Financial technology experts are people who are knowledgeable in the art of cash flow transactions using technological means.
Fintech experts use technology to build payment gateways and platforms that make transactions easier.
Fintech strives to bridge the gap between the banked and underbanked ensuring financial inclusion while also helping businesses have a smooth sailing transaction process.
These changes wouldn’t have taken place on their own, some people worked at the forefront to ensure fintech is what it is now in the Nigeria finance ecosystem.
Individuals considered to be fintech experts due to their immense contribution to fintech development in Nigeria and other African countries.
Here is a list of top Fintech experts in Nigeria in no particular order
Mitchell Elegbe
Mitchell Elegbe, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch is considered the Godfather of fintech in Nigeria.
He spearheaded the innovation around fintech in Nigeria and Africa at large.
In 2002, Interswitch was founded by Mitchell Elegbe to bring the country up to par with the level financial institutions are in other developed countries.
As of then, there was no Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Nigeria.
Interswitch since its inception has driven change within the finance ecosystem, they created an electronic system through which financial institutions can comfortably operate ATMs and POS.
Iyinola Samuel Aboyeji
Iyinola Samuel Aboyeji is another well-known fintech expert in Nigeria. He is the co-founder of Andela, the founder of Future African Fund and he worked with Flutterwave as the managing director.
During his stay as managing director of Flutterwave, Iyinoluwa helped exponentiate the growth of Flutterwave which made it one of the fastest-growing fintech startups.
His work in Andela helped attract a lot of investment both locally and internationally.
Valentine Obi
Valentine Obi is the founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of e-Tranzact International Limited.
He served in the Information Technology Industry locally and internationally. In 2003, Obi developed an e-business platform that is used by the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
Due to his numerous contributions to fintech, he was appointed as a member of the National Payment
Technical Committee by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2005.
John Tanimola Obaro
John Tanimola Obaro founded SystemSpecs. A company that has developed solutions used in various sectors, Remita is a product of SystemSpecs.
John worked in the Systems Development department of the United Bank for Africa. John with his team implemented Nigeria’s online real-time banking system.
Shola Akinlade
Shola Akinlade is also one of the fintech experts in Nigeria, he is the co-founder of Paystack where he currently serves as the Chief Executive Officer
Paystack was founded when Shola tried to solve the payment problems Nigerians encounter when trying to use foreign payment gateways.
In the early stage of the Paystack software building, he already has three hundred people waiting to use the technology on his waitlist.
Michael Olafusi
Michael Olafusi is a finance expert in Lagos, Nigeria. Although he hasn’t founded any fintech startup he has worked with some of these companies Finance.
He does financial valuation and structure fundraising analysis for fintech. Having worked as a valuation and financial analyst for an African private equity firm.
Michael also trains people in financial valuation and modelling.
The list of fintech experts in Nigeria is however inexhaustive.
About the Author
Chibuzor Elizabeth Chijioke a graduate of Abia State University is a Nigerian-based entrepreneur and content writer. She trained as a digital marketer at Innovation Growth Hub. She is committed to teaching people how to apply technology to better their lives and businesses. She spends her leisure reading sci-fi and fantasy novels.
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