Bridgette Sokari Thomas-Fahoum

Pioneered Africa's digital payment revolution through Flutterwave, enabling financial inclusion across the continent

Bridgette Sokari Thomas-Fahoum is a Nigerian fintech innovator and CEO of Flutterwave, a pan-African payments platform that has transformed how businesses and individuals transact across Africa. Born in Nigeria and educated in the UK, she returned to Africa in 2000 with a vision to solve the continent's payment challenges. Her company now processes over $10 billion annually, connecting 200 million consumers and 50,000 businesses across 33 African countries. Flutterwave's infrastructure has enabled e-commerce growth, reduced cash dependency, and empowered small businesses by providing affordable payment solutions. Thomas-Fahoum's work addresses the UN Sustainable Development Goal #8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) and #9 (Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure). In 2020, she launched Flutterwave Foundation to support tech education for African youth through partnerships with institutions like Andela and MIT. Her TED Talk "How to build a payment system that serves all people" has over 1.2M views. Thomas-Fahoum was named among Fortune's 40 Under 40 and Forbes Africa's Power Women.