TIME Names Moniepoint Co-founder Felix Ike Among 50 Top Global Tech Executives

TIME Names Moniepoint Co-founder Felix Ike Among 50 Top Global Tech Executives

  • TIME names Moniepoint CTO Felix Ike among 50 global Executives of the Year: Tech and Data
  • Felix Ike helped build Moniepoint’s infrastructure, powering about eight in every 10 in-person digital payments in Nigeria
  • Ike’s recognition highlights the growing global influence of Nigerian technology and Moniepoint’s expanding fintech footprint

Pascal Oparada is a journalist with Legit.ng, covering technology, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy for over a decade.

TIME magazine has named Felix Ike, co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Nigerian fintech Moniepoint, to its inaugural Executives of the Year: Tech and Data list.

Ike is the only executive representing an African company among the 50 leaders selected for the 2026 list, putting him alongside senior executives from some of the world's biggest technology companies.

Moniepoint Executive, Ike, bags Time awards
Nigerian fintech guru Felix Ike was named among Time's Executive of the Year. Credit: Moniepoint
Source: UGC

Moniepoint CTO joins global tech leaders

The list, unveiled on Tuesday, September 22, recognises chief information officers, chief technology officers, chief data officers and chief product officers whose decisions are influencing how major organisations deploy technology and use data.

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Ike was named alongside executives from Netflix, CrowdStrike, Dell, Duolingo, AT&T, OpenAI, Anthropic, Shopify and Reddit, among others.

Moniepoint is also the only African company represented on the inaugural list.

In its recognition, TIME said Ike "has helped to establish the business as one of Africa's leading financial platforms."

The latest recognition comes after Moniepoint was included in TIME's 2025 list of the 100 Most Influential Companies, giving the Lagos-founded fintech another global distinction.

Ike helped build Moniepoint's technology infrastructure

A first-class Computer Science graduate of the University of Lagos, Ike co-founded Moniepoint with Tosin Eniolorunda in 2015.

As CTO, he has overseen the development of the technology infrastructure powering the company's financial services for businesses and individuals.

Moniepoint has since evolved from providing back-end payment infrastructure to banks into a broader business banking and financial services platform.

The company attained unicorn status in 2024 and says it now powers about eight in every 10 in-person digital payment transactions in Nigeria.

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TIME Executive Editor and Chief Strategy Officer Dan Macsai said the new Executives of the Year franchise was created to spotlight executives responsible for adopting emerging technologies, protecting systems and putting corporate data to productive use.

Felix Ike reacts to TIME recognition

Reacting to the honour, Ike said the recognition demonstrated the growing global relevance of technology built in Nigeria and Africa.

"This is a deeply significant honour, and one I do not take lightly. But beyond what it means personally, it says something bigger," Ike said.

He added that Nigerian engineering built to address local and African challenges could now compete on the same global stage as technology developed in established markets such as Silicon Valley.

Ike said Moniepoint would continue building resilient systems for the millions of businesses and individuals relying on its services.

Moniepoint CEO hails Ike

Moniepoint founder and Group CEO Tosin Eniolorunda described the recognition as a major moment for the company and Nigeria's technology ecosystem.

"Felix has contributed significantly to building infrastructure that now carries the weight of millions of livelihoods, and to see that acknowledged on a global stage is a proud moment," Eniolorunda said.

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Moniepoint Executive, Ike, bags Time awards
Time Magazine recognises Moniepoint's Executive, Felix Ike. Credit: Moniepoint
Source: Facebook

He added that the recognition reflected the growing profile of Nigerian technology internationally.

Moniepoint has also appeared for three consecutive years on the Financial Times' ranking of Africa's Fastest-Growing Companies and has featured on CNBC's World's Top Fintech Companies list.

The fintech says it currently serves more than 10 million businesses and individuals in Nigeria and other markets.

Moniepoint shuts down MonieWorld

Legit.ng earlier reported that Moniepoint has announced it is winding down MonieWorld, its remittance product built for UK-based Nigerians, citing a strategic decision to concentrate the company's capital and attention on its core African markets.

The Nigerian fintech company confirmed the development in a statement shared with TechCabal on Tuesday, saying the Group had completed a thorough review of its portfolio and long-term priorities before reaching the decision.

Source: Legit.ng

Authors:
Pascal Oparada avatar

Pascal Oparada (Business editor) For over a decade, Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy. He has worked in many media organizations such as Daily Independent, TheNiche newspaper, and the Nigerian Xpress. He is a 2018 PwC Media Excellence Award winner. Email:pascal.oparada@corp.legit.ng