Founder and group managing director/CEO of Interswitch Group, Mitchell Elegbe, has been reappointed to serve on the global jury of the 2025 Ernst & Young (EY) World Entrepreneur of the Year (WEOY) Awards, solidifying his place among an elite corps of global business icons.
He is the only entrepreneur from Africa selected to serve on the prestigious panel, a distinction he has held for the second year running.
According to EY, the World Entrepreneur of the Year Hall of Fame is an elite corps of men and women who have been recognised for their exceptional entrepreneurial achievements. For 38 years, since 1986, EY has been celebrating ingenuity through the Entrepreneur of the Year program. “The program has recognized more than 10,000 outstanding entrepreneurs for their vision, innovation, courage, and leadership in building and growing successful businesses — businesses that influence the way people live, the products and services we depend on, and the economic vibrancy of our local communities and global markets.”
In June 2023, Elegbe, alongside 48 other accomplished entrepreneurs from 45 countries across the world were inducted into the 2023 WEOY Hall of Fame With Interswitch’s Elegbe holding the unique distinction of being the only black and African global finalist and inductee into the coveted hall of fame, as well as the only entrepreneur in the 38-year history of the awards to have won in both the emerging and master categories at various times in their region (West Africa).
For the 2025 edition, Elegbe has been re-invited by EY’s global leadership to join the global jury being 1 of 8 former finalists who form the judging committee for the 2025 global awards of the initiative, to be held between 3-6 June 2025 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. The 2025 jury is made up of accomplished entrepreneurs drawn from Australia, Brazil, Japan, Nigeria (Elegbe), Poland, Singapore, The United Kingdom, The USA and South Korea.
Elegbe is widely regarded as one of the pivotal architects of Nigeria’s payment innovation revolution and has gained acclaim globally for his contributions as an exceptional African entrepreneur, who has contributed in no small measure to the economic development of Nigeria and Africa as a whole, having distinguished himself in business leadership and technology development.
A multiple award-winning professional and a renowned business leader in the Information Technology and Financial Services industry, he has won several awards, some of which include Harvard Business School Association (Nigeria) Leadership Award in the General Management Category; African Banker Awards 2019 as the African Banker Icon; CNBC/Forbes All African Business Leader (AABLA) Awards for West Africa as well as Financial Technology (Fintech) Africa Awards, Payments and Transfer category in 2016, among other deserving recognitions. He is also a Bishop Desmond Tutu Fellow of the African Leadership Institute, an Endeavor Entrepreneur and also a member of the Board of Endeavor in Nigeria.
Elegbe founded Interswitch in 2002 to provide a solution to problems associated with payments in Nigeria and has since led the company to consolidated growth as a leading payment and digital commerce company that helps to build and manage payment infrastructure and provides robust technology-based solutions to individuals, financial institutions, and governments across Africa.
