Mitchell Elegbe
Mitchell Elegbe is the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch Group, an Africa-focused integrated digital payment and commerce company that processes financial transactions across businesses. He is an enterprising businessman, an engineer, a philanthropist and a people-centric leader with a proven track record of working in the information technology and financial services industry.
By founding Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe has driven revolutionary payment innovations and social impacts in Africa, delivering remarkable growths in revenue and profits. He boasts of a strong professional expertise within the business space such as Business Development, Business Strategy, Business Planning, Change Management, Transformational Leadership and Team Management. He constantly drives the confidence and value of both employees and colleagues at work.
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Mitchell Elegbe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Benin. He is also an alumnus of the Global CEO program organized by IESE Business School, The Wharton School and China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) for senior executives of various organizations.
Mitchell Elegbe founded Interswitch in 2002 shortly after his compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) program to connect Nigeria’s previously disconnected banking system and to digitize finance in Africa. His founding of Interswitch was largely motivated by his experience with an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) in Scotland when his card was seized by the machine. Since there were no ATMs in Nigeria at that time, he deemed it fit to tackle issues bothering around the Nigerian financial transaction system. There, he got an idea to develop a payment system that would make electronic payment a reality in Nigeria.
Within 10 years, Interswitch enhanced the adoption of digital payments across Africa, standing strong as one of the continent’s rare fintech players. Remarkably, Interswitch created the first electronic switch whereby Nigerian financial institutions could communicate and operate ATMs and point of sales operations.
As the CEO of the Pan-African fintech firm, Mitchell Elegbe has demonstrated expertise by moving the company from the former startup phase to unicorn, processing high volume personal and business finance transactions with its Verve payment cards and Quickteller payment app. It currently sells its products in 23 African countries, with a physical presence in Uganda, Gambia and Kenya.
Under his leadership, Interswitch has diversified and broadened its distribution channels, expanding to new markets across Africa, which drove the recognition of the company by Deloitte in 2014 as Africa’s Fastest Growing Technology Company.
To mark his outstanding contributions towards the Financial Technology sector in Nigeria and Africa, he has won several awards and recognitions. In 2012, he bagged an award for the West Africa Business Leader at the All African Business Leaders Award organized by CNBC Africa. Additionally, he is an Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award recipient, International Finance Corporation’s Inclusive Business Leader, African Leadership Network (ALN) 2013 Award for Entrepreneurship and the 2015 Harvard Business School Association (Nigeria) Leadership Award for the General Management Category. In 2019, He was named African Banker Icon by the African Banker.
He is a Bishop Desmond Tutu Fellow of the African Leadership Institute.
We recognize Mitchell Elegbe for spearheading growth and innovations in the African Fintech sector. He is a trailblazer and a role model.