Nigeria’s financial technology space is booming. Over the past few years, many of its big hitters have recorded astounding successes. We’ve seen them cross big payments processing milestones, secure huge funding rounds, and announce major partnerships and acquisitions.
Two of them have become unicorns—a feat accomplished by only a handful of tech companies in Africa.
In this article, we’ll celebrate some of the people driving these wins. They are Nigeria’s top fintech executives, the figures at the helm of the country’s biggest financial technology institutions.
Here they are, presented in no particular order.
Mitchell Elegbe, Interswitch
This Day Live
Mitchell Elegbe is the CEO of Interswitch, a leading integrated payment company. He’s also the firm’s founder, a fact that’s made him a respected figure in the tech industry; Interswitch is one of the country’s oldest FinTechs.
Elegbe is a graduate of Electrical Engineering from the University of Benin, and an alumnus of the IESE/Wharton/CEIBS Global CEO Program. Prior to starting Interswitch in 2002, he worked with Schlumberger Wireline and Testing, and Telnet, and ICT engineering establishment.
Late in 2019, Interswitch became Nigeria’s first fintech unicorn. It achieved a $1 billion valuation after Visa took a 20% stake in it for $200 million.
Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave
Bloomberg
Olugbenga Agboola is CEO of Flutterwave, a Lagos and San Francisco-based payments company he founded with Iyinoluwa Aboyeji. He assumed his current position at Flutterwave following Iyin’s exit in 2018.
Agboola has an MBA from MIT’s Sloan School of Management and is an alumnus of the University of Westminster and the Wharton School’s Management Program.
Before co-founding Flutterwave, he worked as an applications engineer at PayPal, in product management at Google Wallet, and with the Royal Bank of Scotland. He’s also taken positions at GT Bank and Access Bank.
In March 2021, Flutterwave became Nigeria’s second fintech unicorn, after a Series C funding round that valued it at over $1 billion.
Shola Akinlade, Paystack
TechCabal
Shola Akinlade is CEO of Paystack, a payments solution provider. He co-founded the company with Ezra Olubi in 2015. In the years that followed, the company’s service has been adopted by over 60,000 businesses.
Akinlade holds a B.Sc in Computer Science from Babcock University.
In his role as chief executive, he’s overseen significant growth at Paystack, including the introduction of products designed specifically for online merchants and e-commerce businesses, and the crossing of multiple payments processing milestones.
In October 2020, American fintech giant Stripe acquired Paystack in a deal worth $200 million.
Olaniyi Toluwalope, eTranzact
Technext
Olaniyi Toluwalope is CEO of eTranzact, one of Nigeria’s oldest financial technology firms. He assumed this position in 2019.
Toluwalope was previously the company’s Chief Financial Officer. He served as interim CEO before the board at eTranzact approved his appointment as substantive CEO.
Before joining the company in 2011, he worked in various capacities with PriceWaterhouseCoopers (PwC), JP Morgan, and Credit Suisse.
Tayo Oviosu, Paga
TechCabalTayo Oviosu founded Paga in 2009. He is currently its CEO.
Paga provides payment services for individuals and businesses in urban and rural locations. It does this via its web and mobile app platform, as well as through thousands of agents serving customers all over Nigeria.
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Oviosu has a degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California, and an MBA from Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. He previously worked with Deloitte Consulting and Cisco Systems, among others.
Closer to the present time, he co-founded Kairos Angels, an investment club that supports African entrepreneurs who are building noteworthy solutions for the continent’s people.
John Obaro, SystemSpecs
This Day Live
John Obaro is CEO at SystemSpecs, the company that’s powered the Remita e-payments solution. Remita’s clients include major private institutions and the government; it processes some of the largest payment volumes in Nigeria.
Obaro founded SystemSpecs in 1992. It began as a firm that sold software solutions to other businesses. The company has grown to become one of the country’s tech giants.
Before setting up SystemSpecs, Obaro worked at the Leventis Group, the United Bank for Africa, and the now-defunct International Merchant Bank of Nigeria.
Chijioke Dozie, Carbon
Wharton Magazine
Chijioke Dozie is chief executive at Carbon, a fintech startup that offers loans, bill payments, and high-interest savings to Nigerians.
He co-founded the company with his brother Ngozi in 2012. It started as a digital lender and has morphed into a platform that provides several financial services.
Dozie has a degree in Economics from the University of East Anglia, an MBA from the Harvard Business School, and an M.Sc in Risk Management from the University of Reading. His work experience includes time with Zephyr Management LP in the United States and South Africa, and with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
Odunayo Eweniyi, PiggyVest
Techpoint AfricaOdunayo Eweniyi is Chief Operations Officer (COO) at PiggyVest, Nigeria’s biggest digital savings platform.
She cofounded PiggyVest (previously known as Piggy Bank) in 2016 with Joshua Chibueze and Somto Ifezue. The trio had earlier cofounded PushCV, a startup that connects job seekers to potential employers.
Eweniyi has a first-class degree in Computer Engineering from Covenant University. Being one of the top female executives on the Nigerian fintech scene, she’s won several awards for the work she’s done with PiggyVest. In 2019, Eweniyi was on the Forbes Africa 30 Under 30 list.
Michael Simeon, VoguePay
SV-NED
Michael Simeon is CEO of VoguePay, a secure payment processor for individuals and businesses. He started the company in 2012 along with four other cofounders.
In the years since it commenced operations, VoguePay has garnered a large loyal client base consisting of over 100,000 merchants. It provides one of the most widely preferred online payment gateway solutions in Nigeria.
Simeon has a degree in Politics and Economics from Northumbria University, UK. He’s also been involved with property investment and fashion businesses.
Babs Ogundeyi, Kuda Bank
TechCabal
Babs Ogundeyi is CEO of Kuda Bank, a no-fee, full-service digital bank.
As Kuda’s chief executive, he’s piloted it to the summit of an emergent virtual banking niche. It now has over 300,000 customers, and processes transactions worth more than $500 million monthly.
Ogundeyi’s history with finance precedes his involvement with Kuda. Besides working with various companies in that sector, he also served as Special Adviser to the Governor of Oyo State on Finance (from 2011 to 2015).
Final Words
Nigeria’s fintech sector owes much of its success to the foresight and diligence of its executives, and the commitment of the teams they’re working with. They may be leading the forward march of the industry for years to come.
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