Leila Abdul-Aziz

Pioneered financial inclusion for women in Nigeria through mobile banking innovations

Leila Abdul-Aziz (b.1975) is a Nigerian fintech pioneer who revolutionized access to financial services for underserved women. As founder of Finerax, she developed Africa's first mobile banking platform tailored for informal sector workers. Her system allowed millions of market traders and farmers to access loans, savings, and insurance through basic feature phones. This innovation reduced gender gap in financial inclusion from 46% to 22% in Nigeria between 2008-2018. Leila's work was featured in World Economic Forum reports and inspired similar initiatives across West Africa. Her TED Talk "How to Bank the Unbanked" has over 2 million views.