Ex-OPAY CEO, OLU AKANMU
Olu Akanmu has built a career at the intersection of purpose, technology and strategy. Today, he serves as Executive in Residence at Lagos Business School and, since October 2024, as the Academic Director of the school’s Tech-Leap Initiative. The program is charged with driving innovation, bridging academia and industry, and preparing Nigeria’s next generation for the digital future.
Akanmu’s journey to this role is rooted in strong academic credentials and broad experience. He earned a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), followed by a Master in Business Administration from Lagos State University. Beyond Nigeria, his thirst for growth took him to the University of Witwatersrand Business School in South Africa, where he graduated with distinction from the Management Advancement Program, and to Edinburgh Business School in the UK, where he obtained a Post-Graduate Certificate in Business Research Methods.
His professional path spans multiple sectors including healthcare, FMCG, telecommunications, banking, fintech and non-profit. At MTN Nigeria, he was General Manager of Consumer Marketing, and later served as Chief Marketing Officer at Airtel Nigeria. He held senior roles in financial institutions including the now-defunct Bank PHB, and worked with Glaxo Nigeria and Population Services International. He also became Executive Director of Retail Banking at First City Monument Bank (FCMB), where he drove retail strategy and innovation.
In November 2021, Akanmu was appointed President and Co-CEO of OPay Nigeria, one of the country’s leading fintech platforms, bringing with him more than two decades of executive experience.
At the recently concluded AfRES 24th Annual Conference in Lagos, Akanmu spoke to City People, reflecting on his time there, he said OPay and similar companies achieved in just a few years what banks had failed to do for over 150 years. “Just five years ago, only 50% of Nigerians had a financial account,” he recalled. “What OPay did, using agent banking and technology, was to unlock opportunities at the bottom end of the market that traditional players had ignored for so long.”
He painted a vivid picture of life before such disruption. Traveling the road towards Epe, he explained, the farthest point to find a bank branch would be Ajaan. Between Ajaan and Epe, there was no bank, yet people lived five to seven kilometers deep on both sides of the road. To access basic cash, they would ride bikes to the main road, then queue for hours. “That’s the kind of pain,” he said. “When these things are done, at the time it is not obvious, but those are the kind of things that OPay used technology to unlock. And it opened a lot of people’s eyes to, ah, so where were all those people before? But they have always been there, only that they were suffering.”
Because traditional players were making money at the top end of the market, they ignored the poor. For Akanmu, the lesson is clear: businesses that want to thrive must look beyond obvious markets and create solutions for the underserved.
Now back in academia, Akanmu is applying the same philosophy to the Lagos Business School Tech-Leap Initiative. He believes that data is central to the future of every sector, including real estate. “Any business, the more data you have, the better insight, either for planning, either for strategy that you’re going to have,” he explained. “Given the level of technology today, it will be criminal for any professional not to be leveraging the quality and the wider availability of data.”
Artificial intelligence, he stressed, is equally critical. From digitizing land titles and tracing ownership to securing records that can be used as collateral, AI offers huge potential. “We are at this cusp of a major technology revolution. They say industrial revolution. This is another digital revolution that will impact everybody. But some people will not benefit from it if you are sleeping. Those who do things in the old way will be caught napping.”
He warned that new competitors would come from outside traditional industries and “eat your cake.” Television, he pointed out, was already overtaken by YouTube and mobile platforms. “The young people are on their phone. So a whole lot of things are going to change. Everybody needs to adapt. And real estate practice too must also adapt.”
Akanmu has also been outspoken about education in the age of AI. Some teachers worry that students no longer read or write because they depend on AI tools. He disagrees. “When we started, education was not progressing, and it’s backward thinking. In real life, it is give the student all the tools, including AI, including ChatGPT. The intelligent one will use ChatGPT differently because it is by knowing the questions to ask that you are going to get insight.”
He argued that memorization does not help in real life. “When you come out of school, everything you need, calculator, computer, will be there. It is the application of knowledge.” By teaching principles and then allowing students to use technology, educators can prepare them for the realities of the modern world. Routine work that once took long hours can now be done in minutes, freeing up time for creativity. “If it used to take three days to do a design of a house, with computers and artificial intelligence a design can be finished in one hour. So what will happen to the quality or creativity of the designer? They will have more time for the things that machines cannot do.”
But many educators remain afraid. “University teachers are afraid. Somebody’s going to… No! Let everybody go and rethink how to do education in the context of artificial intelligence.” For doctoral research, for example, machines can now process reams of material that once took months. “It means everybody should go and reinvent themselves because this thing cannot be stopped. The AI revolution cannot be stopped.”
He described the future as one of augmented thinking. “My own intelligence plus machine intelligence will make me smarter and I will be able to do things faster and more intelligently. The quality of my work will be very different. It will be 150 times better than before. But if you say don’t use it, you’ll be surprised about those who will eat your cake. They will be non-professionals. So it is the value addition to machine learning and artificial intelligence that will make a difference.”
To him, fears of AI are no different from historical fears of printing machines. “They called them the looters. They were burning down printing machines because they were afraid somebody was going to take their job. But the printing machine has helped knowledge. That’s the way technology is going to be.”
For Akanmu, nobody should fear AI. Instead, it must be embraced. “It is going to make your production work and creative work shorter, and the quality of your creativity will be much better. That’s the way the world is going.”
Beyond his corporate and academic achievements, Akanmu is deeply shaped by values of social justice, inclusion and character. He often reflects on his student days, not just studying pharmacy, but engaging in politics, journalism and activism. These experiences taught him to think broadly, cultivate curiosity and hold integrity at the center of leadership.
As he leads the Tech-Leap Initiative, his vision is clear: build ecosystems that allow underserved Nigerians to access finance, real estate, education and digital tools. Ensure AI and data serve not just a privileged few, but all. And in a rapidly changing world, his message remains consistent. Do not just keep up, shape what is coming.
By Benprince Ezeh
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