She promotes financial inclusion in Africa, leveraging technology to offer digital solutions to businesses and individuals in Nigeria.

Adaeze Onwumere (photo) is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Aku, a fintech company dedicated to accelerating financial inclusion and economic development across Africa.

Founded in 2019, Aku provides digital payment and banking solutions. Its platform enables users to send and receive money and pay bills via USSD, a mobile app, and other channels. By democratizing access to banking and digital payments, the company aims to foster greater financial inclusion.

Beyond payments, Aku also allows customers and merchants to save and access credit. Its accounts come with no annual or monthly maintenance fees, and all banking transactions are completely free. The Aku app has already been downloaded over 10,000 times on Google Play.

Adaeze Onwumere holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and African studies from Yale University (2012) and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School in 2021.

She began her professional career in 2012 with Econet Global, a pan-African technology company, initially as an intern before spending five years in various roles. She later became head of commercial and operations at Cassava Fintech, a subsidiary of the group. Between 2018 and 2019, she served as chief operating officer at EcoCash Holdings, a company specializing in digital financial solutions.

By Melchior Koba,

Editing by Sèna D. B. de Sodji