The founder and group managing director of Interswitch has been recognized by professional services company Ernst and Young as the 2023 West African Entrepreneur of the Year (Masters Category) (EY).
At a distinguished event that took place in Lagos on Thursday, March 16, 2023, the Regional Managing Partner of EY West Africa, Anthony Oputa, and Nigeria’s Honourable Minister for Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, jointly gave him the hotly contested prize.
Elegbe received recognition for his admirable entrepreneurial contributions to the economic growth of Nigeria and the West African area. Elegbe has distinguished himself in corporate leadership and technological advancement.
This most recent victory is particularly noteworthy because it comes 11 years after he was named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Emerging Entrepreneur category), in 2012.
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards program honors exceptional business owners who have used creativity, tenacity, and endurance to establish and maintain profitable, expanding enterprises. The program, a yearly worldwide event, has been well-known around the world for more than 30 years.
Since the program’s 2011 debut in West Africa, several deserving Nigerians have received awards, including Dr. Cosmas Maduka of the Coscharis Group and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, a former group managing director of Access Bank, and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
Mitchell Elegbe is now automatically eligible to compete in the 2023 Monte Carlo, Monaco-hosted Ernst & Young Global Entrepreneur of the Year competition.
At a distinguished event that took place in Lagos on Thursday, March 16, 2023, the Regional Managing Partner of EY West Africa, Anthony Oputa, and Nigeria’s Honourable Minister for Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, jointly gave him the hotly contested prize.
Elegbe received recognition for his admirable entrepreneurial contributions to the economic growth of Nigeria and the West African area. Elegbe has distinguished himself in corporate leadership and technological advancement.
This most recent victory is particularly noteworthy because it comes 11 years after he was named the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Emerging Entrepreneur category), in 2012.
The EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards program honors exceptional business owners who have used creativity, tenacity, and endurance to establish and maintain profitable, expanding enterprises. The program, a yearly worldwide event, has been well-known around the world for more than 30 years.
Since the program’s 2011 debut in West Africa, several deserving Nigerians have received awards, including Dr. Cosmas Maduka of the Coscharis Group and Alhaji Aliko Dangote, president of the Dangote Group, Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, a former group managing director of Access Bank, and Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede.
Mitchell Elegbe is now ineligible to participate in the 2023 Ernst & Young Global Entrepreneur of the Year competition, which will be held in Monte Carlo, Monaco.
The award “reflects the hard work and passion of the team at Interswitch who have dedicated themselves to developing solutions that enable people to flourish and communities to thrive across Africa,” he continued. “A founder is only as good as the team around him or her. This recognition will help us stay more committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation in our quest to create a continent where payments are a seamless part of daily life.
In the fields of information technology and financial services, Mitchell Elegbe is a multi-award-winning professional and well-known business leader. He is also credited for introducing innovative payment innovation to Africa.
He has received numerous honors, including the General Management Leadership Award from the Harvard Business School Association (Nigeria), the African Banker Awards 2019 as the African Banker Icon, the CNBC/Forbes All African Business Leader (AABLA) Awards for West Africa, and the Financial Technology (Fintech) Africa Awards, Payments and Transfer category in 2016. These are just a few of the meritorious awards he has received.
In an effort to address issues with payments in Nigeria, Mitchell Elegbe developed Interswitch in 2002.
Since that time, the business has expanded into a major player in payments and digital commerce, contributing to the creation and administration of the payment infrastructure and offering dependable technology-based solutions to private citizens, financial institutions, and governments all over Africa.
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