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Dr. Omobola Johnson is a Partner of TLcom Capital (Lagos, Nigeria)—a venture capital firm focused on investments in technology-enabled companies in Sub-Saharan Africa. Before joining TLcom, Omobola was Minister of Communication Technology, Nigeria from 2011 to 2015. During this time, she supervised the launch and execution of the National Broadband Plan and provided support to the Nigerian technology industry.

Before serving in the Nigerian government, Omobola worked in Accenture for over twenty-five years, including five years as Country Managing Director. She serves on the board of a number of not-for-profit and for-profit organizations, including Women in Management and Business (WIMBIZ), where she was the founding chairperson. She has a Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Manchester, a Master's degree in Digital Electronics from King's College, London and a Doctorate in Business Administration from the School of Management of Cranfield University.

Tomisin Fashina is the Chief Information Officer for the Ecobank Group and Managing Director of eProcess (a technology shared service subsidiary of Ecobank). He has over 27 years of experience in several industries, including technology and financial services, with over 15 years in management positions. At Ecobank, he is responsible for ensuring the efficient and effective use of technology to meet business goals and objectives. 

Tomisin served as the Managing Director of Yookos, a social media company providing social network services. Prior to that, he was the General Manager, Transaction Banking Products with ABSA Business Bank (Barclays Africa Group) Johannesburg. He has held several other positions, including Director, Cash Management, Barclays Bank PLC Dubai and Division Head and Director Client Delivery, Global Transactions Services at Citigroup South Africa. Tomisin holds a B.Sc. degree in Computer Engineering from Obafemi Awolowo University and an MBA in Marketing from the University of Lagos. 

Folasade Femi-Lawal is a fellow of both, the Institutes of Chartered Accountants and Taxation of Nigeria, and an alumnus of Harvard Executive Education Business School. She is currently the Head of Digital Banking for First Bank of Nigeria. Her accomplishments include the successful launch of the first integrated lifestyle mobile banking app FirstMobile—which received a 4.7 rating within 24 hours—on Google, blankberry and Android Appstore.

Folasade joined FirstBank in July 2012, when she held the role of Deputy Head, Mobile Financial Services (MFS) and helped the bank take giant strides that led to partnerships with major institutions such as the Cherie Blair Foundation, UNICEF and major telecoms in Nigeria. She has to her credit the Global Finance award for the ‘Best Digital Bank of Distinction for 2016’ as well as the 2016 Asian Banker Award for the ‘Best Mobile Payments' at the 3rd West Africa International Banking Convention.

Dennis Onome Ezaga is an accomplished banking executive with over 19 years of demonstrated career success in banking, encompassing experience in sales, product management, business development, strategic planning/new setups, remittances, and banking operations.

Prior to his current role, he was responsible for opening First City Monument Bank’s Transaction Banking office in Abuja, where he led the team and helped the organization significantly increase the adoption and usage of electronic products. Dennis is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Finance and Control, as well as the Institute of Credit Administration of Nigeria.

Currently working as the Chief Information Security Officer and Group Head Information Security Group at Guaranty Trust Bank Plz. Nigeria, Bharat Soni has over 18 years of experience in information security risk assessments, business risk assessment, IT governance and compliance. He has demonstrated skill in developing information security frameworks and conceptualizing information security policies, as well as ensuring compliance with security standards and procedures.

Shina Atilola is a consummate strategist and communication expert with experience driving product strategy and execution for banks. He has over 20 years of experience in business strategy, marketing communication, branding, auditing, mergers & acquisitions, and financial management. Currently the Group Head, Strategy and Innovation, of Sterling Bank, Shina has established himself as a reputable banker with expertise in enabling sustainable businesses over his 18-year banking career.

An erudite strategist in the Nigerian banking sector, Shina has enabled Sterling Bank to develop innovative approaches to doing business. He is an entrepreneur and thrives in challenging and fast-paced environments. He also runs businesses in the agriculture and real estate sectors. Shina is a graduate of Obafemi Awolowo University Ife, with a first class honours degree in International Relations, and an alumnus of Wharton Business School. He is trained in strategic thinking, credit analysis, and brand management, among others.

Usman Abdulqadir has over 20 years of banking experience, spanning retail and commercial banking, as well as bank supervision and regulation. He began his banking career with FSB International Bank Plc (now Fidelity Bank) in 1996, and served as the Kaduna Business Development Manager of Reliance Bank Limited (now Skye Bank), where he managed corporate, private and public-sector clients, before moving on to the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2003. He played a central role in the banking sector reforms of 2005 and 2009, and authored several in-house papers in the areas of financial stability, risk management and bank supervision.

Between 2010 and 2012, Usman represented the Central Bank of Nigeria in the Liquidity Risk Management Working Group of the Islamic Financial Services Board, a global body with 188 members (including 61 regulatory/supervisory authorities and 8 inter-governmental bodies). He also represented the CBN at the 2015 Seminar for Senior Supervisors from Emerging Economies. Usman graduated from Bayero University, Kano, in 1993 with a upper second class degree in Accounting, and also holds a Master's degree in Islamic Finance from Durham University, UK. He is an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria.

Victor Okigbo is a pioneering digital innovator in Nigeria, and an advocate of technology entrepreneurship to foster greater digital inclusion on the African continent. Over the last 25 years, he has co-founded InfoSoft Nigeria - one of the country’s leading software development firms, worked with firms as diverse as Microsoft and British American Tobacco, and initiated the formation of IDEA Nigeria - the country’s first public-private partnership technology incubator.

Victor is Head of Financial Technology and Innovation at Access Bank, and currently leads The Africa Fintech Foundry - a fintech startup incubator based in Lagos. In his spare time, he runs Anthill 2.0, an acclaimed invitation-only poetry and spoken word forum that is held at various discreet locations in the city of Lagos. Victor also voluntarily serves on the Nigerian Economic Summit Group's Science and Technology Policy Commission.

Dr. Etienne Slabbert joined Barclays Africa Group in May 2010 and is responsible for technology strategy, execution and service on the continent outside of South Africa. Prior to joining Barclays Africa, Etienne held various senior technology, operations and banking roles at firms such as Nedbank, Accenture and Infoplan.

He holds a Ph.D. in Management of Technology and Innovation from the Da Vinci Institute for Technology and Innovation, and an MBA from Oxford Brooks UK. Etienne was a councillor at Sol Plaatjes University (one of South Africa’s two new universities), Chairman of the Facilities, Infrastructure and Information Technology Committee and a member of the University Executive Committee.

Dipo Fatokun is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and the Chartered Institute of Bankers, with leadership and top management experience in both, the public and private sectors. He has attended several training programmes locally as well as internationally, including The Payments System Policy and Oversight Training by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Dipo is presently serving as the Director, Banking and Payments System Department, Central Bank of Nigeria, and was a Deputy Director in the Banking Supervision Department of the Bank. He is the current Chairman of the Nigeria Electronic Fraud Forum, MICR Implementation Technical Committee and Payments Infrastructure Coordinating Committee, and the Secretary of the Payments System Strategy Board. Dipo holds a B.Sc. degree in Accounting from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State and a Masters’ degree in Business Administration from the University of Lagos.

Shola Akinlade is co-founder and CEO of Paystack, which provides a simple and secure way for merchants in Africa to accept payments from their websites or mobile apps. Paystack is the first Nigerian startup that was accepted for the Y Combinator’s accelerator programme. The company recently received US$ 1.3 million in seed funding.

Prior to Paystack, Shola co-founded Precurio—an open-source collaboration software for businesses in emerging markets—which was downloaded over 150,000 times and made available in 6 languages. He graduated with a B.Sc. in Computer Science from Babcock University.

Benedict Anyalenkeya has over 25 years of experience in consulting, manufacturing and banking, with core competencies in technology strategy, electronic banking, channels and product management, retail banking, accounting, and project management. He began his career in banking as operations staff before moving into IT audit consulting in 1994 when he joined EDP Audit & Security Associates. At EDP Audit & Security Associates, he consulted for regulators, multi-national companies and banks.

Benedict is a Microsoft Certified Professional, Certified Information Systems Auditor, Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Associate Chartered Certified Accountant of London, Lead Auditor certified in British Standard number 7799 on Information Security and certified International Cards & Payments Professional. He is also certified in Risk and Control of IT.

Muhammad Jibrin has rich experience in banking and management, having previously held positions in Union Bank of Nigeria, Citigroup NA and Barclays Bank in four countries across Africa and Europe. Prior to joining SunTrust, he was an Executive Director on the Board of Aso Savings and Loans Plc. and at one point the Group Head responsible for growing Bond Bank’s (now Skye Bank Plc) business in Abuja and the North.

Muhammad has served on various boards and was at one time the National Deputy President of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Nigeria and a member of the Presidential Committee on Affordable Housing. He holds an M.Sc. in Risk Management from the NYU Leonard N. Stern Business School, New York University, an MBA from the Imperial College London, a diploma in General Management from Harvard University and a postgraduate diploma in Financial Management from the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi.

Onajite Regha is the founder of the non-profit E-Payment Providers Association of Nigeria (E-PPAN), which actively engages with the banking industry and digital payment stakeholders to ensure that Nigerian consumers and businesses benefit from access to world-class payments. She has been its Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer since the organisation’s inception, partaking in advocacy, research, strategy, stakeholder facilitation and articulation of initiatives that educate and connect people in the payments environment.

Onajite has over 17 years of experience in media, banking and electronic payment systems. She has worked in team-oriented, high-volume, fast-paced, client-centric environments, serving as an operations manager at an oil servicing company in the Niger Delta, a counter service supervisor at Citibank Nigeria and a leader of the first e-payment magazine in the West African sub-region. Onajite studied Mass Communication at Delta State University, Abraka, received a certificate in Projects Management and is an Extra Value Certified Professional by Harvard Associates.

Peter Martis is currently director of the Face Recognition Business Unit at Innovatrics. His areas of focus include continuous product improvement, increasing Innovatrics’ presence in the face recognition market and evangelising the use of facial biometrics on mobile devices.

Prior to Innovatrics, Peter worked for Nuance, Genesys and Siemens, focusing on the sales activities and business development of the biometrics and customer service solutions verticals. While working at Nuance, he managed to increase the sales of voice biometrics technology in the Central European region by 400 per cent. Peter holds a degree in Computer Automation from Slovak Technical University. He is married with two children.

Temitope Akin-Fadeyi is the Head, Financial Inclusion Secretariat at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). She also serves as Secretary to the National Financial Inclusion Governing Committees and Coordinator: Financial Inclusion Working Groups, focusing on products, channels, financial literacy and special interventions for priority segments. Prior to joining CBN, Temitope was a Management Board member and Head of Banking Services of FINCA International—a global microfinance organisation—where she pioneered the Banking Services Department in Uganda and mentored subsidiary heads.

She has over 16 years of work experience spanning strategy, operations, digital financial services, microfinance, retail/consumer banking, product development/sales, project management and international money transfers. She is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and a Fellow of the Fletcher Leadership Program for financial inclusion. Since assuming office as the Head, Financial Inclusion Secretariat, she has played a key role in advancing financial services to previously excluded populations across Nigeria.

oby Shapshak is Editor in Chief and Publisher of Stuff South Africa, a contributor to Forbes and a columnist for the Financial Mail. His TED Talk on innovation in Africa has over 1.4 million views. He believes Africa is a mobile-driven continent, and has written about the same for CNN, The Guardian in London and Forbes.

Toby has been featured in the New York Times and has won the ICT Journalist of the Year award. He was named in GQ’s top 30 men in media and the Mail & Guardian newspaper's 300 influential young South Africans lists. GQ said he "has become the most high-profile technology journalist in the country." As a news and political journalist, he ran the Mail & Guardian newspaper’s website when it was the first news site in Africa, shadowed Nelson Mandela when he was president, and covered the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Rishi Pillay is the General Manager and Regional Head: Africa for FSS, a leading global payments technology and processing company headquartered in Chennai, India. FSS offers business value in the areas of electronic payments and financial transaction processing solutions and services. The company has earned the status of a payments systems leader through a combination of an established portfolio of technology solutions, state-of-the-art infrastructure and 26 years of experience in the payments domain.

Rishi was previously the CEO of the automated clearing bureau business within BankservAfrica. He has over 20 years of experience in the financial services industry, undertaking senior roles across retail banking, payments, CRM, product management and IT. He has worked extensively in South Africa and the rest of Africa, managing existing operations and creating startups spanning consumer banking and retail transaction solutions. Rishi is passionate about payments and technology innovation, and is an enabler of financial inclusion and social upliftment.

Osasu Igbinedion is an experienced e-business and financial technology expert. He began his professional career in 2010 as an E-business Executive with Zenith Bank Plc in Lagos, Nigeria. He was responsible for managing e-business products in upcountry locations, training, and implementing electronic products for branches and clients in the zone.

In 2013, he joined a company with a mandate to grow and deepen electronic product adoption in Northern Nigeria. He successfully executed and managed revenue collections and implemented a framework for Treasury Single Account (TSA) for major states in the region, including Kano, Kaduna and Gombe. He is currently the Business Development Manager for Software Group in Nigeria.

Volodymyr Budanov is currently a marketing and sales professional in a fintech company. After spending nearly 15 years working in different international banks, He has a clear idea of how financial services work and what customers really need in their daily life.

Volodymyr creates and sells various fintech products, including mobile wallets, electronic money systems, mobile QR POS terminals, customer loyalty management and mobile gifts. He works with customers and prospects from more than 100 counties across the world, and is interested in launching ambitious projects in African countries.

Walid Kaâbachi is an Associate Director of Biware Consulting, which he co-founded in 2011. Biware is a consulting and system integration company specialising in business intelligence and analytics solutions. Its clients include Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco), AlBarid Bank (Morocco), BMCE Bank (Morocco), Ecobank Group (Togo and Ghana), Ooredoo Group (Tunisia, Algeria), BIAT (Tunisia), Bank Al-Maghreb (Morocco), and Bouygues Telecom (France).

Walid is an expert in consulting and information system implementation for clients in the financial and telecommunications sectors. Before founding Biware, he was a Project Manager and MOA for over 12 years.

Adegbami Adegoke Elijah is an experienced banker with in-depth knowledge and expertise in financial management, performance management, audit practices, financial reporting and management accounting, and different areas of management practices. He has worked as a management consultant for numerous organisations, including banks. After the Microfinance Policy was introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 2005, Adegbami worked as a consultant for a number of community banks that were being converted to microfinance banks.

Subsequently, he joined Amaifeke Microfinance Bank Limited as the Head of the Internal Control and Audit Department. In 2009, he joined Mainstreet Bank Microfinance Bank Limited as the pioneer Head of Internal Control and Audit. Adegbami is an alumnus of the School of African Microfinance-Mombasa, Kenya, where he specialised in Strategic Planning (Using Microfin Tool) and Financial Analysis for Microfinance Institutions (Seep Tool). He has published several books on subjects related to financial intelligence, entrepreneurship and financial empowerment.

gbonna Ukuku is the Executive Director – Nigeria, Global Chamber and the CEO of ONS Triumph Ltd., a company whose primary objective is to promote, advocate and support investors. The company also focuses on SME development, youth development and entrepreneurship. Ogbonna is the Lead Consultant for Investment Support Services to the Abeokuta Independent Power Project. Prior to this, he was an Associate Consultant to the prestigious Baben International Business School (BIBS) in Switzerland.

Ogbonna was also the Senior Consultant on Investment Promotion to Indorama Group (owners of Eleme Petrochemical Company Ltd). He holds a professional certificate in Investment Promotion and Economic Development from the International Institute for Investment Promotion (IIIP) – Switzerland (Now Baden International Business School), an M.Sc. in Investment Promotion and Economic Development from Edinburgh Napier University – Scotland, a Master’s degree in Project Management and a first degree in Geology and Mining.

Dele Adeyinka is the Chief Digital Officer, ALAT By Wema, Nigeria’s first fully digital bank. He is also the Chairman, Committee of e-Business Industry Heads (CeBIH), in Nigeria. The committee is constituted of the upper echelon of electronic business industry practitioners in all Nigerian banks. Its key objective is the promotion of electronic banking services in line with global best practices, while driving adoption through the right policies, standards, technologies and

public awareness programmes in Nigeria. Dele is certified as an e-Business Consultant (CEC) by the Internal Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants in UK. He is also a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. He has 25 years of post-graduation work experience in the IT and banking industries. Dele is a Chartered Accountant, and attended the Senior Management Program at the prestigious Lagos Business School (LBS). He will be the Chairman on Day 1 of the summit.

Currently based in Morocco, Ndagi Job Goshi serves as General Manager for Liferay in Africa. Being a native of the continent, Ndagi is tasked with serving the African customer through the consultative provision of the robust, customer-focused Liferay Digital Experience Platform. Having worked for Fortune 100 companies in both, the financial services and insurance industries, he brings a balanced mix of sound technical knowledge and business know-how to the table.

  Ndagi enjoys helping empower people to reach their potential. As such, he has mentored several professionals on Wall Street over the years. Ndagi currently continues to mentor entrepreneurs in Africa as part of the prestigious BMCE Bank of Africa’s African Entrepreneurship Award. He is married and is the father of three daughters.

Antoinette Edodo is currently an Account Executive working with SAS Nigeria. She joined the company in 2008 and rose through the ranks, gaining experience in several business units across the enterprise and acquiring skills in channel management, negotiation, territory sales and strategic account management. Antoinette has 9 years of experience selling technology solutions to organisations via channel partners and to clients (B2B and B2C).

She has led key strategic accounts across the African continent. Antoinette is highly focused on client satisfaction and improving the bottom line. She has a keen eye for spotting strategic partnerships and building trust. After graduating with a B.Sc. in Estate Management from the University of Lagos in 2004, she took on a business support role at Berkeley Group and swiftly moved into the oil & gas industry as the Executive Assistant to the Managing Director of the then Wilbros group before joining SAS.

Wael Issa is a Fintech expert specialising in the transformation of back-office operations through automation. In the past 10 years, Wael has worked with over 300 financial institutions covering the Middle East and Africa. He is currently based in Dubai, and is pursuing a Pre-MBA programme at Harvard Business School.

George Agu is an experienced IT professional and entrepreneur. Over the past 16 years, he has navigated roles in professional services, sales and business development, and company leadership in several African countries. Prior to founding ActivEdge Technologies in 2010, George was the Managing Director, Chief Executive Officer, of Neptune Software, West Africa, and helped the company gain substantial market share in the public and private sector. He also worked with an investor and a commercial bank to host the first cloud-based solution for a microfinance bank in Nigeria.

As the CEO of ActivEdge Technologies, George has led several industry initiatives, ranging from revolutionary industry-driven IFRS transition management (insurance, manufacturing, oil & gas and pension sectors) and cybercrime prevention security solutions to PCIDSS and transaction reconciliation and exceptions management. George studied Computer Science and Statistics at University of Nigeria, Nsukka. He is a certified Information Systems Auditor, Information Security Manager, and Project Manager.

Olusola Teniola is currently a Client Partner with Detecon International—a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom, Germany—where he is responsible for Nigeria and West Africa. Prior to this, he was a board member and CEO of IS Internet Solutions (a Dimension Data company) in Lagos, Nigeria. Previously, he was the COO and Director of Engineering at Phase 3 Telecom, Abuja. His ICT career spans 25 years in strategic management positions at several major telecom companies across the globe.

Olusola was instrumental in the rollout of mobile and broadband services by World Telecom in Portugal (2003–2007) and has served in executive positions at British Telecom, Vodafone, Cisco Inc. and Alcatel-Lucent Technologies. He has also been a member of the ETSI Standardization Work Group Committee for Next Generation Protocols and IP Distribution Architectures (2001). Olusola is currently a member of the IPv6 Council in Nigeria and the A4AI coalition.

Olivier Dipenda is Regional Head: West and Central Africa for FSS, a leading global payments technology and processing company headquartered in Chennai, India. FSS offers business value in the areas of electronic payments and financial transaction processing solutions and services. The company has earned the status of being a payments systems leader through a combination of an established portfolio of technology solutions, state-of-the-art infrastructure and 26 years of experience in the payments domain.

Olivier has held a number of senior positions in leading global financial services companies in the pan-African region. These roles encompassed mobile banking and payments, card issuance and acquiring, agency banking, financial inclusion and the insurance and reinsurance sectors. He participated in an advisory capacity in several African financial markets, and has extensive and in-depth knowledge of the pan-African retail banking, transacting and payments sectors, as well as strategic stakeholder management.