Obinna Ukwuani Appointed Chief Digital Officer, Bank of Kigali, Rwanda

Obinna Ukwuani Appointed Chief Digital Officer, Bank of Kigali, Rwanda

Obinna Ukwuani, a former Paystack executive and technology expert was recently appointed to lead the Bank of Kigali’s Digital Factory Division for product innovation and development in digital marketing as Chief Digital Officer.

The Nigerian born developer replaces Regis Rugemanshuro who was appointed to head Rwanda Social Security Board in February,2020. Obinna will be responsible for the digital factory division’s product innovation, development, and policy implementation at Rwanda’s largest commercial bank.

Obinna has degree in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a broad background across different sectors such as technology, agricultural processing, and education. 

Obinna’s passion in robotics led to the creation of Exposure Robotics Academy in October 2011. The start-up was one of Nigeria’s first high-profile innovation center where Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics, (STEM) education programs were taught to secondary school students in Lagos. Exposure Robotics Academy was a five-week residential program dedicated to teaching high school students creative problem solving, principles of engineering and programming.  The academy was quick to record success as over 100 students from 17 states across Nigeria were taught how to code and build robots within three years.

Obinna also launched NESA by Makers, in 2017 with the aim to teach web development to youths. NESA by makers is a Lagos-based technology skill accelerator focused on closing the industry skills gap by helping youths acquire relevant skills that will position them to participate in high-growth enterprises. This program was launched in 2017 to train aspiring web developers and provide them with the requisite skills.

In the agricultural sector, Obinna gathered experience first as a founder and as an employee at Harambe, an agri-focused NGO in Nigeria where he worked as the creative Director and vice President. He coordinated the teams and initiated design projects that helped increase youth awareness and interest in the agribusiness. He is the founder of Bruk Oil Mills, a palm oil processing company in Nigeria.

Before his latest role with the Bank of Kigali, he had partnered with the bank in January 2018, to launch the first robotics boot camp in East Africa dubbed: Makers Robotics Academy which hosted 40 Rwandan high school students for three weeks. The bootcamp was facilitated by students from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, (MIT).

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Obinna’s exceptional performance overtime continues to drive his career progression, leaving remarkable footprints in Nigeria and other parts of the world. Obinna’s passion for excellence and his solid experience will be invaluable to the Bank of Kigali. We wish him even more success.