Bolu Turi

Nigerian fintech pioneer revolutionizing financial inclusion across Africa

Bolu Turi is the co-founder and CEO of Flutterwave, a financial technology company that has processed over $30 billion in transactions and serves 300,000 businesses across 33 African countries. Founded in 2016 but achieving its greatest impact between 2020-2025, Turi's platform has made significant strides in addressing Africa's cash-heavy economy by creating a unified payment infrastructure. Through strategic partnerships with major banks like Standard Bank and MTN Mobile Money, Flutterwave enables cross-border transactions at 70% lower costs than traditional methods.

What makes Turi truly transformative is his focus on localizing financial solutions. He pioneered the 'Africa First' approach, developing payment solutions specifically tailored to local markets rather than applying Western models. This approach led to innovations like the 'Flutterwave for Marketplaces' solution that handles fragmented payment ecosystems in informal markets. His work has directly contributed to Nigeria's digital payment volume increasing from 12% to 38% of GDP between 2020-2024.

Turi's vision extends beyond finance - he created the Flutterpay ecosystem linking payroll, invoicing, and savings products. In 2023, he launched Flutterwave's $500M Africa Growth Fund to support fintech startups. His company's 2024 acquisition of Kenya's PesaLink network marked a milestone in East African financial integration. Turi's leadership was recognized when Flutterwave became Africa's first fintech unicorn in 2021, and he was named Africa's Most Influential Business Leader by Forbes in 2023.

Learn more at Flutterwave's official site or read analyses from Forbes and TechCrunch.