Sarah Okonkwo
I'm Sarah Okonkwo, founder and CEO of AfriPay, a fintech company making cross-border payments seamless across Africa. We've processed over $2 billion in transactions since launching in 2020, serving 500,000+ businesses in 15 African countries. Before AfriPay, I spent 6 years at Goldman Sachs in their emerging markets division, where I developed payment infrastructure for frontier markets. I left Wall Street because I saw a massive gap: African businesses were paying 8-15% fees on cross-border transactions that should cost under 1%.
Founder & CEO, AfriPay
AfriPay enables instant, low-cost cross-border payments across Africa using blockchain settlement rails. $2B+ total payment volume processed, 500,000+ business customers across 15 countries. Raised $115M across Series A and B rounds.
Vice President, Goldman Sachs
Led payment infrastructure projects across 8 African markets. Structured $500M+ in trade finance deals. Built the internal Africa fintech research desk.
**Key AfriPay Milestones:**
• $2B+ total payment volume processed • 500,000+ business customers across 15 countries • Series B: $85M led by Andreessen Horowitz (2023) • Series A: $25M led by Sequoia Capital (2021) • Team of 250+ across Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town, and London • Licensed in Nigeria (CBN), Kenya (CBK), and South Africa (SARB)
**Education**
MBA, Harvard Business School (2014) Baker Scholar (top 5% of class), Africa Business Club President
BSc Economics, University of Lagos (2010) First Class Honours, Valedictorian
**Awards & Recognition**
• TIME 100 Most Influential in AI & Fintech 2024 • Forbes 30 Under 30 — Finance (2022) • African Business Leadership Award 2023 • World Economic Forum Young Global Leader 2023 • TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield Finalist 2020
**Board Positions & Advisory**
• Board Member, Flutterwave (2023 - Present) • Advisory Board, Central Bank of Nigeria Digital Currency Committee (2022 - Present) • Board Observer, TechCabal Media (2021 - Present) • Mentor, Y Combinator (2021 - Present)
**Speaking Engagements**
• Davos 2024 — "The Future of African Payments" • TechCrunch Disrupt 2023 — Main Stage • Africa Fintech Summit 2023 — Keynote • Stanford GSB Guest Lecture — "Building in Africa" (2022)