• Executive Director, Information Technology and Operations, Access Bank Plc.
• Member, Global Technology Advisory Board, Mastercard
• President, FINTECH Nigeria
• Non Executive Director, NIBBS
• Chairman, Access Bank Plc., Kenya
• Chartered member, British Computer Society
• Member, Institute of Directors
• Former Chairman, NESG FinTech Thematic Group
• Former Chairman, Fintech Roadmap Committee, SEC, Nigeria
• Former Executive Director, Market Operations and Technology, Nigerian Stock Exchange
• Former Director, Business Transformation Programmes , Barclays Bank Plc.
• MBA, CASS Business School ; MSc, South Bank University; BSc, University of Ife

Mr Abdullahi is a Massachusetts Institute of Technology – MIT Sloan – trained strategist with 15 years experience in IT operations, business transformation and solution architecture,
across both private and public sectors. He attended Leadership and Management courses at Harvard University in the USA, University of Cambridge in the UK and IMD Business School
in Switzerland. As the 1st Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) in Nigeria’s Public Sector, he is also a Certified Project Manager and Solution Architect. He also has many professional
certifications in Networking, Telecommunications, Service Management and Solution Design.

In 2014, Mr Abdullahi joined Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as a Technology Architect, where he dedicated his time to developing Technology Architecture Repository that gives 360
view of the Bank’s IT Infrastructure and facilitated ease of decision making on new IT investment. He was part of the team that executed software license rationalization that has increased cost savings for the Bank in license annual subscriptions.

Iniabasi Akpan (Ini) is the Managing Director and Country Manager for OPay Nigeria, an International fintech company which is a member of the Opera Group of Companies owners of Opera AS Norway developers of the world leading browser Opera. At OPay, Ini works with a core team of local and international experts to foster financial inclusion leveraging digital and mobile technologies to deliver financial services to the underbanked and unbanked in Nigeria and across Africa.

Ini has held several key positions in the financial services and ICT industries. Before his current role, he was an Executive Director in Telnet (Nigeria) Limited and the Managing Director of SoftWorks Limited a (Subsidiary of the Telnet Group). With over 23 years of experience in Software and Systems engineering with a particular interest in IT business solutions, security and payment systems. Ini was responsible for the software and systems engineering of all Telnet’s IT business solutions, payment and financial system initiatives. Responsible for the first large scale deployment of Two Factor Authentication and Public Key Infrastructure in Nigeria for the Central Bank (CBN) and the Nigerian Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS)- a cheque automated clearing system and the rapid scale out of the Federal Inland Revenue System (FIRS) tax system; Ini ensured that IT business solutions and payment systems meet the needs of customers and have the security and scalability required by the peculiarities
of the Nigerian environment. While at Telnet, Ini also spearheaded and managed the incubation and operations of PayCom Nigeria Limited a Mobile Money Operator licensed by CBN in 2011 and which was later acquired by OPay in 2017.

With a B.Sc in Computer Science from the University of Lagos and an MBA from IESE in Spain, Ini understands business and technology and is able apply the knowledge to any assignment or business role in which he is engaged.

Elizabeth Rossiello is the CEO and founder of AZA Finance, a global fintech company that is accelerating economic growth in Africa through its best-in-class foreign exchange, payments,                    settlement                    and                    treasury                    services.

Elizabeth founded AZA Finance in 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya. In her previous roles as a rating analyst for global institutions across sub-Saharan Africa, Elizabeth consulted for organisations like the Grameen Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Acumen Fund. Throughout this experience, she saw first-hand how African businesses and currencies were consistently undervalued and underserved by the “developed world,” in part due to pervasive Western stereotypes about the continent. She realised that Africa’s embrace of financial technologies like mobile money posed an invaluable opportunity to change the narrative. The right company could bridge the financial services gap between G20 and African countries, which would unlock Africa’s trillion- dollar growth through new jobs, partnerships and investment. She decided to found AZA Finance (then Bitpesa) to realise this vision, starting by bringing blockchain and digital currencies to the African market. AZA has since expanded to offer a full suite of FX and payments services across all major African and G20 currencies, powered by its proprietary fintech platforms. To date, AZA has managed more than $2 billion in global transactions for SMEs, global organisations and companies from more than 115 countries. Its incredible mission and growth was recognized by Fast Company in 2021 as a Global Top                        10                        Most                        Innovative                        Company.

Elizabeth is committed to expanding access to financial technologies and global markets. Elizabeth co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s Council on Blockchain in service of this vision, in addition to sitting on the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Global Advisory Board. She was recently named as a 2021 Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst, a curated group of CEOs and leaders driving development and impact.  She served as a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer for 2019 and participated as a member of the Digital Currency Governance Consortium.

Ray is the co-founder and CEO of Paxful, the peer-to-peer finance platform. Ray and his co-founder Artur started Paxful in 2015 to help everyone have financial freedom through equal access to finance. Ray started out as an entrepreneur in 2001; he founded a successful ringtone business and then had a series of start-ups before setting up Paxful. At Paxful, Ray is CEO and looks after growth, marketing, customer service and operations.  Ray also founded the Built with Bitcoin Foundation that uses cryptocurrencies to create opportunity and thriving communities by providing access to clean water, quality education, and healthy food and a healthy environment via sustainable farming.

Ruth Iselema is the founder & CEO of Bitmama Inc., a fintech company with two flagship products, Changera and Bitmama.

While Bitmama is a highly-secure crypto-fiat exchange that allows traders to buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets in Africa, Changera is a solution that makes cross-border payments easy and efficient for businesses and individuals. Ruth graduated as a Pharmacist from Central University Accra, Ghana and forayed into entrepreneurship back in 2013 when the African blockchain and fintech landscape were quite nascent. Crypto traders relied on social media like WhatsApp and Telegram to exchange coins despite associated risks and the process of conducting cross-border remittances proved very rigid for individuals and businesses.

In 2016, she was inspired to build solutions that address both challenges in parallel. This led to the birth of Bitmama Inc. In 2018, Bitmama emerged one of the startups selected for the inaugural Greenhouse Lab female accelerator by Venture Garden Group. Since then, the company has joined other accelerators and programs like LSETF, Seedstars and Startup Germany.

Bitmama’s solutions cater to thousands of users across the globe. Ruth leads the company’s globally-distributed team who are passionate and excited about the possibilities of their products, Bitmama and Changera

Upon graduation, Timbo joined Google where he spent seven years working in product management and marketing.  Highlights of his time at Google include the launch of Google Maps across EMEA, and taking Chromecast from idea to launch, filing seven patents along the way.

In 2014, Timbo took a sabbatical from Google and used this time to travel across East and West Africa. It was during this time he recognised some of the addressing challenges that people living in these territories faced, and he decided to dedicate his time to finding solutions.  The result of this exploration was OkHi.

As OkHi’s CEO and Co-Founder, Timbo launched the company in Nairobi on the back of validating the addressing problem space in Kenya,  He now leads the company as they prepare to officially launch in Nigeria.

Timbo holds a MEng from the University of Oxford

Nkem Nweke has over 14 years of active experience in the Technology industry. He is a senior business executive with a clear understanding of technology and strategy  alignment. He’s had direct involvement in business planning that has delivered business value through cutting edge technology within the Middle East and Africa region.

He has worked in several technical capacities with organizations like Hewlett Packard, Dimension Data and currently works with Microsoft African Development Centre (ADC) as the Engineering Innovations Lead.

With a PMP certification from the Project Management Institute, he holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka and MBA in Business Administration/Projects from the University of Manchester, U.K.

Nkem is passionate about Social development initiatives, Leadership and Innovation as well as shaping young minds to contribute to their communities.

Simon is co-founder of Bitt.com, the Caribbean’s first blockchain firm. Bitt enables central banks, financial institutions, and other stakeholders to deploy, manage, and integrate with digital currencies on internet native payment networks.

Simon is a Board Member of the OECD’s Blockchain Expert Policy Advisory Board (BEPAB), and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Digital Currency Governance Consortium. He is working on CBDC design principles and standards with international peers from the traditional financial sector and the cryptosphere.

Dr Faye is a Subject Matter Expert in Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Big Data, Data Governance and Business Intelligence, with more than 20 years of experience in that area holding various leadership and technical roles.

He recently joined Access Bank as their Chief Data Officer, coming from a Swiss private Bank named “Vontobel Bank” based out of Zurich, where he was their Executive Director heading their Data Management & Artificial Intelligence Group.

Prior to Vontobel Bank, he was heading the Cloud Data & AI practice at Microsoft Canada, before leading HP Big Data & Machine Learning SME for DACH region based out of Switzerland.

Prior to HP, Abdou was the Head of SAP Predictive Analysis & Big Data CoE (Center Of Excellence) business for DACH, CEE and CIS regions during 5 years, in charge of Business Development and Sales Support.

Prior to SAP, he worked 4 Years again at Microsoft as Senior BI, Big Data & SQL-Server Consultant in Switzerland, after 10 years spent at Philip Morris (CH), Orange Telco (CH) and SEMA Group (FR).

Abdou graduated from Paris 11 University in 2000, where he completed a PhD on Data Mining/Artificial Intelligence, after completing a Master in Computer Science at Paris 11 University and a Bachelor degree at Saint-Louis (Senegal).

Toju is a Responsible AI Program Manager at Google, and has over 15 years experience spanning across Advertising, Retail, Not-For Profits and Tech. She designs Responsible AI programs focused on the development and implementation of Responsible AI frameworks amongst Google’s product teams. With a proven track record on business success and project management, she is a Manager for Women in AI Ireland, Tech start-ups Mentor, and a Business Advisor. Toju is a public speaker and advocates for transparent and bias free AI aimed at reducing systemic injustices and furthering equality. She is also the founder of VIBE, a women’s community focused on personal and professional development using the underlying principles of emotional intelligence.

Daniel Awe is the Head of Africa Fintech Foundry, an establishment with an overall objective to Scout, search, identify ideas that can be incubated and accelerated to add real value (commercialisation or social impact)  to the eco-system or wider society.  In addition, AFF is an Innovation Hub for new Technology Ideas that will shape the future of Financial Technology.   Daniel is an experienced Payment Solution architect that previously led the Channels Solution Delivery Group in Access Bank before his appointment to Head Africa Fintech Foundry. Daniel spent the last 15 years innovating and creating cutting edge ePayment platforms in the financial sector.

Daniel is equipped with a wealth of experience around Leadership, Management, Strategy, CX Transformation, Design Thinking, Solution Architecture, Enterprise Capability, Agile Project Management, and a unique forte to identify and nurture innovative opportunities.

Daniel graduated with a B.Sc. Honors in Electronics with Computer Engineering from the Lagos State University and Advanced Leadership and Management program from the prestigious IMD.

R.S. Mohammed is the Director, Information Technology Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria. She has strong passion for process optimization, strategic alignment of IT with business priorities and use of technology to accomplish mission critical requirement of the financial services sector

Rakiya oversees the administration and maintenance of the CBN’s mission critical national information technology infrastructure, Cybersecurity and ICT operations which supports bank-wide businesses services. She has served as Head of Strategy and Innovation, Application Management, Service Management and Information security Management divisions at various times.

She brings with her over 25 years experience of which 15 years are in top leadership roles traversing the public and private sectors. Prior to joining the CBN, she had served as Head, Strategy & IT at Galaxy Backbone, CIO Premium Pension Ltd, Deputy General Manager (IT) at NITEL and Head, Branch Banking Systems at Northern Region Continental Merchant Bank

She holds a First-class Honours degree in Computer Science from the prestigious Ahmadu Bello University , a Masters degree in Information Systems Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology(UMIST). She is an associate member of Institute of Chartered Accounts of Nigeria (ICAN), Certified IT Business Manager , Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Project Management Professional (Prince 2), Certified IT Service Manager, Certified Enterprise and Solution Architect, Certified IT Governance Professional , Certified Information Security (ISO 27001) Lead Implementer, Certified Information Security (ISO 27001) Lead Auditor and Certified Chief Information Security Officer (CCISO).

Rakiya is an alumni of Kellogs School of Management, USA, Oxford University UK and Harvard Business School USA.

She is Currently the programme manager on the implementation and adoption of the Central Bank of Nigeria Digital Currency (CBDC).

Michael is the Chief Science Officer at Prudential plc and the founder and head of Prudential’s Centre of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence.  He joined Prudential 2016 from Silicon Valley based Pivotal Labs where he built and led the Data Science team. His experience lies in the application of artificial intelligence methods to large-scale, multi-structured data sets, in particular neural network based deep learning techniques. Michael previously founded and sold a London-based machine learning start-up and prior to that was a partner at a major consulting firm.

Michael holds an MBA, a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society.

Ojuolape Agbaje is a self-taught documentary, street and portrait photographer from Lagos, Nigeria focused on stories surrounding identity, cultural heritage and family life across the globe.

Trained as a lawyer, her photography journey began in 2015 when she went on a photography walk around Lagos Island (famous for its Brazilian Quarters) in order to discover more about the city of Lagos’ history. Since then, her work has been featured in Conde Nast Travel Magazine, Villa Mugnello, and platforms such as Culture Custodian and the Guardian. In 2019, she was selected to be an exhibiting artist of the Lagos Photo Festival 2019. Her work was also exhibited at No 3. Carnaby Street as part of a showcase curated by 21 Youth Street, a creative hub for emerging London talent.

Ojuolape’s work documents the way people live in different cities around the world by capturing them in their natural elements.

Dr. David Isiavwe is currently the General Manager and functions as Head of Operations & Technology at Ecobank Nigeria.  He is also the current President and Chairman Board of Trustees of the Information Security Society of Africa, Nigeria (ISSAN), a not-for-profit organization focused on securing the cyber space of Africa. He sits on the Governing Council of Fintech Association of Nigeria, an umbrella body for fintechs and the fintech ecosystem in Nigeria.

He is also the current Chairman of the Statutory Audit Committee of Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).

David was previously General Manager and Chief Audit Executive of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc as well as the Chief Operating Officer, UBA Africa. Also, he was the Deputy Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of   Banque Internationale Du Burkina (BIB) – in Burkina Faso, West Africa.

Dr. David Isiavwe has approximately 30 years working experience spanning the Banking industry as well as the academe having been a lecturer at the Department of Accounting, University of Benin from 1989 before joining Citibank in 1992 where he rose to the rank of Vice President, based in Cape town South Africa.

David holds a Ph.D. degree in Accounting. His key areas of interest and specialization include Digital Transformation, Corporate Governance, Business Transformation/Turn-Around and the Security of Information Systems. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA); an Honorary Senior Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB) and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) by the (ISC)² of the United States of America  as well as being  Certified in the Governance of Enterprise Information Technology (CGEIT) by ISACA also in the United States of America. David holds additional professional certifications and has attended extensive international certification courses in diverse fields of study from notable universities like Harvard University, Boston University, University of Oxford – Saïd Business School, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a host of other institutions.

Oluwaseun has over 13 years experience in the provision of forensic audit, investigation, regulatory and compliance reviews, risk management and anti-money laundering services to clients in the financial services, energy & natural resources, consumer/industrial markets, manufacturing and aviation industries as well as government parastatals, MDAs.

Oluwaseun studied Management and Accounting at Obafemi Awo l owo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. He is a member of:

• Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, England (ACCA)
• Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ACA)
• Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE)
• CIArb

Oluwaseun leads the regulatory compliance service line in KPMG wh ich involves anti-money laundering and anti- bribery and corruption services. Oluwaseun has been involved in several high profile investigations in the Banks in Nigeria. He led the forensic examination of inappropriate related party lending, fraudulent financial reporting and misappropriation of loan proceeds in major Nigerian financial institutions. Oluwaseun has also facilitated Anti-money Laundering training, Anti-Bribery and Corruption training and Ethics training for the Board and senior management of several organizations in Nigeria.

Oluwaseun briefly worked with KPMG in India on a high profile investigation in 2012.