Mitchell Elegbe

Group Managing Director / Chief Executive Officer

Before establishing Interswitch in 2002, Mitchell worked with TELNET as the Group Head for Business Development after an impactful time as a Wireline Engineer at Schlumberger.

An alumnus of the IESE/Wharton/CEIBS Global CEO Program, Mitchell is a Bishop Desmond Tutu fellow of the African Leadership Institute. Building a remarkable career on his background as an Electrical/Electronic Engineering graduate from the University of Benin, Nigeria, he has won several awards, including the CNBC/Forbes All African Business Leader (AABLA) for West Africa, and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Mitchell currently serves as a Board Member at Endeavor and is reputed as a High Impact Entrepreneurship Enabler.

Akeem Lawal

MD, Payment Processing & Switching (Interswitch Purepay)

A Member of the founding Interswitch management team in 2002, Akeem has Over 22 years experience in the implementation and management of projects in the Financial Services sector; Information & Communications Technology, and the Oil & Gas industry.

Currently the Divisional CEO of one of the Payment Processing business division at Interswitch, Akeem is Responsible for some of the innovations driving the payments industry in Nigeria today.

Before joining Interswitch in 2002, he worked with Oildata Services Port Harcourt, and later with TELNET in a Senior Engineer role.

A Desmond Tutu fellow of the African Leadership Institute, Akeem is an Associate Member of the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). He holds an MBA from the Lagos Business School of the Pan Atlantic University and a first-class degree in Electrical / Electronics Engineering from the University of Benin.

John Maguire

EVP, Finance & Supply Chain

John Maguire embodies 30 years of multi-geographical experience garnered across diverse markets including the UK, Asia, and Africa, working within the telecoms and technology sectors.

John has worked in several senior finance roles in organizations like Cable & Wireless PLC where he was VP Finance, Japan, and Asia. He was also CFO at the THUS Group PLC, CFO at Etisalat Nigeria, and CFO at Intelligent Energy PLC.

With a 1st class honours degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, John is a UK Chartered Accountant (ICAEW) qualifying with Ernst & Young.

Chinyere Don-Okhuofu

MD, Industry Ecosystems (Interswitch Indeco)

Chinyere joined Interswitch with over 16 years experience in the banking industry where she had held numerous functions including; Financial Control; Branch Management as Branch Manager of various branches; Regional Business Executive; Head Global Strategy Retail; Divisional Head Electronic Banking, and Divisional Head, Branch Banking and Electronic Banking.

She joined the Interswitch team in January 2012 as the Chief ATM and Devices Officer and went on to become the Divisional CEO, Industry Vertical Markets in April 2014. Chinyere is a qualified chartered accountant, an alumnus of the Lagos Business School and an alumnus of the London Business School.

Jonah Adams

MD, Digital Infrastructure & Managed Services (Interswitch Systegra)

Jonah joined Interswitch in 2007 and has served the company in different capacities across the business. Responsible for overseeing SmartGov. CRSG Limited from 2012 till date as the Managing Director, he was appointed as the Chief Strategy Officer in 2014 and elevated to become the Divisional CEO for Industry Vertical Markets in April 2018.

Jonah has completed programs from the IESE Business School, Oxford University, and Wharton Business School. He holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) degree from the Lagos Business School and a First degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering from the Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma.

Titilola Shogaolu

MD, Interswitch Financial Inclusion Services (IFIS)

Titi is a veteran professional with over 14 years industry experience. She joined Interswitch in 2004 and has since served the company in different capacities with responsibilities in functions within Operations, Product Management, Sales, Key Account & Customer Value Management, and Project Management.

Before she was appointed Divisional CEO, Interswitch Financial Inclusion Services Limited in 2018, Titi had served as Chief Payment & VAS Officer in 2012, and then as Group Head, Social Systems & Services within the Industry Vertical Markets Division in 2014. In that capacity, she was responsible for managing Education, Government, Power, and Transport industry verticals.

An alumnus of the Cardiff University of Wales, Titi holds a First degree in Business Economics and Masters’ degree in Business Administration.

Muyiwa Asagba

MD, Digital Commerce & Merchant Acquiring (Interswitch Paymate)

With over 15 years of experience in software development and architecture, IT, and general management in organizations like Enterprise & Information Systems, and IPNX Nigeria Limited, Muyiwa joined Interswitch in 2004 and has progressed across increasingly senior management roles.

Seconded to East Africa in 2014, where he successfully grew the business as CEO Interswitch Uganda, Muyiwa completed the Senior Management Programmes (SMP36) of the Lagos Business School, he is a Microsoft Certified Solution Developer (MCSD), an Alumnus of the Shell Special Intensive Training Program (SITP) and a Computer Science graduate from the University of Lagos.

Cherry Eromosele

EVP, Marketing & Corporate Communications

With over 20 years of functional and leadership experience from the fast-moving Consumer Goods and Telecoms industry, Cherry joined Interswitch in 2014 as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

Before joining Interswitch, Cherry's career began with Diageo where she progressed through the ranks to become Marketing Manager Guinness Brands. She later joined MTN as Senior Manager, Segment Marketing, and later GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) as Head of Marketing for Nutritionals.

Cherry has completed executive programs from Columbia University, Cranfield University, Wharton Business School, Kellogg Business, Lagos Business School, and The Fintech Program at Oxford University Business School.

An alumnus of the Senior Management Programme (SMP) of Lagos Business School (LBS), Cherry is a fellow of the Nigerian Institute of Marketing and a Biology graduate from the University of Benin.

Babafemi Ogungbamila

Chief Information Officer

Babafemi is an astute technology expert with strong technology capabilities garnered over 18 years of core experience spanning IT infrastructure, Software and application development in Fintech, and Consulting and software development sectors.

His career commenced at Accenture in 2001 from where he proceeded to Neptune Software (formally Computer Systems Associates), building banking software for the biggest and most successful financial institutions in the country.
Babafemi joined Interswitch in 2003 as an Interface Engineer and has since risen through the ranks to become Divisional Head for Software Development, and later promoted to CIO in 2013.

He is an alumnus of the Senior Management Programme (SMP) of Lagos Business School, Pan-Atlantic University and holds a Computer Engineering Degree from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife, Nigeria.

Oremeyi Akah

Chief Customer Experience Officer

Oremeyi joined Interswitch in 2002 and has since performed several roles within the organization including Payment processing, Cards business and product operations.

With over 16 years work experience, Oremeyi became the COO in April 2016. An alumnus of the University of Cambridge UK and MBA holder from the Judge Business School, Oremeyi is an Electrical and Electronics Engineering graduate from the University of Benin.

A member of the Winning Team at the 2011 Hult Global Case Challenge (largest international crowdsourcing competition), Oremeyi was awarded divisional head of the quarter (Interswitch Limited Q2 2010) for team motivation and work expertise and served as the first certified e-payment Postilion (now S1) trainer in Africa (outside South Africa).

Vincent Ogbunude

MD, Payment Tokens (Verve)

Vincent is a pioneer staff of Interswitch and is currently the Group Chief, Product Management. He joined Interswitch as a Solutions Engineer and through diligence and dedication rose to become a member of the Senior Management Committee in diverse capacities including Team Lead, Systems & Applications Integration and Support Divisional Head, Systems Integration, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), and Group Head, Business Incubation; a role he took up in April 2018.

With over 16 years of industry experience, Vincent now oversees product development and management functions at Interswitch. Before this, for four years, Vincent was the Chief Executive Officer of National Payment Switch of The Gambia (Gamswitch) in which Interswitch has vested interest.

He is a graduate of Computer Science from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Ndifreke Nkose

EVP, Group Strategy

Ndifreke joined Interswitch with over 12 years experience in PricewaterhouseCoopers, working with clients in both the public and private sector, where she successfully managed engagements that covered Strategy Formulation & Implementation, Performance Tracking, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E system implementation), Business Transformation, Project Management, Process Reviews, and Redesign.

In her current role with Interswitch, Ndifreke supports the group and business lines in articulating where and how it will win within its markets; implementing and tracking realization of its strategies and introducing new ways of working and managing change with a focus on people development.

Outside the office, she collaborates with one of the leading foundations on entrepreneurship in Nigeria where she volunteers as a guest facilitator for training programmes to small businesses and entrepreneurs.

Ndifreke is a qualified accountant with the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and she holds a First degree in pure and applied chemistry (University of Ibadan).

Ehia Erhaboh

EVP, Operations & Technology

An experienced organizational transformation professional with over 18 years experience spanning Organizational Change, Program Management, Sales, Technology, Operations, and Finance.

A Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Master Black Belt with hands-on experience implementing and mentoring Lean Six Sigma Belts to deliver LSS initiatives that have helped improve the top and bottom-line of organizations across industries such as Financial Services, Manufacturing, Aviation and Telecommunications.

Ehia holds a first degree in Mathematics from Ambrose Alli University, an MBA from Norwich Business School, University of East Anglia, UK and has completed executive programmes from The Graduate School of Business, University of Cape Town, and The Nobel International Business School Accra amongst others. He is certified by the Project Management Institute USA and The Scaled Agile Framework as a SAFe Agilist and SAFe Practitioner.

Before joining Interswitch, Ehia held various positions working with, Standard Chartered Bank, Ecobank and Stanbic IBTC.

Romana Rajput

Country General Manager, Interswitch Kenya

Romana is the country General manager at  Interswitch EA Kenya Ltd where she leads  the Interswitch business in Kenya. She is a seasoned market leader in the payment industry in Kenya and across different African Markets.

Romana has over 30 years’ experience in identifying new business opportunities, cultivating business relationships, and spearheading effective  market penetration strategies in the financial technology world. She has developed and implemented projects in various industries including banking and insurance within East and Southern Africa.

She setup the PMO office for Kenya; managed operations, business development and sales; led a strategic Mobile Payment project, various Third-Party Processing integrations; PCI DSS and EMV Issuing Migration projects for Interswitch Kenya. Before Interswitch, she worked with the Group Technology team at Standard Chartered Bank for over 10 years, leading IT Disaster Recovery; IT Service Management and Service Delivery for Kenya Centralization. She was pivotal to the success of IT projects across 12 countries in Africa and various retail banking projects.

She also led the development of Insurance Management Systems for Amarco Kenya Ltd and developed and maintained numerous systems at Data Centre, the first computer bureau in East Africa. Romana is a value-driven leader who enjoys supporting business growth across Africa.

Griffith Ehebha

EVP, Risk & Information Security

Griffith joined Interswitch on the first of July 2019 as Group Chief Risk Officer. Until he assumed duties at Interswitch, he was the Head, Information Security Governance, Risk and Compliance in Access Bank Plc. With over 18 years experience in the Nigerian banking industry: spanning core IT services, Process Re-Engineering, Information Security, and Risk Management & Control.

He worked with Diamond bank as Head of Operational Risk management and as Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) between 2012 and 2019. He also worked with Fidelity Bank from 2002 - 2012, where he held the position of IT Security Administrator, Head of Networks, and Head of E-Channels Support at different times, having begun his banking career with UBA Plc in the year 2001 as network Engineer.

Griffith holds a Bachelor’s (B.Eng.) in Computer Science & Engineering from the Enugu State University of Technology, an Executive Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from Pan-Atlantic University (Lagos Business School), as well as multiple professional certifications in IT, Risk Management, Audit and Cybersecurity.

Chinomso Nwachukwu

Chief Financial Officer, Nigeria

Chinomso, as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Nigeria, has oversight over financial strategies and operations for our flagship operations in Nigeria, providing strong support to the Group CFO, having previously served as Group Financial Controller.

With 13+ years cumulative experience, she is a veteran Finance Manager with

comprehensive experience in audit of financial statements in the manufacturing

and telecommunications industries. Before joining Interswitch in June 2015,

Chinomso had invested over 9 years in Audit Services in Big-4 firms, rising to

Manager with PricewaterhouseCoopers Nigeria.

Her expertise covers statutory and regulatory compliance, financial reporting, and accounting in accordance with GAAP, financial management and analysis, business analysis, and financial advisory.

A Biochemistry graduate of the Imo State University and an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria Chinomso recently completed a course on the Emerging CFO program with the Stanford Graduate School of Business San Francisco and is currently completing a Global Executive MBA programme at Imperial College Business School in London.

Peter Kawumi

Country General Manager, Interswitch Uganda

Peter Kawumi’s career spans over a dozen years with roles in technology, business analysis and retail banking, including leading the Digital Finance departments in regional and local banks. He has extensive experience in developing and commercializing products, customer acquisition, digital channel utilization and scaling plans in consumer services.

In his current role as the Country General Manager at Interswitch East Africa (U) Ltd, Peter is championing the use of technology to deliver responsive and responsible financial services to varied market segments including youth, women, and small businesses.

A Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), Peter holds a BSc (Hons) in Software Engineering from Kingston University and a Master of Business Administration (with distinction) from the Edinburgh Business School.

Peter serves on the Boards of New Vision Group (non-Executive Director), The Leadership Team (non-Executive Director) and the Fintech Association of Uganda (Board Chairman).

Franklin Ali

Chief Human Resources Officer, Nigeria.

Franklin Ali is a seasoned HR professional with expansive multi-industry experience across Financial Services, Oil and Gas, FMCG and Technology.

He began his career as an L&D specialist, Business Partner for West Africa at UBA, before proceeding to Nest Oil where he worked as an HR generalist. He later joined TGI as the Senior Manager, Business Partnering and Talent Management. He joined Interswitch in 2019 as the Group Head, Organisation & Talent Management and eventually progressed to become the Chief Human Resource Officer for Nigeria.
With experience spanning more than a decade, Franklin has consistently demonstrated expertise and knowledge in developing and delivering talent management strategies for organizational development, HR process re-engineering and business partnering.Among other licenses and certifications, Franklin is a graduate of the Ambrose Ali university, where he bagged his first degree in Industrial Chemistry. He also holds a masters in Diplomacy and Strategic studies from the University of Lagos.

Tochukwu Okezie

Chief Legal Officer.

Tochukwu Okezie is an astute legal practitioner with over 16 years of expansive experience in the financial services sector.

He began his career as a Legal officer at the Intercontinental Bank, (now Access Bank Plc) and proceeded to work with First Bank of Nigeria as the Team Lead, Corporate and Contracts. He joined Interswitch in 2017 as a Senior Legal Counsel and was later appointed as the Chief Legal Officer in December 2021, following his meritorious and impactful service within the organisation’s legal unit.

He is a member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, and Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). Tochukwu bagged his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from the Lagos State University in 2002 and proceeded to the Nigerian Law School where he obtained his Certificate of Call to the Nigerian Bar. He also has a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of South Wales).

He has since gained other qualifications and certifications from Duke University, IE Business School, Madrid, EU GDPR Institute, the University of Chicago and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, among others.

Nneka Nwaka

Chief Compliance Officer.

Prior to joining Interswitch, Nneka was the Senior Regional Compliance Officer for MoneyGram International, managing compliance advisory for Africa.

She is a passionate compliance officer; with international exposure and experience ranging from developing and implementing Risk Management, as well as Anti-Fraud programs, to monitoring and ensuring the program's effectiveness across multiple organizations. She has over 15 years of cognate experience within banking and payment services.

Before her time at MoneyGram, Nneka had worked with some of the major banks in Nigeria leading the Compliance Support and the Regulatory Compliance teams. She is well versed in relating with regulators and Law Enforcement across multiple jurisdictions as well as developing and implementing relevant risk management processes to ensure that regulatory standards and expectations are met.

Nneka is a lawyer, a Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, a Certified Fraud Examiner and a Fellow of the Compliance Institute, Nigeria.

Chris Folayan

Head, International Growth.

Chris Folayan is a global big-picture leader with experience spanning over 25 years of building start-ups, executing digital transformation, partnerships, product development/deployment, software development and global operations management.

Before joining Interswitch, Chris had successfully founded two companies namely: Link Commerce, UK/USA (2019 – 2022) and MallForAfrica USA (2011 – 2022) after highly impactful stints as Co-Founder/Chief Technical Engineer | NewTechMusic Ltd | 1998 to 1999, EVP/CTO | Sagas Inc | 1999 to 2000, and Founder/CEO/CTO | OCFX Inc | 2000 to 2011.

A Bachelor of Arts graduate in Marketing from the San Jose State University, Chris has architected, designed, built, and patented highly scalable eCommerce, logistics and SaaS solutions in over 56 countries, among other stellar achievements.

At Interswitch, Chris is charged with the mandate of growing the Interswitch cross-border, remittance, and eCommerce business, with an immediate focus on the US, Canada and the UK.