Bode Abifarin has begun a new chapter in her fintech leadership journey, taking on the role of Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of MoMo Payment Service Bank (MoMo PSB), the financial services business backed by MTN Nigeria.
Her appointment took effect on September 1, 2026, placing an experienced technology and financial services executive at the helm of a business seeking to expand digital financial services and deepen financial inclusion in Nigeria.
Abifarin brings more than 23 years of experience spanning financial services, consulting, digital payments, fintech, strategy, operations and business transformation.
Her career includes senior leadership experience at two of Africa’s most recognised professional and technology companies: KPMG, where she spent about 15 years, and Flutterwave, where she served as Chief Operating Officer.
At Flutterwave, Abifarin was involved in scaling the company across multiple markets, developing operating models, supporting strategic expansion and strengthening relationships with regulators and other stakeholders.
Her experience at KPMG, meanwhile, included advising organisations across Africa on strategy, transformation, customer experience and growth.
That combination of consulting experience and hands-on fintech operations now becomes particularly relevant as she takes responsibility for MoMo PSB’s next phase.
Abifarin is joining MoMo PSB at a time of change for MTN’s financial services operations.
MTN Nigeria is restructuring its fintech business, including plans to transfer a 60 percent stake in MoMo PSB and Y’ello Digital Financial Services to MTN Group, while MTN Nigeria would retain a 40 percent interest, subject to regulatory approval. The proposed restructuring is intended to provide the businesses with greater access to capital and a more focused platform for growth.
Against that backdrop, Abifarin’s appointment is more than a routine executive transition.
She is stepping into a business that must balance growth, customer trust, financial performance, regulatory expectations and the continued expansion of digital financial services.
MoMo PSB operates in a Nigerian market where mobile and digital financial services continue to create new possibilities for individuals and businesses that have historically faced barriers to formal financial services.
For Abifarin, the opportunity is to combine technology with accessibility.
In her new role, she is expected to focus on expanding access to innovative, secure and customer-focused financial solutions while strengthening financial inclusion and creating value for individuals, businesses and communities.
Her appointment also comes with experience of what it takes to scale technology businesses in complex African markets.
That experience could prove important as competition intensifies across Nigeria’s fintech and digital payments ecosystem and customers increasingly expect financial services to be faster, easier and more accessible.
Abifarin’s career trajectory reflects the changing nature of leadership in Africa’s technology sector.
She began from a professional-services background, building expertise in strategy and business transformation before moving into the rapidly evolving fintech industry.
Her time at Flutterwave gave her direct experience of operating within a high-growth technology company and navigating the challenges that come with expanding a financial technology business across multiple markets.
She subsequently founded Strata Advisory, further extending her work in business and operational advisory.
Her professional experience has also included engagement with the wider technology and business ecosystem through organisations including Lagos Business School and Women in Tech Nigeria.
Abifarin has said she looks forward to working with MoMo PSB’s employees, regulators, partners and other stakeholders to expand access to digital financial solutions across Nigeria.
Her immediate challenge will be turning that ambition into measurable growth while maintaining the trust and security expected of a financial institution.
For MoMo PSB, the appointment brings an executive with experience on both sides of the technology equation: advising businesses on transformation and leading operations within a major African fintech.
For Abifarin, it represents a return to a senior operating role in Nigeria’s fintech industry — this time with responsibility for helping shape the next stage of one of the country’s major digital financial services businesses.
As Nigeria’s financial services landscape continues to evolve, her leadership at MoMo PSB will be worth watching.
The next chapter of digital finance in Nigeria will be shaped not only by technology, but by the leaders capable of turning that technology into services people can trust and use. Bode Abifarin now has the opportunity to do exactly that.
