Mitchell Elegbe, born in Nigeria, is the founder and CEO of Interswitch Limited and he maintains the leadership role since conceiving the idea in 2001.
Prior to setting up Interswitch, Elegbe was the Head, Group Marketing and Business Solution in Telnet Nigeria; there he conceived the idea and led a team of young Nigerians to build and implement Nigeria’s first online, real-time transaction switching and payment processing infrastructure to enable the electronic circulation of money.
This was at a time when the general view was that such a system was not possible given the infrastructural challenges in Nigeria.
Today, this shared infrastructure has been adopted by all the banks, government agencies and corporate organizations to accelerate growth while reducing cost of operations.
Since the commencement of Interswitch in 2002, Interswitch has continued to show strong and consistent profitable growth in all key measures of performance.
Under Elegbe’s leadership, the company has diversified its business, broadened its distribution channels and enhanced its ability to compete in today’s financial services market place.
In addition to the strategic alliances that helped increase the profile of the industry such as partnerships with MasterCard, Discover, Visa, ChinaUnionPay and the acquisition of Bankom Uganda, now Interswitch East Africa, the company recently entered into a joint venture with the Central Bank of Gambia to design, implement and operate a payment switch for the country.
In 2010, over 60% of the company’s shares were acquired by Helios Investment Partners, International Finance Corporation and Adlevo Capital in a deal that was the first of its kind in the electronics payment sector in Nigeria.
Elegbe was retained as the MD/CEO with the objective of carrying on Interswitch’s consistent performance and leadership in the industry.
Elegbe’s expertise and commitment to driving Interswitch from project inception to the leading electronic business in Nigeria has placed him on the boards of several companies.
Elegbe was awarded the CNBC/Forbes All African Business Leader (AABLA) for West Africa in August 2012 and also Ernest and Young Entrepreneur of the year 2012.
Elegbe is also a fellow at the Bishop Tutu African Leadership Institute.
Mitchell has a Degree in Electrical/Electronics Engineering from the University of Benin.
Labels: Mitchell Elegbe Interswitch
