Tema, she dreamed of studying business administration, following in the footsteps of two of her older sisters.

But when she was admitted to the University of Ghana, her grades steered her toward mathematics and economics instead. It was an unexpected detour, but one that set her on a path to an extraordinary achievement: in 2024, she became the first African to win The Big Internet Math Off, a public vote competition that crowns “the world’s most interesting mathematician.”

“I find joy in solving puzzles and mathematical questions,” Dr. Tabiri, now 35, said in a BBC interview. “Numbers and puzzles fascinated me—but I never thought a career in math was for me.”

The competition, run by The Aperiodical blog, has been held annually since 2018. It invites 16 mathematicians to present their favorite mathematical concepts, with the public voting on who explained them most compellingly. The first winner was Dr. Nira Chamberlain, a British mathematician and the first Black scholar to be included in the reference book Who’s Who in the United Kingdom. Contestants face off in head-to-head matchups, advancing through quarter-finals and semi-finals until one is crowned the champion.

For Dr. Tabiri, winning the contest was more than just a personal triumph. It was a moment of validation—not just for herself, but for countless African women and girls who have traditionally been discouraged from pursuing mathematics.

At the heart of her work is quantum, or non-commutative, algebra, which she researches at the Ghana branch of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS). Established in South Africa in 2003, AIMS has since expanded to Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon, and Rwanda, providing postgraduate training and research opportunities in STEM fields. In addition to her research, Dr. Tabiri serves as the academic manager for the Girls in Mathematical Sciences Program, an initiative founded by AIMS Ghana in 2020 to encourage young girls to enter the field.

“We want to ensure that we have a pipeline of young girls who will be leading in research and innovation in the mathematical sciences—in academia and also in industry,” she said. The disparity in math participation in Ghana is striking: while girls and boys enroll in high school math at roughly equal rates, the number of female students pursuing mathematics at the university level plummets.

“One assumption female students have is that if they do math, the only job they can do is teach,” Dr. Tabiri said. “Math is still seen as a ‘boy’s subject,’ and there are very few female role models.” Dr. Tabiri is determined to change that.

She remembers vividly how, growing up in a house full of five sisters, she often sought out the quiet of a local youth center to study. When she later won a scholarship to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, she encountered a moment that profoundly shaped her outlook.

She had gone to see Hidden Figures, the 2016 film about the Black female mathematicians at NASA who helped propel the U.S. space program forward during the era of segregation.

“It was amazing seeing the story of these Black women told on that global stage,” she said. “I had a lot of goosebumps watching it.” The film’s portrayal of Katherine Johnson—whose meticulous calculations were instrumental in NASA’s spaceflight missions—resonated deeply with Dr. Tabiri.

“Katherine Johnson worked so hard—and for a long time, her work was hidden,” she said. “She made me realize that I just have to keep going. If your work is not even recognized now, it will be recognized sometime in the future.”

In 2024, Ghana celebrated a milestone when Dr. Gloria Botchway became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Ghana. Her journey had been fraught with hardships, including selling water and yams by the roadside as a six-year-old.

Dr. Tabiri, inspired by stories like hers, founded FemAfricMaths, a nonprofit dedicated to mentoring and supporting African girls from underprivileged backgrounds. She and other volunteers conduct lessons for high school students both in person and online. She also interviews prominent female mathematicians and shares their stories on social media, hoping to inspire the next generation.

Beyond her advocacy, Dr. Tabiri is passionate about the future of quantum science and technology—a field where mathematics plays a crucial role. Ghana, along with Mexico, successfully spearheaded the push to have 2025 declared the United Nations’ International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, marking the 100th anniversary of the discovery of modern quantum mechanics.

Quantum mechanics, which describes the behavior of the tiniest particles of matter and energy, underpins many of today’s technologies, including the internet, solar cells, and GPS. Now, researchers and tech giants in China, the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and South Africa are racing to develop quantum computing, which promises breakthroughs in medicine, environmental science, cybersecurity, and more.

“There are lots of conversations now—the advantages and disadvantages, the jobs that will be created,” Dr. Tabiri said. But she also voiced a note of caution. Africa’s rapidly growing youth population is projected to be the world’s largest workforce by 2040, according to the United Nations. “But that doesn’t mean that we will get the jobs,” she warned.

To prepare the continent’s youth for the coming quantum revolution, Dr. Tabiri is planning a “quantum road show” to introduce schoolchildren to the field much earlier than she was. “We want young people to start developing an interest in and building all the relevant skills during their basic schooling,” she said.

The road show will build on a quantum computing course she helped organize at AIMS Ghana, where high school girls learned about the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, the construction of quantum computers, and the vulnerabilities quantum computing poses to current cryptographic systems.

In July, she will host a weeklong “Quantum Hackathon” at AIMS Ghana, working in partnership with UNESCO. The event will bring together about 40 postgraduate students from across Africa, challenging them to use quantum computing to solve real-world problems.

“We want them to use their quantum skills to solve some of the greatest challenges that we face,” Dr. Tabiri said. “It’s very urgent that we position our youth for this next big revolution.”

Her mission is clear: to ensure that African women and girls are not only included in mathematics but that they thrive in it. And as the world turns toward quantum computing and other advanced technologies, she is determined that Africa will not be left behind.