Tobias Sylvester
Former Paystack executive, Obinna Ukwuani has been appointed as the new Chief Digital Officer of the Bank of Kigali, Rwanda.
In a statement issued by the bank on Tuesday, September 1, 2020, Obinna Ukwuani will be replacing Regis Rugemanshuro who was appointed to head Rwanda Social Security Board in February this year.
The position among other things involves leading the Digital Factory division for product innovation and development in digital banking. Obinna commenced work in June.
The division is responsible for innovation such as Ikofi, a digital wallet that offers financial services with a focus on Rwandan farmers, agro-dealers, Agri-businesses and other players in the agricultural ecosystem
Obinna bring to the bank experience from entrepreneurial ventures in software, agricultural processing, and education among others.
Prior to joining Bank of Kigali, Obinna worked with Paystack, a tech startup involved in facilitating payments. He holds a degree in Economics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Obinna Ukwuani grew up in Washington DC, graduating with honours in High School that earned him a place at MIT, which later saw him decline a six-figure paycheck in the United States and returned to Nigeria to develop Nigeria’s digital skills industry.
He launched the Exposure Robotics Academy in 2011, which is a major programme for science students in Lagos, Nigeria. Coaching 113 students in 17 states in just under 3 years, and helping the students gain scholarships into American universities.
He launched the NESA by Makers programme in 2017, a software development skills acquisition scheme for Nigerians in 2017, enabling Nigerian developers gain global skills in web development in 3 months.
In Rwanda, he launched the Makers Robotics Academy in 2018. The first robotics bootcamp in the East African nation, a programme linking Secondary school students in Rwanda with coaching from MIT robotics students.
Diversifying his experience, he joined Paystack in 2019. He worked in the Business Operations and Product Management division of the fintech company. Altogether, Obinna has founded or co-founded 5 companies, with two of them still functioning.
For his new role as Chief Digital Officer, Obinna’s passion and experience in agriculture and technology will be invaluable at the Digital Factory division.
This is coming just a few days after President Muhmmadu Buhari celebrated the appointment of Nigerian-born, Kelechi ‘Kaycee’ Madu, as a Minister of Justice in Canada.
