Nigerian duo Oluwakemi Adegbuyi and Janet Akekoromowei have been nominated for the 2026 CAF Women’s Young Player of the Year award.

Adegbuyi has enjoyed a remarkable year, winning the Most Valuable Player (MVP) award on three occasions.

The youngster first claimed the individual honour in the 2025/26 Nigeria Women’s Football League (NWFL) Premiership before earning another MVP award at the WAFU-B Women’s Champions League.

She recently added the WAFU-B U-17 Women’s Tournament MVP award to her collection and is currently leading Nigeria’s Flamingos in their quest for a maiden FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup title in Morocco.

The Nigerian side are preparing for a semi-final encounter against Brazil at the ongoing tournament.

Akekoromowei, meanwhile, recently completed a move to Portuguese side SL Benfica before representing Nigeria’s U-20 women’s national team at the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup, where the Falconets reached the quarter-finals before suffering a late defeat to Colombia.

The Nigerian pair will face competition from eight other nominees for the award.

The other contenders are Romaine Gandonou (Benin Republic), Maëva Nyadjou (Cameroon), Grace-Ruth Sery (Côte d’Ivoire), N'sira Ouedraogo (Côte d’Ivoire), Rose Kadzere (Malawi), Kautar Azraf (Morocco), Adji Ndiaye (Senegal) and Windrida Gerald (Tanzania).