Solape Akinpelu, Tomi Solanke, others on Legit.ng List of Most Outstanding Business Personalities in Fintech
- Legit.ng is celebrating business personalities who have excelled despite the harsh economic conditions of 2022
- Legit Business Names of 2022 is a project highlighting top Fintech individuals, as they exclusively share their projections for Fintechs in Nigeria in 2023 with Legit.ng
- Their stories will definitely inspire young and new entrepreneurs to aspire to reach their business goals
Legit.ng is celebrating business personalities of 2022. See top entrepreneurs of Fintech, Startup, Transportation, Banking and other sectors!
Legit Business Names of 2022 is celebrating top personalities across different sectors of business who have made tremendous impacts in Nigeria in the year in review.
As the biggest publisher in Nigeria and #1 on the Top Web Publishers on the Facebook list, with profound business journalism, we have created a Digital Talks community where we have regularly interviewed Nigeria's most outstanding business personalities.
The background gives us the credibility to conduct this great initiative, as some of our awardees have exclusively provided us with their projections for fintech in Nigeria in 2023.
We are delighted to present to you (in no particular order) our most outstanding business personalities in Nigeria in the Fintech sector for 2022.
Source: UGC
PAY ATTENTION: Subscribe to Digital Talk newsletter to receive must-know business stories and succeed BIG!
Solape Akinpelu - HerVest
Source: Original
Solape Akinpelu is the Co-founder/CEO of HerVest, a social enterprise that promotes financial inclusion for women by employing a Gender Lens Investment (GLI) strategy.
Akinpelu has worked on Nigeria's top financial brands, including investment company Meristem Nigeria where she honed her marketing talent. She is the Nigerian chapter director of Women in Tech, an international organisation with a mission to close the gender gap and help women embrace technology.
Launched in 2020 to start off on its mission of inclusive finance, HerVest has eased access to financial services through flexible, goal-based savings and investment. HerVest is built to help women everywhere take control of their finances one impact at a time.
Projection for 2023: Fintech in Nigeria will continue to accelerate with innovations in payment systems, social commerce and blockchain technology. There will be a higher adoption of QR Code payments, and we will see more government interventions like the Nigeria Start-up act 2022. I also see more fintech consolidating with other startups rather than folding up. Generally, we'll see more automation and adoption of data to build inclusive products.
Oluwatomi Solanke - Trove Finance
Source: Original
Oluwatomi Solanke is the Co-founder and CEO of Trove Finance, a Nigerian micro-investing platform democratising wealth and allowing individuals with so little to own stocks in big companies like Apple, Facebook, Amazon and the like.
Solanke, who is a graduate of Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos, is a serial technology entrepreneur. He has co-founded other ventures, including WhoSpottedMe, a crowdsourced web-based application and DropBuddies, a Peer to Peer delivery startup based in Lagos State.
He is an alumnus of the inaugural class of 1000 Entrepreneurs in the $100 million Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Programme (TEEP). He is also a Young African Leaders Initiative fellow, an Ecobank Fintech fellow, and a LEAP Africa 2018 Social Innovator.
In 2019, Solanke co-founded Trove Finance with his high school buddies - Austin Akagu, Desayo Ajisegiri and Opeyemi Olanipekun, and has since led the company to become one of the fastest-growing fintechs in Nigeria.
Projection of 2023: Fintechs will also double down on diversifying beyond their core areas in a bid to expand revenue. Specifically, "Embedded Everything" would become a thing. Soon all our favourite conveniences and products will become somewhat integrated into one another to make our lives easier and experiences more seamless. I also anticipate more banks embracing open banking a little more in 2023. There would still be some pushback from some incumbents and they wouldn't achieve 100% success but there would be a little more movement towards open banking over the next 3 quarters.
Chioma Ugo - Prospa
Source: UGC
Chioma Ugo is the co-founder and current Head of Growth of Prospa, a neobank startup that provides a financial operating system for small to medium-sized businesses with a suite of tools to manage their business finances.
Ugo started in the professional world with the former British shadow deputy prime minister and consulting for some high-profile public officials. Before co-founding Prospa, she co-founded Hypebuzz, a leading influencer marketing agency in Nigeria.
Founded in 2019, Prospa, one of Nigeria's fastest-growing fintech startups, helps businesses operate by giving them access to loans, bookkeeping, and spending tools.
Projection for 2023: A focus on the creation of niche fintech products for groups with complex and unique needs as well as the emergence of more Fintech IaaS companies. This will be a key driver of growth in the sector.
Olugbenga Agboola - Flutterwave
Source: UGC
Olugbenga Agboola is the CEO and co-founder of Flutterwave, a Nigerian fintech company that provides a payment infrastructure for global merchants and payment service providers across Africa.
Before founding Flutterwave with Adeleke Adekoya and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji in 2016, Agboola, a certified ethical hacker and security analyst, worked as an application engineer at PayPal and in product management at Google.
In 2021, Flutterwave became the fourth African startup to reach "unicorn" status as it reached a valuation of over $1 billion after raising $170 million in a Series C round.
Tosin Eniolorunda - TeamApt
Source: UGC
Tosin Eniolorunda is the founder and CEO of TeamApt, a financial technology company focused on developing digital banking, digital business solutions and payments infrastructure by rethinking the needs of consumers, businesses and the financial industry.
Eniolorunda has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Obafemi Awolowo University, Osun State. He worked at Interswitch, holding several positions, including Software Manager and Product Manager.
TeamApt was founded in 2015 and has become one of Nigeria's largest business payments and banking platforms, with over 400,000 businesses onboarded, processing north of $8bn monthly.
Babs Ogundeyi - Kuda Bank
Source: UGC
Babs Ogundeyi is the Chief Executive Officer 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.
Ogundeyi is a graduate of London's Brunel University, where he studied Business Studies and Accounting. He worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers as an Engagement Manager. He later served as a Special Adviser on Finance to the Oyo State Government. He also established the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) office and the Debt Management Office (DMO), creating products to increase Internally Generated Revenue.
Kuda Bank rebranded in 2019 from Kudimoney, a money-lending platform which was earlier founded by Ogundeyi and his partner, Mustapha Musty, in 2017. The rebrand took place after it received a license from the Central Bank of Nigeria to operate as a full-service digital bank.
Tayo Oviosu - Paga
Source: UGC
Tayo Oviosu is the founder and CEO of Paga, a mobile payments company focused on digitising cash in emerging economies.
Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Oviosu moved to the United States, where he acquired an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree from the University of Southern California. He also has a master's degree in Business Administration from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University in 2005.
Oviosu, who started his career at Biomorphic VLSI, has also worked with Deloitte Consulting and Cisco Systems in the US. Returning to Nigeria in 2008, he joined Travant Capital Partners as Vice President.
Paga was founded in 2009 to address the use of cash to enable universal access to financial services. The Fintech provider has, through the years, had several rounds of funding by continental and global investors.
Mitchell Elegbe - Interswitch
Source: UGC
Mitchell Elegbe is the Founder, Managing Director, and CEO of Interswitch Group, a leading integrated payment processing company in Africa.
Elegbe graduated from the University of Benin, Edo State, where he studied Electrical Engineering. He is also an alumnus of the IESE/Wharton/CEIBS Global CEO Program.
Before founding Interswitch in 2002, Elegbe worked with Schlumberger Wireline and Testing, and Telnet, an ICT engineering and consulting company.
Under Elegbe's inspiring leadership, Interswitch has diversified its business, broadened its distribution channels, expanded into new markets and delivered strong growth in revenue and profits.
Niyi Toluwalope - eTranzact
Source: UGC
Niyi Toluwalope is the Chief Executive Officer, eTranzact International, a premier e-payments solution provider delivering electronic transaction switching and payment processing solutions across POS, web, mobile, ATMs and cards.
Toluwalope has an MBA from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business where he studied Corporate Finance and Financial Strategy. He was also a Senior Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Since he was appointed CEO in 2018, Toluwalope has driven the Fintech platform to new heights as the company evolves into a global brand with reach spreading to Ghana, Kenya, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, and the UK.
Ezra Olubi - Paystack
Source: UGC
Ezra Olubi is the co-founder and Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of PayStack, an African Fintech company that allows vendors, banks, companies, businesses, and their customers to send and receive payments on the internet.
After graduating from Babcock University in Ogun State in 2006 with a degree in Computer Science, Olubi developed himself as a programmer. His work experience stretches from Ocean Logistics & Solutions Limited to Softcom Imagio Limited Nigeria and later Jobberman, where he operated as the Chief Technology Officer.
In 2015, Olubi and his close friend, Shola Akinlade founded Paystack, and since then, the duo have grown the platform to become one of the most popular online payment platforms used to complete several e-commerce sites.
Olubi is a recipient of the Order of the Niger (OON), a national award which he received from the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari.
Tunji Andrews, Tito Ovia, and others on Legit.ng List of Most Outstanding Business Personalities in Startups
Legit Business Names of 2022 celebrated top personalities across different sectors of business who have made tremendous impacts in Nigeria in the year in review.
Understanding the business landscape in Nigeria, one would agree that it is no easy task to start and grow a business, let alone see it succeed against all odds.
In view of this, Legit.ng has decided to launch a business award, Legit Business Names of 2022, dedicated to Nigeria's most outstanding business personalities to commend them for their remarkable achievements throughout the year.
Source: Legit.ng
