Lola Aworanti-Ekugo
Lola Aworanti-Ekugo is a Digital and Innovation specialist with over 17 years of experience in the industry. She is the founder of Transthat NG, a secure online platform that connects travelers who have extra baggage allowance to spare and want to earn some extra money with people in Nigeria who want items from other countries.
With Transthat, Nigerians at home now have the flexibility of buying their favourite products from abroad, and save on expensive shipping costs by getting a traveller to help.
Lola started her career as a software engineer at Investec Asset Management, London where she was responsible for the development of digital solutions in the asset management portfolio. Since then, she has worked in various capacities across different roles in the financial services industry in Europe and Africa at companies including Dresdner Kleinwort, Commerzbank and BNP Paribas.
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Lola also played a major role in the digital readiness and transformation of two of Nigeria’s oldest and foremost financial institutions to ‘digitally-led’ retail banks. Lola spearheaded the Digital Innovation Labs initiative at FirstBank Nigeria, Nigeria’s oldest financial institution (125 years old). She was responsible for formulating and implementing the bank’s digital transformation and innovation labs strategy thereby accelerating its digital transformation journey for its over 13 million customers and 16,000 employees in Nigeria and across its African subsidiaries.
Lola is currently the Head of Digital Innovation at Union Bank Nigeria, a 104-year-old institution where she is responsible for defining and implementing its digital & innovation strategy and roadmap with a focus on identifying new digital product/service/fintech opportunities, optimizing customer experience across channels and improving operational efficiency using technology. Union Bank became the first financial institution in Nigeria, to respond to the pandemic by seamlessly crossing over its workforce to remote work given its prior investments in digital and its digital readiness/fitness programme for employees.
Lola has also pioneered key initiatives designed to empower early-stage tech start-up companies through corporate accelerator programs, mentorship and capital in the bid to grow the African ecosystem and solve important problems in the Nigerian economy through private sector and industry collaborations.
Lola completed a bachelors degree in Business Information Systems (First Class Honors) from Middlesex University, London, and an MBA from Imperial College Business School, London.
Lola has been profiled as one of the exceptional women playing leading roles in their various companies and shaping the Fintech sector in Nigeria by Fintech Africa. She currently serves on the Tech Committee of WimBiz, the Digital Transformation Committee of JA Nigeria, The Innovation/Tech committee of Osun State Development Association, Faculty Member at the Fintech Institute, Elev8 global academy for digital leaders and She Leads Africa as a mentor.
Lola is also an author, with her fiction novel titled “Lagos to London” being the first in a series.