In six years, customers withdrew ₦1.1 trillion from Piggytech, a Nigerian fintech company. Here are the executives behind the company’s growth.Piggytech, the parent company of Piggyvest, Pocket, and Patronize, has evolved from a savings platform in 2016 into a diversified financial services company with multiple licenses and a team of over 170 staff members. Spearheading this impressive growth is the founding team, composed of alumni from Covenant University who started the journey together.The company was founded in 2016 by Somto Ifezue (CEO), Odunayo Eweniyi (COO), and Joshua Chibueze (CMO). It operates a hierarchical structure where the co-founders and key members of the founding team—Nonso Eagle (Chief Creative Officer), Terry Kanu (Head of Partnerships), Ibukun Akinola (Head of Customer Finance), and Ayo Akinola, who currently works on the Pocket product—report directly to Ifezue.All seven members of this team were part of PushCV, a recruitment company established two years before Piggytech. The long-standing partnership among these individuals is rare in Nigeria’s fintech sector, where turnover and leadership changes are common. “We are friends and have been through it all together. It’s like having your own accountability group. We know our strengths and weaknesses and have been able to complement each other,” Chibueze explained about their enduring collaboration.
The company’s stability extends beyond its founders. Middle management typically grows internally, with promotions given to long-serving team members rather than external hires. According to a company source, the few exceptions to this tradition occurred only when new departments were created.“When we started expanding into what we are today, it was very clear that we should promote the people from the beginning, and they have, over the years, improved themselves. The people who are in top positions today are mostly individuals who understand the core values and DNA of the company,” Chibueze added.
Notable leadership transitions include the 2022 hiring of Sayo BiluBaje from Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers as Senior Compliance Officer, the 2021 appointment of Daniel Orubo as Head of Content and Content Strategy (a department overseeing social media, brand design, and marketing), and the rehiring of Karen Onigbide as Senior Product Manager in 2021. Onigbide had previously served at PushCV and Piggyvest in various product management roles. Another key internal promotion was Ojimaojo Udale-Ameh’s advancement to Head of Engineering after joining the company in 2019.
The company’s engineering team reports to Ifezue, who initially led engineering efforts. Meanwhile, legal, business development, and operations teams report to Eweniyi, and Chibueze oversees the marketing, content, and customer success teams, which together form the company’slargest department.
