Patrick Akinwuntan

Background

Patrick Akin Akinwuntan is a Chartered Accountant, Pan African Banker and Fintech expert. He holds an MBA, is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria and an alumnus of the Harvard Business School Senior Executive program. He is also an honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria and Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria.

Patrick commenced his professional career at EY International and practiced investment banking at Manufacturer’s Merchant Bank (now Fidelity Bank) before a 26-year pan-African banking career at Ecobank where he held various executive positions across Africa, including Group Chief Financial Officer and later, Group Executive Director, Operations, Technology, Transactions and Retail bank and subsequently Domestic bank. He retired in 2022 as the Managing Director & Regional Executive of Ecobank Nigeria.

Patrick has an extraordinary passion for innovation, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion and innovation in financial services. He led the launch of the first international credit-card in West frica, a unified pan-African banking App, various consumer banking products and instant fund transfers across 33 African countries in 18 currencies.

Patrick was Chairman of the Bankers Committee’s Ethics and Professionalism sub-committee during 2018-2022 and currently a member of the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria. He has extensive board-level experience which includes non-executive director positions at Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), FMDQ Securities Exchange, First Securities Discount House (FSDH) and premier Chairman of Accion Microfinance Bank Limited. He is currently an Adjunct Faculty at the Lagos Business School and an independent non-executive director on the board of Airtel Nigeria, MudoZangl Nigeria Limited and Opolo Global Innovation Limited.

Awarded best retail banker in Africa for 2016 by the Asian Banker, Patrick is a co-Chair of the Advisory board of Retail banking Councils for Africa and a member of the Board of Trustees of the Fintech Association of Nigeria, EY Alumni Nigeria, KSM Charity Foundation, Ife Trust Fund and Ile-Ife Progress Summit.

Research opportunities

Diaspora Investments, Innovation in Financial technology.

Current activities

1. DBA student at Cranfield School of Management - 2023-2027

2. Adjunct Faculty at the Lagos Business School

3. Independent non-executive director on the board of Airtel Nigeria, MudoZangl Nigeria Limited and Opolo Global Innovation Limited

4. Member of the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria.

5. Co-Chair of the Advisory board of Retail banking Councils for Africa

6. Member of the Board of Trustees of the Fintech Association of Nigeria, EY Alumni Nigeria, KSM Charity Foundation, Ife Trust Fund and Ile-Ife Progress Summit.