Felix Ike, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Nigerian fintech company Moniepoint, has been named by TIME magazine to its inaugural TIME Executives of the Year: Tech and Data list. He is the only African executive on the 50-person list, which celebrates Chief Information Officers, Chief Technology Officers, Chief Data Officers, and Chief Product Officers whose decisions shape how the world’s largest organisations adopt and deploy technology and data.
The list was unveiled on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, and features executives from prominent global technology companies such as Netflix, CrowdStrike, Dell, Duolingo, AT&T, OpenAI, Anthropic, Shopify, and Reddit. Moniepoint, the company Ike co-founded in 2015 with Tosin Eniolorunda, is the only African company represented on the list.
TIME noted that Ike “has helped to establish the business as one of Africa’s leading financial platforms.” This recognition follows Moniepoint’s inclusion on TIME’s 2025 list of the 100 Most Influential Companies. Ike, a first-class graduate in Computer Science from the University of Lagos, has overseen the architecture of the infrastructure that powers financial services for millions of businesses and individuals across Africa since Moniepoint’s founding.
Under Ike’s watch, Moniepoint has grown from a back-end payments provider for banks into a full business banking platform that attained unicorn status in 2024. The company now powers about 8 in 10 in-person digital payment transactions in Nigeria. TIME’s Executive Editor and Chief Strategy Officer, Dan Macsai, said the new franchise aims to spotlight executives responsible for how companies adopt emerging technology, secure their systems, and put their data to productive use.
Reacting to the recognition, Felix Ike expressed his gratitude for the honour, seeing it as a marker of what African-built technology is now capable of. He stated that the recognition shows that Nigerian engineering, built for Nigerian and Africa, can stand on the same stage as Silicon Valley and Wall Street.
Moniepoint Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer, Tosin Eniolorunda, described Ike’s recognition as a proud moment for the company and Nigeria. He noted that the recognition is a fitting acknowledgement of Moniepoint’s legacy and reflects well not only on the company but on Nigeria and the wider African technology community.
The recognition adds to a growing roll of distinctions for Moniepoint, which has featured for three consecutive years on the Financial Times’ list of Africa’s Fastest-Growing Companies and on CNBC’s World’s Top Fintech Companies list. The company presently serves over ten million businesses and individuals across Nigeria and beyond.
Key points
- Felix Ike is the only African executive on TIME’s inaugural Tech and Data list.
- Moniepoint is the only African company represented on the list.
- Ike’s recognition reflects the growing influence of African-built technology globally.
