Top strategic CEO’s of Nigeria’s most transformative companies in 2025

Top strategic CEO’s of Nigeria’s most transformative companies in 2025

OnePipe committed to democratising access tofinancial services, says founder, Ope Adeoye

Registered as a Delaware C-Corp in April 2020, OnePipe is a fintech company with operating
entities in Nigeria, the United Kingdom and Kenya.

OnePipe partners with banks and financial institutions to operate an embedded finance infrastructure (and supporting products) that helps businesses to process payments from bank accounts, and embed wallets and credit within their value chains and products.

The founder of OnePipe, Ope Adeoye, says the company’s strong area of interest is in informal markets and traditional businesses.

OnePipe’s core belief is that the world needs a new type of financial services ecosystem, one where everyone has a role to play, and everyone has some value to capture, stressing that while there’s a need for some to be gatekeepers, their influence needs to be minimal.

OnePipe’s goal is to operate infrastructure that makes it possible for any business to create new financial services products without any constraints in technology, personnel, expertise, or regulatory impedances.

OnePipe has three main product offerings, namely:
One, the original OnePipe offering. An API gateway deployed for banks, wrapped around their core APIs and internal processes, to help them improve monetisation of technology assets and drive deposits

Two, paywithAccount: An account-to-account payment platform that offers a mix of virtual accounts for payments, direct debit, direct bank routing for cards and more.

Three, Growtrade: Inventory finance, savings and payment offering for businesses in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods value chains as a way to help distributors maintain loyalty with their customers.

To prove the efficacy and impact of its products, the company supports its claim with the three testimonies below:

“When we were preparing to launch our operations in the country, choosing the right payment partner was critical. We needed a platform that could guarantee seamless, reliable, and instant payment processing from day one. One of our consultants strongly recommended OnePipe, noting that their account-based payment system is best-in-class for airlines.

“From the moment we came on board, OnePipe delivered exactly that. The integration was smooth, transactions have been fast and dependable, and the system has consistently supported our operational needs without friction. We have not regretted choosing OnePipe for a single moment—it has been a key enabler of our successful launch– Lawal Sabo, Accountable Manager, Rano Air

The second testimony: “Before Growtrade, running my business was extremely stressful—I relied on multiple funding sources with high interest. Since partnering with Growtrade, everything has changed. They pay my distributors on my behalf, allowing me to restock easily without using my personal funds. My sales have increased, my business has grown, and I now manage my market with confidence. Growtrade has been a true game changer, freeing me to focus on serving more customers and expanding my business.” -Zinda Eromobor, Growtrade Customer

And the third testimony: “As an airline, seamless and reliable payment collection is critical to our operations. Since onboarding OnePipe, we’ve enjoyed a smooth, dependable payment experience that has supported our business.

Their account-based collections have performed consistently, and working with the OnePipe team has been effortless. Turning on OnePipe has been a strong decision for Air Peace, and we’ve enjoyed their services ever since.” –Ihuoma Ukairo, Senior Manager Revenue Reconciliation, Air Peace

The success testified to above is made possible largely by the OnePipe leader, Ope Adeoye, who has built significant experience in being a hands-on leader who builds, guides and motivates high-performance teams to create, launch, and operate cannot-be-ignored initiatives and technology based ventures.

One of his primary motivations is to be at the forefront of creating notable African technology success stories and get wealthy quickly enough doing it, so that he can go back to the University of Ilorin and tell the younger ones struggling to graduate that almost anything is possible.

Ope has spent over two decades in the technology & payments ecosystem in various capacities, including product management, and deal sourcing for M&A activities.

He helped to birth and grow Quickteller and Lending Services while at Interswitch, Nigeria’s largest payments company. He holds an engineering degree from the University of Ilorin and certificates from Lagos Business School and Stanford CPD.

Ope is the founder at OnePipe.io, a company building a platform that powers account-based payments and makes it possible for tech and traditional businesses to launch or embed financial services like accounts, payment collections, disbursements, and credit within their product offerings.

He also serves as a Trustee at Open Technology Foundation, helping with advocacy for the Open Banking Nigeria initiative, he also sits on the board of a few fintech startup companies. He writes actively at opeadeoye.com

Learn more about him and his company in the interview he granted The Guardian below:

Today, OnePipe assists businesses improve their access to financial services. What primary problem did you aim to solve, and how does OnePipe’s infrastructure currently address that challenge today?

From the beginning, our vision was to democratise access to financial services. We saw a system where too many businesses—especially emerging and traditional ones—faced unnecessary barriers to participating fully in the financial ecosystem. We believe every business has a role to play and value to unlock, and access should be enabled by infrastructure—not limited by gatekeeping.

That belief led us to build OnePipe; secure, standardised financial infrastructure that allows any business to seamlessly embed account-based services into their core offering. Today, businesses of all sizes use OnePipe to power collections, wallets, subscriptions, and credit—transforming financial services from a privilege into an accessible growth engine.

From your perspective, what impact has OnePipe had so far on fintechs, banks, and businesses using the platform?

For fintechs, OnePipe eliminates fragmentation. With a single integration, they gain access to multiple banks and financial service providers through standardized APIs. This significantly reduces time to market, lowers integration costs, and allows them to focus on what truly differentiates them—building innovative, customer-centric products rather than managing multiple bank relationships.

For banks, OnePipe operationalises Open Banking. By standardizing APIs across our network, we position banks to compete effectively as the regulatory framework evolves. More importantly, we unlock new revenue streams by enabling banks to monetize their API infrastructure, grow deposits, access transaction float, and expand their retail footprint through the customers of the businesses they power.

For businesses, the impact is equally transformative. Through OnePipe’s infrastructure, companies can seamlessly embed account-based collections, wallets, subscriptions, and credit into their operations. This means instant settlement, improved reconciliation, reduced payment failures, and no chargeback exposure. Businesses are able to offer better financial experiences to their customers, improve cash flow visibility, and unlock new revenue models without building complex financial infrastructure from scratch.

Ultimately, OnePipe serves as the connective bridge—aligning fintech innovation with bank infrastructure and empowering businesses to participate more fully in the financial ecosystem. In doing so, we enable all players to capture greater value while driving a more interoperable and inclusive financial system.

Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem is rapidly evolving and fiercely competitive. What key strategic choices have enabled

OnePipe to stay relevant, resilient, and trusted in this environment?

In our fast-evolving and highly competitive ecosystem, our strategy has been clarity of focus. We chose early to specialise in best-in-class account-based payments—powering collections, subscriptions, and wallets—rather than chasing every fintech trend. We also made a deliberate decision to serve not just tech-enabled startups, but mostly
traditional and informal-sector businesses that are often overlooked. By building secure, standardized infrastructure that can be adopted with low- or no-code integration, we reduce complexity and accelerate financial inclusion at scale. Finally, our commitment to Open Banking principles—standardisation, interoperability, and
trusted partnerships with banks—has positioned OnePipe as durable infrastructure rather than a
feature. That infrastructure-first approach has enabled us to remain relevant, resilient, and trusted
as the ecosystem continues to evolve.

Looking ahead, what is your long-term vision for OnePipe, and how do you see the company shaping the future of financial services and digital payments in Nigeria and beyond?

OnePipe has always sought to stay ahead of the curve—anticipating where financial services are headed and building for that future early. We did this with our strong bet on Open Banking, our conviction around account-based payments when cards dominated the conversation, and now with direct debit and subscription-based payment infrastructure. Our approach has consistently been to recognise structural shifts early and build the rails that will power the next phase of financial services.

Our long-term vision is to become the foundational infrastructure enabling account-based financial services across Africa and other emerging markets. We are building more than a payments company—we are building secure, compliant, and standardized rails that allow any business, whether tech-enabled or traditional, to embed financial services seamlessly into their core offerings.

We see OnePipe shaping the future by accelerating Open Banking adoption, standardising access to bank infrastructure, and lowering the barriers for businesses to participate meaningfully in the financial ecosystem. As more companies digitize and as commerce becomes increasingly embedded, we want OnePipe to be the trusted connective layer between fintech innovation, bank capabilities, and everyday businesses.

Ultimately, our ambition is to make financial services more accessible, interoperable, and programmable—transforming them from standalone products into invisible growth engines that power commerce across Nigeria and beyond.

On a personal level, what inspired you to build OnePipe, and how has that purpose influenced your leadership style as CEO?

On a personal level, fundamentally it’s a quest for freedom. Freedom to chart your own course and be responsible for your own success or failure. This has also translated to what the mission for OnePipe is: Enabling any business with the freedom to design and execute their own financial services, from payment to credit to whatever they can think of. Building on OnePipe.

Reflecting on your journey as a founder and CEO, what has been the most important lesson so far, and what advice would you give to emerging fintech leaders building scalable, impact-driven solutions in Nigeria?

The two most important lessons are that entrepreneurship will be a journey of self-discovery more than anything else. There’s so much one does not know about oneself that this odyssey will reveal. And then, zooming out, the second lesson is that the market is never waiting to validate a business’ assumptions. Things are moving so fast and one needs to keep adapting and stay nimble.

Top strategic CEO’s of Nigeria’s most transformative companies in 2025

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