Since the passing of Herbert Wigwe, Founding Group CEO of Access Holdings, Inc. on February 9, 2024, several tech founders and executives have commented on his impact on their lives and businesses. There is.
“I called him the oracle of Isiokpo. My oracle. Because if Warren Buffett was the oracle of Omaha. We, the best investors in America, need an oracle in Africa. His name was Herbert Wigwe. I called him “my blueprint” because he was like a blueprint for a building, a model of hard work, discipline and effort that I follow/understand. It gave us a roadmap,” said Ola Brown, founder of HealthCap, a venture capital firm that invests in fintech and healthtech.The company wrote a fascinating eulogy.
Herbert Wigwe was many things to many people, but to many founders and executives in the Nigerian technology industry, he was a patron, mentor and sponsor. The history of his companies such as Flutterwave, Unified Payments and SystemSpecs, Africa’s most valuable fintech, would not be complete without his pivotal role in the growth.
Seize big opportunities with Flutterwave
For Gbenga “GB” Agboola and his co-founder Ainoluwa Aboyeji, Wigwe is the reason Africa’s most valuable fintech company, Flutterwave, exists today.
Aboyeji wrote in the post that Wigwe saw a huge opportunity for the fintech unicorn, even though he never owned a single share of the company.
“He came to San Francisco with us and pitched with us to some of the biggest technology companies in the world. It provided us with a business that helped us grow into a worthy startup,” Aboyeji wrote.
Mr. Agboola, on the other hand, is an alumnus of Access Bank. From 2014 he worked at the bank as Head of Digital Factory and Innovation and Head of Digital Banking Innovation and Product Management at the bank until 2018, when he took over the position of CEO at Flutterwave. According to sources, the idea for Flutterwave came to him while he was at Access Bank.
“My journey with Herbert began with a remarkable chapter in my life, shortly after my startup was acquired. It was Herbert who believed in my potential to spearhead digital transformation.The job seemed difficult, but with his guidance and my This was achievable through our belief in,” Agboola wrote. X
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Pushing Remita into the mainstream
Remita, a payments platform built by SystemSpecs, may not have the global reach of Flutterwave, but it is the most preferred payment solutions company for the public sector in Nigeria. Currently used in 22 states of the federation, it boasts 3.8 million users across the United States.
In 2018, SystemSpecs announced that one of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) solutions, Remita Data Reference Services, will support the delivery of payday loans to federal government employees and millions of salaried workers in the country. Obtaining approval proved difficult. . To get approval, Remita needed the support of a commercial bank, which was not easy as cooperation between fintech companies and banks was rare at the time.
Mujib Ishola, Remita’s chief technology officer, said Access Bank, under Wigwe’s direction, worked with SystemSpecs to identify opportunities to lend to federal employees and secure CBN approval. This has led to other lenders joining the payday loan market.
Remita data reference services now allow federal employees and salaried employees to access loans from Access Bank and other lenders. In addition, more than 50 licensed financial institutions have jumped on this rail, contributing significantly to the liberalization of personal lending.
“Herbert was at the forefront of our partnership and was able to build a structure that facilitated the completion of the project in just a few weeks. It brought comfort and assistance to those who needed it, just when they needed it and for the first time experienced how easily it could come. It was pure leadership. With this partnership, we and new ground has been opened for significant expansion of economic activities at the retail level,” Ishola said.
BVN, Bank Agency, and eTranzact
Mr. Herbert Wigwe was one of the prominent members of the Banking Committee that promoted the introduction of Biometric Verification System (BVN) in Nigeria in 2014. Additionally, in 2018, as chair of the Banking Committee, he championed the creation of a bank agency network. In 2018.
Wigwe is also known to have provided funds to Unified Payments and eTranzact at different times. His CEO at eTranzact, Niyi Toluwalope, said Wigwe had made a “significant impact” on the company by demonstrating outstanding leadership and strategic acumen.
“As a visionary leader, his outstanding leadership and strategic acumen have contributed to the growth of our organization. It was extremely valuable,” Toluwalope said.
His investments in Nigerian startups are said to be worth millions of dollars.
“There were numerous investments in Nigerian startups, but after his death, it would be difficult for anyone to trace them. A friend told me that just talking to him was worth millions of dollars. investment,” said Faye Fawehinmi, investment accountant and author of Formation: The Making of Nigeria from Jihad to Amalgamation.
For Toluwalope, Herbert’s greatest legacy in the Nigerian technology ecosystem is best expressed through his visionary approach to financial technology that helped transform the industry.