Former Paystack executive, Obinna Ukwuani has been announced as the Chief Digital Officer of the Bank of Kigali, he will be replacing Regis Rugemanshuro who was appointed Head Rwanda Social Security Board.
According to the announcement by the bank on Tuesday(Date), Obinna will be heading the Digital Factory division for product innovation and development in digital banking at the country’s apex bank.
This is part of the fintech products from the division, including a digital wallet called Ikofi through which the Bank of Kigali offers financial services that target Rwandan farmers, agro-dealers, Agri-businesses, and other stakeholders in the country’s agricultural ecosystem.
Obinna’s educational background includes a degree in Economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT) and a consistent interest in Robotics.
A Nigerian, Obinna Ukwuani, grew up in Washington DC where he graduated with honors in High School that earned him the place at MIT.
He returned back to Nigeria where he founded the Exposure Robotics Academy where STEM programs were taught to secondary school pupils. The academy existed between 2011 and 2014.
He founded NESA by Makers in 2016 with a focus to teach web development and other soft skills to youths with the end goal of making them valuable to employers. NESA is still in operation in Lagos.
In the agricultural sector, Obinna has gathered experience both firsthand as a founder, and as an employee of an agri-focused NGO in Nigeria.
He joined Harambe Nigeria in 2010 as Creative Director and Vice President. He coordinated the teams and led design projects that worked at increasing youth awareness and interest in agribusiness and the entire agriculture sector. He left Harambe in 2012.
In 2017, he started his own agribusiness with a focus on processing palm kernel for the manufacture of crude palm kernel oil.
Obinna had previously worked with the Bank of Kigali in a partnership that taught robotics to 40 students from the country. The Bootcamp, which was facilitated by students from MIT, saw all 40 students display agritech innovations that were developed during the program.
The Bootcamp was organized in 2018 by Obinna’s company, Makers Robotics Academy, in Rwanda in 2018. He moved to Paystack in 2019 before joining the Bank of Kigali.
Obinna’s appointment follows in the list of strides of Nigerians in diaspora including the appointment of Kaycee Madu as Minister of Justice in Canada, Prof. Charles Egbu from Abatete as Vice-Chancellor of Leeds Trinity University UK.
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