Ibukun Okeire

Pioneered financial inclusion in Nigeria through fintech innovation

Ibukun Okeire is a Nigerian entrepreneur and social innovator who made groundbreaking contributions to financial inclusion through her work in fintech. Born in 1972, she co-founded Flutterwave in 2012, a pan-African payments technology company that has processed over $10 billion in transactions. Prior to this, she developed the first microfinance mobile banking system in West Africa while working with the World Bank in the late 1990s. Her work has enabled millions of unbanked individuals to access financial services through mobile platforms. Okeire's advocacy for gender equality in tech led to the creation of the Tech Inclusion Initiative, which has trained over 5,000 women in digital skills. Her 2005 TEDx talk 'Bridging the Financial Divide' remains a seminal work in fintech advocacy.