Trailblazers: Top 10 Fintech Magnates of Nigeria

Nigeria has a growing Fintech sector with several notable companies and entrepreneurs leading the way.

The industry presents a diverse ecosystem comprising companies in different segments, which include payments, insurtech, savings, cryptocurrency, infrastructure, online lending, and business solutions.

Nigeria’s Fintech ecosystem is rapidly evolving into one of Africa’s most vibrant sectors with huge growth potential.

The ecosystem has continued to garner millions of dollars in investments as a result of the remarkable companies and product offerings that some of these Fintech founders have launched.

Through pioneering services like digital payment, peer-to-peer lending platforms, and mobile banking amongst others, these founders are breaking down barriers making the transfer of funds seamless and bringing about a significant improvement in financial inclusion.

Check Out the list of Top ten (10) Fintech Magnates of Nigeria changing the game

1.) Olugbenga Agboola:

Olugbenga  Agboola is the CEO and co-founder of Nigerian Fintech Unicorn Flutterwave. 

He has contributed immensely to the development of fintech solutions at several tech companies and financial institutions such as PayPal, and Standard Bank, among others.

Through his remarkable contributions to the Nigerian Fintech space, he has won several awards and recognition. 

In 2020, Agboola was listed on Fortune’s 40 Under 40 list. He was also on Time’s Next 100 list in 2021. In April 2022, he received the Tech Investor of the Year award in the Business Insider Africa awards.

2.) Mitchell Elegbe

Mitchell Elegbe is the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors at Interswitch, a business he conceptualized and has led since 2002.

A renowned business leader in the African Information Technology and Financial Services industry, Elegbe is recognized for driving revolutionary payment innovation on the continent.

Armed with ambition and a relentless drive to solve the numerous problems he had identified in the payment industry, he launched Interswitch which has today become a unicorn.

In March this year, he was named the 2023 West African Entrepreneur of the Year (Masters Category), by the professional services firm, Ernst and Young (EY).

3.) Iyinoluwa Aboyeji

Iyinoluwa Samuel Aboyeji is a Nigerian entrepreneur and the co-founder of Andela, a billion-dollar talent-matching business. He was also the former managing director at Flutterwave.

Iyinoluwa sits on the board of a number of corporate and non-profit organizations, and advises several national and sub-national governments across Africa on how to support high-growth innovation-driven enterprises in their domains.

In 2015, he was recognized by Forbes 30 under 30 as “Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa.”

4.) Shola Akinlade

Shola Akinlade is a Nigerian software engineer and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Paystack, a payment company that was acquired by Stripe in 2020 for $200 million.

In October 2022, Shola was conferred with the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria in recognition of his contributions to the advancement of technology in finance and business.

Shola is no stranger to successful business ventures which saw him acquire a 55% stake in Danish club Aarhus Fremad in March 2023, as part of his plan to build a football empire that will revolutionize talent development in Africa.

5.) Babs Ogundeyi

Babs Ogundeyi is the CEO and Co-founder of Kuda Bank, Nigeria’s first full-service digital-only bank licensed by the Central Bank with a mission to make banking more accessible and affordable.

Starting with Nigeria where its digital-led bank has more than 3 million customers, Kuda is giving Africans a better alternative, with personal and business banking delivered through digital devices, free transfers, smart budgeting, and instant access to credit.

Before starting Kuda, Babs advised some of Africa’s biggest banks and was a Special Adviser on Finance in the Nigerian government. He is also a founder of two other companies.

6.) Tosin Eniolorunda

Tosin Eniolorunda is the CEO and co-founder of Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt), which is a licensed bank, partnering with over one million businesses and thousands of agents across Nigeria.

Beginning his career as an engineer, Tosin climbed the ranks at Interswitch, a leading African integrated payments and digital commerce platform company. 

Tosin alongside his ex-colleague Felix, launched Moniepoint in Nigeria, with a mission to transform payments and banking for businesses. Under his leadership, the business has grown by more than 300% each year since 2019 and has become the preferred choice for over 400,000 businesses.

7.) Tayo Oviosu

Tayo Oviosu is the founder and group CEO of Paga, a mobile payments company that is focused on digitizing cash in emerging economies.

During his early career days, Tayo worked for Deloitte Consulting in the CRM and Technology practice as a Senior Consultant.

After business school, he joined Cisco systems in San Jose California where he was responsible for strategy, acquisitions, and private equity investments in a few segments and helped lead Cisco’s investment expansion in Africa with investment opportunities.

In 2009, he founded Paga to address the use of cash and expand financial access.

8.) Valentine Obi

Valentine Obi is the founder of eTranzact, a global electronic and mobile payment solution company. 

Dr. Obi is a seasoned business strategist with a wealth of experience in formulating business strategies.

Since 2003, Dr. Obi’s eTranzact, referred to as Africa’s premier e-payments solution provider, has delivered electronic transaction switching and payment processing solutions across POS, web, mobile, ATMs, and cards.

9.) Lauren Hainy

Lauren Hainy is the CEO and founder of Fairmoney, a Nigerian leading credit-led digital bank.

In Nigeria, Fairmoney offers loans ranging between ₦1,500 ($3.30) and ₦500,000 ($1,110.00), with annual percentage rates falling between 30% and 260%.

The startup claimed that it moved from 100,000 users in 2017 to 1.3 million users in 2021, with 6.5 million loans disbursed.

For Hainy, the aim of building Fairmoney is to take market share from cash and bring more Nigerians into the cashless economy.

He believes that Nigeria is where India was five to seven years ago, and there is an enormous growth potential that Fairmoney is looking to tap into.

10.) Odunayo Eweniyi

Odunayo Eweniyi is a Nigerian business executive and the co-founder of Piggyvest, the largest digital savings and investment platform in Nigeria.

As the COO of Piggyvest, Odunayo oversees the company’s entire operation which cuts across Finance, Investment Management, People Operations, Investor Relations, and Fundraising.

Her ventures extend to co-founding PushCV, one of Africa’s leading job sites, and the establishment of First Check Africa, a female-led angel fund supporting women in African tech, recognized by Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst and Forbes Africa Technology and Innovation Award in 2022.

In 2019, she was on Forbes Africa’s list of 20 new wealth creators in Africa.