The sudden resignation of Olu Akanmu as the Chief Executive Officer of OPay has generated concerns in several quarters.
Olu Akanmu, a financial industrial veteran announced his resignation on Monday morning, 31 July, 2023 via his official Twitter handle calling for a need to do more to get more Nigerians financially included.
While Akanmu failed to state the reasons behind his sudden resignation, it came across as a shock given to many especially given that the fintech just celebrated five years of existence.
In November 2021, he assumed the role of President at OPay-Nigeria. During his tenure, Opay experienced remarkable growth amidst Nigeria’s cash crunch, owing to its effective distribution strategies and robust infrastructure. As of April this year, the company boasted an impressive milestone of 30 million registered users.
Series of tweets, he said, “MOVING ON: End of a Chapter. Moving on to New Ones: My Gratitude to all my colleagues at #Opay for the good work we did together in deepening #financialinclusion in #Nigeria, ensuring that fewer and less number of our people are left behind in partaking out of the opportunities of the #digital financial system.
“Many thanks also to all our #ecosystem partners and enablers who complimented us, without which we would not have been able to deliver on the lofty mission of OPay which is to “deepen financial inclusion through technology.”
Akanmu is a Pharmacy graduate of the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University). He started his career as a Marketing Manager/ Regional Manager (Eastern and Northern Nigeria) with Glaxo Nigeria. He went on to work in the non-profit sector as Chief Operating Officer (Nigeria) for Population Services International (PSI), a global reproductive health charity.
He later moved to the telecommunications sector as General Manager-Consumer Marketing at MTN Nigeria Communications, playing a critical role in the growth of the business in Nigeria.
He also worked as the Chief Marketing Officer, Airtel Nigeria before crossing to the financial services sector. He was Executive Director for Retail Banking at FCMB for more than eight years before he was appointed President, OPay-Nigeria in 2021.
