50+ speakers solving Africa’s most challenging problems
Dr Bosun Tijani
Nigerian Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy.
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi
Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA
Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, Director-General/CEO of the National Information Technology Development Agency, NITDA, is a transformational expert with key competencies across policy formulation, administration, growth management, talent development, solutions architecture, resource mobilisation and strategy implementation.
Inuwa is a thoroughbred IT professional, with an impressive resume in public and private sector IT development, policy formulation, and IT governance. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Bauchi. He holds various executive certificates from top-notch universities such as Harvard University, University of Cambridge, London Business School and Oxford University, UK. Abdullahi is also an alumnus of the prestigious IMD Business School, Switzerland, and a trained strategist from the world-famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He equally holds many professional certifications in telecommunications, service management, networking, and solution design.
Inuwa being the first Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) in Nigeria’s public sector has bagged nearly 2 decades of experience in the public and private IT space. He started his professional career at Galaxy Backbone Ltd where he served as a network engineer and senior network and lead solution architect. In 2014, he joined the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a Technology Architect where he was part of the team that developed the CBN Technology Architecture Repository (TAR) and also executed software license rationalization that has increased cost savings for the bank in licensing annual subscription. He joined NITDA in 2017 as the Technical Assistant to the then Director General, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, and has significantly contributed to the Agency’s growth and development.
On 20th August 2019, Mr. Inuwa was appointed the Director-General of NITDA by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR. Thus far, Mr. Inuwa has steered the Agency along the path of working creatively and assiduously for the growth of the IT sector in Nigeria.
Under the direction of Mr. Inuwa, NITDA has achieved several milestones in just three years. He has rolled out various programmes towards digital transformation, talent development, digital innovation and entrepreneurship, developmental regulations, exploring emerging technology, and promotion of indigenous IT content amongst others.
Olatubosun Alake
Lagos State’s Commissioner of Science and Technology
Anuoluwapo Adedoyin Adasolum
CEO, Sabi
Anuoluwapo Adedoyin Adasolum
CEO, Sabi
Anu Adedoyin-Adasolum is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Sabi. She provides day-to-day leadership and management, empowering the operational team to meet business goal and projections. Anu drives the engine room of Sabi operations, driving growth strategies, managing talent, and refining processes to realise the company’s ambition to accelerate the velocity of Commerce by enabling stakeholders in the informal sector to access and offer value across Nigeria and Africa.
She has worked in Renewable Energy, Manufacturing, Private Equity, Real Estate and E-Commerce and has diverse organizational management and leadership experience. She most recently worked with Rensource Distributed Energy Limited where she held the role of Chief Operating Officer and under her leadership, provided clean power to over 300 private residences as well as over 50000 Merchants across 15 Markets in Nigeria.
She also previously worked at Jumia Group, the largest E-Commerce Platform in Africa, in the role of Vice President of J-Force, Jumia’s direct sales arm. She held previous roles as the Head of Sourcing and Internal Procurement and the Head of Vendor Acquisition. Anu managed large teams, and successfully restructured her various teams and processes, consistently achieving greater efficiencies and exceeding expectations. Under Anu’s leadership spanning Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, the J-force team delivered a significant share of Jumia’s overall revenue.
Prior to working with Jumia, Anu also worked with KMPG Advisory Services, focusing on Financial Modelling & Analysis, Business Plan Development as well as Process Design within the firm’s reputed Management Consulting division. She also led Operations and Material Planning at NASCON, a Dangote subsidiary and leading player in the Nigerian salt processing market.
Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola
Founder & CEO, Flutterwave
Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola
Founder & CEO, Flutterwave
Olugbenga 'GB' Agboola is a successful entrepreneur and the Founder and CEO of Flutterwave, a fintech company dedicated to fostering business growth in emerging economies. With over 15 years of experience in the financial technology sector, GB has played a crucial role in developing fintech solutions for prominent organizations such as PayPal, Standard Bank, and Google.
GB's educational journey includes attending prestigious institutions such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Wharton School of Management, and the University of Westminster. He has received numerous accolades for his leadership and innovation, including being named African Leadership Magazine's Young Business Leader of The Year in 2020 and being recognized by Fortune Magazine's 40 under 40 lists and Time Magazine's 2021 Next 100 list.
Juliet Ehimuan
Founder, Beyond Limits & Ex-Director, Google West Africa
Juliet Ehimuan
Founder, Beyond Limits & Ex-Director, Google West Africa
Dr. Juliet Ehimuan is a renowned tech industry leader with over 25 years of experience, including a remarkable 12-years at Google, primarily as Director for West Africa. She established and expanded Google’s presence in Nigeria and the wider West Africa region, fostering innovation and strategic partnerships.
Juliet is a respected thought leader, coach, and advocate for personal excellence and leadership development. She was named by Forbes as one of the top 20 power women in Africa, by the London Business School as one of 30 people changing the world; and featured in the BBC Africa Power Women series, and on CNN Innovate Africa.
Odun Eweniyi
CoFounder/COO Piggytech
Odun Eweniyi
CoFounder/COO Piggytech
Odunayo Eweniyi is the co-founder & Chief Operations Officer of PiggyVest, Nigeria's largest digital savings and micro-investment platform.
In January 2021, Odunayo cofounded First Check Africa, a preseed/seed fund that invests in high-growth tech startups with at least one female co-founder.
She is a board member at Village Capital, the most active supporter of impact-driven, seed-stage entrepreneurs in the world. She was featured on Bloomberg Business Weekly’s 2020 Bloomberg50 list, an annual list of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders who have changed the global business landscape over the past year.
In 2022, she was selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst; and won the Forbes Africa Technology and Innovation Award. She is also a 2021 TIME100 Next honoree. She was named one of Forbes Africa's 30 under 30 Technology in 2019 and one of 30 Quartz Africa Innovators in 2019.
In 2020, She cofounded The Feminist Coalition, a group of young Nigerian feminists who work to promote equality for women in Nigerian society, with a core focus on education, financial freedom and representation in public office.
She was named one of the 2021 Class of Social Shapers by the Malala Fund. In 2019, she was named SME Entrepreneur of the Year West Africa by The Asian Banker’s Wealth and Society. She is the youngest Nigerian on Forbes Africa's list of 20 New Wealth Creators in Africa 2019. She was also a featured speaker at the World Bank-IMF Annual Meeting in 2019.
She is one of Business Day’s Spark 2019 Women to Watch and made the World Women in Fintech Power List for 2017; the YNaija Most Influential People in Technology 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020; she is a 2018 Westerwelle Young Entrepreneurs fellow; and she is a recipient of The Future Africa Awards Prize in Technology 2018.
In honor of her work, she was named one of the 100 most inspiring women in Nigeria in 2019 by Leading Ladies Africa and one of the 50 most visible women in Tech by Tech Cabal in 2019. She is also included on the #YTech100 2019 list of the brightest Nigerian technocrats. She is the Her Network Technology Woman of The Year 2019. She was also voted The Most Influential Young Nigerian in Science and Technology 2019. In 2020, she was one of the Lord’s Achievers Awards Honorees, 2020 100 Most Influential Young Africans, one of OkayAfrica’s 100 Women 2020, and the ELOY Award for Technology 2020.
Several publications have listed her as one of the most influential young Nigerians and Africans. She’s also been featured in several international publications, including Vogue, New York Times, and Elle. She also co-founded the women’s community, Wine and Whine Nigeria.
Oswald Osaretin Guobadia
Managing Partner, DigitA
Oswald Osaretin Guobadia
Managing Partner, DigitA
Oswald Osaretin Guobadia is co-founder of DBH Africa, a building infrastructure and top-tier technology solutions provider in West Africa. He is a business strategy and technology consultant with over 25 years’ experience in technology and business strategy.
His interests also span venture capitalism and entrepreneurship, with significant interests in mentorship and funding startups. He is actively engaged on several boards, providing guidance and oversight for their business operations, and contributes to an African economic renaissance by advising organizations on IT strategy, infrastructure and operations optimization, startup consulting, people development and leadership, process improvement, and business continuity.
His goal is to help build sustainable businesses that contribute to economic development and job creation.
He is committed to supporting social welfare programs that improve lives and communities. He created the Resolve Foundation, which offers credible and visible opportunities for private individuals and enterprises to execute their philanthropy, corporate social responsibility and sustainability initiatives.
He is also a founding director of the Edo Global Foundation, an initiative focused on the development and support of the next generation Edo creatives; and the founder of Edo Development Organization, a non-partisan political and social group whose members collaborate on opportunities to support their respective communities. He is also involved in several other charitable initiatives through the Lagos Nigeria chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity, where he is a founding member.
Eloho Omame
Partner, TLcom Capital & Co-Founder & GP, FirstCheck Africa
Eloho Omame
Partner, TLcom Capital & Co-Founder & GP, FirstCheck Africa
Eloho is the co-founder of FirstCheck Africa, launched in 202. As an early-stage investor and an advocate for gender & inclusion in technology & entrepreneurship in Africa. She believes in the massive underleveraged potential of Africa’s next generation of female founders. We’re building Africa’s first female-first, venture capital fund, investing exclusively in technology ventures led by women & diverse founders. By focusing on Africa’s vibrant community of ambitious, under-estimated women in tech, we’re shifting narratives, driving representation and fostering inclusion among startup founders, operators and investors.
In 2018, she launched Endeavor Nigeria, an entrepreneurship network for high-impact founders leading high-growth technology companies at the scaleup stage. In 2017, in collaboration with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, sheconceptualised, built and launched Lagos Innovates, a portfolio of startup support programs — a first-of-its-kind by a sub-national government in Africa.
With over 15 years prior spent in finance roles across investment banking and growth private equity covering U.K., European and African markets, she is an expert in capital structuring and fundraising for companies at all stages, including startups. She is a Mentor at Endeavor Nigeria and former Chair of the finance & capital sub-committee of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund’s MSME Recovery Fund, which was inaugurated to support small businesses after the devastating combined effects of COVID and the End SARS protests.
Eloho holds an undergraduate degree in Economics from the London School of Economics & Political Science, and a masters in Business Administration from the London Business School.
Marlon Nichols
Founding Managing Partner at MaC Venture Capital
Marlon Nichols
Founding Managing Partner at MaC Venture Capital
Marlon Nichols is the co-founder and managing general partner at MaC Venture Capital, a seed-stage venture capital firm that invests in visionary founders building the future that the world wants to see.
He has an extensive background in technology, private equity, media and entertainment. His unique eye for global and cultural trends, along with shifts in consumer behavior, has helped him uplift and accelerate entrepreneurs and companies that are on the verge of their breakthrough moments. Some of his current and previous portfolio companies include Blavity, Faze Clan, Gimlet Media, LIT Videobooks, Mansa, MongoDB, Pipe, PureStream, Ryff, Solo Funds, Thrive Market, Wonderschool and others. Thanks to his background as a professional athlete, Marlon utilizes sports leadership philosophy when working closely with CEOs to build the ventures of tomorrow. His diverse network of media and entertainment industry leaders, tech entrepreneurs, Fortune 500 executives and sports professionals helps him develop strategic partnerships and promote brand expansions for his portfolio companies.
Marlon serves on the board of directors for the Kauffman Fellows program, where he has been instrumental in growing the representation of underrepresented minorities by 175% over the past four years. He also serves on the advisory boards for Goldman Sachs’ Launch with GS program and Los Angeles Mayor’s office’s PledgeLA.
Marlon has been honored as a member of the 2022 and 2023 class of the LA500 list and ranked among the top early-stage investors on Insider’s 2022 and 2023 Seed 100 list. Additionally, he is the recipient of MVMT50’s SXSW 2018 Innovator of the Year award, Digital Diversity’s Innovation & Inclusion Change Agent award and was a TechWeek 100 winner. He was named Pitchbook’s 25 Black Founders and VCs to Watch for the last five years and one of Silicon Republic's 26 VC professionals spearheading change. Marlon has been featured on TechCrunch, Fortune, Cheddar, MSNBC, Bloomberg and NBC.
Sam Sturm
Co-founder and Chief Portfolio Officer, Founders Factory Africa
Sam Sturm
Co-founder and Chief Portfolio Officer, Founders Factory Africa
Sam is the Co-founder and Chief Portfolio Officer at Founders Factory Africa, the continent's most hands-on investor and one of its most active early-stage VCs. In addition to ensuring that FFA's portfolio and operations are optimized for commercial success, Sam leads a team that focuses on turning promising ideas into breakthrough innovations, managing Founders Factory Africa’s Venture Studio to develop new businesses from the ground up and helping great founders go from venture to vision.
Sam takes a design-led approach to problem-solving, creating products, services, and business models that are equal parts scalable and sustainable. As a Strategy Lead at the San Francisco-based design firm fuseproject, he worked with a broad range of clients — from large multinational corporates to Silicon Valley startups — and led the design and delivery of the SPRING Accelerator, working with more than 75 businesses across East Africa and South Asia to drive growth at scale. With nearly a decade of experience investing in and supporting early-stage founders in emerging markets, Sam is a big believer in the power of incredible entrepreneurs to change the world for the better.
He has an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BA from Amherst College. Sam brings both a commercial and creative perspective to the venture creation process, leading to businesses that are increasingly inclusive, imaginative, and impactful.
Kola Aina
Partner, Ventures Platform
Kola Aina
Partner, Ventures Platform
Kola is an established investor, insightful non-Executive director, and company chair passionate about seeing start-ups grow and improving the lives of ordinary Africans by democratizing prosperity.
He brings demonstrable success from leading investment in over 70 companies in Africa, India, and the US, including payments companies such as Paystack. He has established networks across the private sector, development partners, financiers, governments, and regulators.
He is an entrepreneur, technology operator, and venture capital investor with vast experience working in Africa’s most significant economic market. He brings expertise across several sectors, including venture capital, technology, media, agriculture, infrastructure, publishing, and real estate, and a significant interest in the arts.
He is a Tutu Fellow and a mentor with various programs, including - XL Africa, the World Bank Accelerator, and Google Launchpad Accelerator. He is also a board member and advisory board member of various organisations ranging from ARM Financial Advisers, Iron Global Markets, and Reliance HMO - to name a few.
Kola is a passionate art patron, chairs the advisory board of the Yemisi Shyllon Art Museum, and is a member of the Africa Acquisitions Committee(AAC) of the Tate Museum. He is also a member of the Young Presidents’ Organisation(YPO) and a fellow of the Aspen Institute USA (ALIWA).
Kola studied Electrical Engineering and then secured a Master’s in Business Administration degree specialising in Finance. He has received further education from Berkeley, Harvard, and the Lagos Business School.
Kola is passionate about mentoring and advising young entrepreneurs creating solutions for mass underserved -markets. This has put him on many local and international stages, where he has delivered speeches, lectures, and talks on technology, entrepreneurship, social change, and various other topics. He gave a TED talk at TEDxEuston where he spoke on the topic “Who will own our future unicorns?”. He also spoke at Techcrunch's first event in Nigeria, Techcrunch Startup Battlefield Africa 2019.
He has received multiple awards and has been featured in various lists such as The 20 most important people in Nigerian tech, The ten most influential people in Nigerian Tech and #YNaijaPowerList2018 for Technology and many more.
Lexi Novitske
General Partner, Norrseken22
Lexi Novitske
General Partner, Norrseken22
Lexi Novitske is the General Partner of Norrsken22, based in Lagos Nigeria. Norrsken22 is a technology growth fund that invests in the markets that operate across Africa, leveraging its partner's local expertise in scaling a business and a board of founders of billion-dollar+ companies to provide best-in-class value to its investee companies.
In 201,2 Lexi moved to Nigeria from the United States, believing the country held immense untapped potential, with an under-penetrated consumer population, expanding infrastructure and online access, and an active entrepreneur network. In 2014, Lexi launched Singularity Investments, a private capital-backed venture investment firm, and backed market champions in fintech and enterprise software including Paystack and Flutterwave.
In 2019 Lexi acquired the firm’s portfolio and launched Acuity Venture Partners continuing Singularity’s mission to invest in technology companies driving trade and financial access across Africa. She continued to back another 25+ companies to build out the infrastructure for the African tech ecosystem including Brimore, Tribal Credit, Mono, and Sabi. Lexi previously managed investments at the African private equity firm Verod Capital Management.
Biola Alabi
General Partner at Acasia Ventures
Biola Alabi
General Partner at Acasia Ventures
Biola Alabi is a General Partner at Acasia Ventures, a VC fund with offices in Cairo, Lagos, and Dubai supporting early-stage technology start-ups across Africa. She's also an angel investor, advisor, and board member for African tech and media companies. Founder of Grooming for Greatness (G4G), a mentorship program, and Biola Alabi Media, a pan-African media firm collaborating with global entities in the TMT sector. She is an accomplished executive producer who spans books, Netflix/Amazon films, and shows like "Big Brother Africa". As Managing Director of M-Net Africa, Biola transformed the continent's broadcasting and film industry, launching seven Africa Magic channels and the Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards, widely regarded as the "African Oscars."
Biola graduated from the University of Cincinnati with a Public and Community Health degree and has completed executive education programs at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Yale University's Jackson Institute of Global Affairs, and Said Business School, University of Oxford. Biola Alabi is a Non-Executive Director at Unilever (Nigeria) and a member of the Audit Committee, Monty Mobile, a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, and the Chairwoman of Big Cabal Media.
Hannah Subayi Kamuanga
Country Officer & Equity Expert at PROPARCO
Hannah Subayi Kamuanga
Country Officer & Equity Expert at PROPARCO
Hannah is an experienced impact and early-stage investor in Africa, currently acting as a Venture Partner at Launch Africa Ventures (the first pan-African early-stage investment fund) – focusing on deal sourcing and selection - also advising on the Francophone African strategy.
Hannah is also acting as the Country Officer for the Republic Democratic of Congo (DRC) within Proparco - one of the largest DFIs in the world. She is passionate about early-stage investment and has been recently re-appointed as a non-executive director of ABAN, the African Business Angel Network (ABAN) a Pan-African non-profit association.
Before joining Launch Africa Ventures and Proparco, Hannah was a portfolio manager in a 1bn$ African fund and an investment banker in London. She graduated from HEC Paris Business School and from Paris I - La Sorbonne Law School
Josh Chibueze
Co-founder/Chief marketing officer, PiggyVest
Josh Chibueze
Co-founder/Chief marketing officer, PiggyVest
Joshua is the Co-founder/Chief marketing officer for PiggyVest - the largest digital savings and micro-investment platform in Nigeria with over 4M registered users nationwide and has existed for almost 7 years, and has helped users save and invest over $1.5billion to date.
Joshua, a graduate of Covenant University was listed as one of the beneficiaries of the Forbes 30under30 2019.
Joshua is a product specialist, brand marketing expert, and a customer success enthusiast with over 11 years of industry experience working for multinationals, SMEs, and several startups
Eniola ‘Korty’ Olanrewaju
Filmmaker/YouTube
Eniola ‘Korty’ Olanrewaju
Filmmaker/YouTube
Eniola ‘Korty’ Olanrewaju, popularly known as Korty EO, is a filmmaker and fast-rising YouTuber with over 200,000 subscribers and 10,000,000+ Views. She has made a mark with her unconventional and candid interview-style videos where she documents unique stories that cover cultural landscapes and inspire thought-provoking conversations. Her channel has featured prominent figures such as Don Jazzy, Asa, Black Sherif, Niyi Okeowo, Rema, Ayra Starr, etc.
Blessing Abeng
Branding & Communications Expert
Blessing Abeng
Branding & Communications Expert
Blessing Abeng is a leading woman in branding and communications in Africa helping brands discover their unique identity so they can tell better stories. As the Co-founder and Director of Communications at Ingressive for Good, she drove the mission of the edtech non profit to create and increase the earning power of African youth through tech training and resources for the growth of the African startup ecosystems.
She led the growth of Ingressive For Good from 0 to over 250,000 community members, training over 100,000, placing thousands in jobs, and exclusively leading multiple cohorts of women-focused tech training, attracting partners and supporters like Coursera, DataCamp, Facebook, Figma, Alphabet, and a host of others. She has worked with brands across industries in unique capacities, nationally and globally, including Seedstars, Heritage Bank, African Alliance, Dark and Lovely (Nigeria and Africa), Bolt, GSK, QuickCheck and many others. Prior to her impactful work with Ingressive for Good, Blessing co-founded Disha, a digital tech startup that caught the attention of an African Unicorn, Flutterwave, leading to a successful acquisition.
Her expertise and ingenuity as the former CMO of Disha contributed significantly to its growth and success, leaving a lasting impact on the tech landscape in Africa. She has won several awards including a recognition as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, UN 100 Most Influential People of African Descent Under 40, YNaija as one of the 100 most powerful youths in Nigeria, PR Power List top 50, UK Africa Achievers Awards, amongst others.
Yemi Keri
CEO Heckerbella
Yemi Keri
CEO Heckerbella
Yemi Keri is a Chair and Non-Executive Director and award-winning commercially minded technologist with 23 years of experience in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industries serving in both the public and private sectors.
She is at the forefront of digital transformation to tackle business and social problems; recognized as one of the foremost women in Technology in Nigeria with demonstrable evidence of delivering innovative business solutions through technology.
Yemi is a Board member of the First City Monument Bank Ltd (FCMB), Investment One Financial Services, the Nigerian-German Chamber of Commerce, Beyond Credit Limited, GAIA Africa, and Nigeria Climate Innovation Centre. She is the Digital Platform and Financial Services
Thematic Lead of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group(NESG), a member of Governing Council of the Fintech Association of Nigeria, and on the Advisory Board of Ingressive LLC, Majeur Chesterfield, and SabiHub.
Yemi Keri is the co-founder of Rising Tide Africa, a women’s movement initiated with a vision to increase women’s participation in angel investing as an asset class and promote education, cross-border investing, and investor-mentoring across Africa. She is a member of the Board of Governors of the Lagos Angel Network and serves on the Board of Africa Business Angel Network (ABAN) as well as the Investment Committee of Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF), managed by Acumen Capital Partners.
She is a mentor to various digital and technology-enabled start-ups. Yemi is an Expert in Residence (EIR) at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) and a Facilitator on Corporate Governance and Digital Technology & Trends at the Pan- Atlantic University, Lagos.
She was honoured as Nigeria's most outstanding Public Sector CIO at the ICT Centenary Awards in 2014.
Uwem Uwemakpan
Head of Investments at Launch Africa VC Fund II
Uwem Uwemakpan
Head of Investments at Launch Africa VC Fund II
Uwem Uwemakpan is a seasoned ecosystem builder and investor, currently serving as the Head of Investments at Launch Africa VC Fund II. With an unwavering commitment to supporting early-stage startups, Uwem is at the forefront of driving entrepreneurship in Africa’s dynamic business landscape.
Previously, Uwem played a pivotal role in the success of Ingressive Capital, where he led operations and investments. During his tenure, he oversaw the growth and impact of a $10m Fund I and $50m Fund II venture capital fund that has been instrumental in empowering the next generation of African innovators.
Before his time at Ingressive Capital, Uwem served as the Entrepreneurship Programme Manager and founding team member of The Tony Elumelu Foundation. In this role, he spearheaded the largest Pan-African Entrepreneurship Programme, a $100 million initiative that exceeded its 10-year goal of training, mentoring, and funding 10,000 entrepreneurs across Africa in just five years. Uwem’s leadership and dedication to driving entrepreneurship have cemented his reputation as a dynamic and influential figure in the African startup community.
Today, as the Head of Investments at Launch Africa VC, Uwem continues to leverage his expertise and industry connections to build robust entrepreneurship ecosystems. He actively collaborates with renowned organizations such as Google, IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator, She Leads Africa, Startup Grind, and Techstars, amongst others to support and uplift African startups.
Mayokun Owolabi
VP, Global Expansion & Payment Partnership - Anglophone Africa at Flutterwave
Mayokun Owolabi
VP, Global Expansion & Payment Partnership - Anglophone Africa at Flutterwave
Mayokun Owolabi is a distinguished professional with over 11 years of experience in the digital payments industry. She hold’s a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology Management from the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, Scotland. Mayokun has also honed her expertise through programs from renowned institutions like Lagos Business School, Nigeria and Harvard Business School (HBX).
Mayokun’s impressive credentials include certifications as a Business Data Analyst, Project Management Professional and SAP MM Consultant just to mention a few. Currently serving as the VP, Global Expansion & Payment Partnership - Anglophone Africa at Flutterwave, Mayokun spearheads the enablement of payment channels across Flutterwave's largest market through strategic partnerships. Her impactful contributions extend to her previous role at NIBSS, where she played a pivotal role in industry initiatives that have revolutionized the payments landscape in Nigeria.
With a wealth of knowledge and experience, Mayokun brings a deep understanding of digital payments, partnerships, and industry transformation.
Ruth Iselema
CEO, Bitmama
Ruth Iselema
CEO, Bitmama
Ruth Iselema is one of the pioneers and leading female leaders in Africa’s blockchain space. She is the Chief Executive Officer of Bitmama Inc, a pan-African blockchain startup offering crypto products in payments, trading, and investments, with footprints across Africa, Europe, and the US.
In 2021, she launched Changera, a cross-border payments platform helping businesses and individuals to send and receive money globally. Prior to founding Bitmama, Ruth consulted for other leading global exchanges and blockchain protocols on their product strategy and market entry into Africa, including Binance and CELO. Fondly called the Bitmama of Africa’s blockchain space, Ruth has been recognized as one top 20 individuals shaping Africa’s blockchain space by leading media such as CryptoAssetBuyer and received other recognition from the German and Austrian Missions in Africa.
Maya Horgan Famodu
Founder & MD at Ingressive Capital
Maya Horgan Famodu
Founder & MD at Ingressive Capital
Maya Horgan Famodu is Founder & MD at Ingressive Capital, a $10 Million VC Fund I and $50 Million Fund II targeting early stage African tech. Ingressive Capital seeded some of Africa’s fastest-growing businesses, including Paystack (sold for $200M+ to Stripe); 54gene (Series A led by Adjuvant, an IFC fund); Tizeti (Series A led by 4DX). 33% of portfolio is female founded and 31% are Y Combinator alumni.
Maya and her team are building a pipeline from the time a student thinks “I want to be in tech” all the way to the time they IPO. As such, she co-founded Ingressive for Good, a nonprofit focused on cultivating technical talent and resources for the African startup ecosystems; and founded Ingressive Advisory, a market entry / market operations that served 50+ international companies to enter and operate across Africa, and they’ve done a collective 50+ deals. She is a 2x Forbes 30under30 and UN MIPAD.
Fatima Tambajang
Head of Developer Relations, Startups & VC for Africa at Nvidia
Fatima Tambajang
Head of Developer Relations, Startups & VC for Africa at Nvidia
Fatima Tambajang is the Head of Developer Relations, Startups & VC for Africa at Nvidia. She is driving momentum with external African developer communities and equipping them with the tools and knowledge needed to create innovative AI solutions.
NVIDIA, a global technology leader headquartered in San Francisco and ranked among the top 10 biggest companies in the world, is leading the AI revolution with its groundbreaking work in AI and GPU technology that powers everything from Chat GPT to African innovations.
Before joining Nvidia, Fatima managed a global accelerator program where she worked closely with dozens of high-growth startups, helping them scale their operations through partnerships across key African markets such as Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa. Her experience and expertise have led her to speak on several platforms, including the BBC Africa Debate, Forbes, and Copenhagen Fintech Week, where she shares her insights on startups, venture capital, and developer relations.
David I. Adeleke
Africa Editor, Rest of World and Publisher, Communiqué
David I. Adeleke
Africa Editor, Rest of World and Publisher, Communiqué
David I. Adeleke is a journalist and media executive. He is currently the Africa Editor at Rest of World, a publication exploring the impact of technology outside the Western bubble. He also publishes Communiqué, a media and tech analysis newsletter with over 40,000 subscribers.
His work has appeared in publications such as The Continent, Al Jazeera, and Guardian Life. Previously, he headed Business Insider Africa and worked as an editor at Ventures Africa and TechCabal.
David is a Media and Journalism Fellow with the Charles Koch Institute. He holds a degree in Mass Communication from Covenant University and a certificate in Storytelling for Modern Media from Yale University.
Ope Adeoye
CEO, OnePipe
Ope Adeoye
CEO, OnePipe
Ope is the founder of OnePipe.io, a company building a platform that makes it possible for organizations to launch or embed financial services like accounts, improved payments and credit within their products.
He has spent 20 years in the technology & payments ecosystem in various capacities including engineering, leading high-performance product teams and deal sourcing for M&A activities. Most notable is his work helping to birth and grow Quickteller and Lending Services while at Interswitch, Nigeria's largest payments company.
He holds an engineering degree from the University of Ilorin and certificates from Lagos Business School and Stanford CPD. He also serves as a Trustee at Open Technology Foundation, helping with advocacy for the Open Banking Nigeria initiative.
Mayowa Olaniyan
Group Managing Director/CEO, CHAMS Group
Mayowa Olaniyan
Group Managing Director/CEO, CHAMS Group
Mayowa Olaniyan is an insightful Business Executive with sturdy managerial expertise. Until her appointment as the Group Managing Director/CEO of Chams Holding Company PLC, she was the MD/CEO of Chamsmobile Limited, a fast-growing FinTech company, licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). She has built an accomplished and well-recognized career of close to 30 years that spans Technology, Strategy, Finance, Audit, and Automobile. Over the years, she has established a record of success by significantly growing business value and maximizing profits through internal control and efficiency.
In the past years, Mayowa has served in various managerial capacities in renowned organizations such as SCOA Nigeria PLC and Tranter International Ltd. She later joined Supercard Limited (a then subsidiary of Chams Holdco PLC) as the AGM of Corporate Services, where she oversaw the company’s corporate activities.
It is noteworthy that Mayowa led the implementation of one of Chams Holdco PLC’s most successful public-private partnership projects, deriving cost optimization for the partnering state government, and achieving increased earnings for the company.
A chartered accountant of repute, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), and Associate Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA), Mayowa holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University, UK. She has a degree in Applied Accounting and post graduate diploma from Oxford Brooks University, UK. She is an alumna of the prestigious Pan Atlantic University (Lagos Business School), Nigeria, the University of Stellenbosch Business School, South Africa, and NANYANG Technology University, Singapore. Mayowa Olaniyan, Chams’ Amazon, serves on the board of several organizations within the Chams Group and other organizations.