He is one of the entrepreneurs revolutionizing the African fintech industry. He founded the fintech company Paga Group, which provides innovative mobile payment solutions to Nigerians.

Nigerian-born Tayo Oviosu (photo) is a Standford University Graduate and one of the first fintech entrepreneurs in the African tech ecosystem.  In 2009, he founded Paga Group, a fintech company that aims to offer a mobile payment solution accessible to every Nigerian regardless of income group. His company enables users to carry out online transactions, pay bills, and access several financial services from their phones. 

“One of my main focuses when starting the company was, how do I get the market woman in Ajegunle [ ed. note: one of the most vulnerable neighborhoods in Lagos] to use this. [...] Our ambition is that one billion people should use this platform to access and use money. We want to particularly focus on the emerging middle class – helping them to pay, and helping them to get paid,” he explained in 2021. 

With over 19 million registered users and more than 27,000 agents across Nigeria, Paga has quickly become one of the market leaders in financial technology in Africa. Tayo Oviosu has worked with partners such as Untapped Global and Visa to expand his company's capabilities and provide innovative payment solutions to users.

The tech entrepreneur also co-founded Kairos Angels, a company that invests in business founders who are obsessed with changing the world. His professional career began in 1999 at Deloitte Consulting where he was a senior consultant.

In 2004, he worked for Lucent Technologies for three months as a business development summer associate. The following year, he joined Cisco Systems as manager of acquisitions and venture capital investments. In 2008, he was appointed Vice President at Travant Capital Partners, a venture capital and private equity firm. He worked there for five months.

He has been recognized for his work in entrepreneurship and financial inclusion. In 2013, he was nominated for the West African Entrepreneur of the Year at the All African Business Leaders Awards. In 2015, the African Leadership Network selected Paga Group as the Outstanding Growing Company of the Year in Africa.

Melchior Koba