The CXO Conversations - Building Instant Payments for Financial Inclusion in Africa

Synopsis:

At the Inclusive Fintech Forum 2026 in Kigali, Matteo Rizzi speaks with Robert Ochola, CEO of AfricaNenda Foundation, about accelerating financial inclusion across Africa. They discuss the mission to connect over 400 million unbanked people to financial systems through interoperable, affordable instant payment systems and policy engagement with regulators. Ochola shares his journey from engineering and telecoms to leading payment innovations like M-Pesa and regional infrastructure initiatives. The conversation highlights Rwanda’s leadership in enabling rapid fintech deployment, ecosystem challenges, and the role of MSMEs and fintechs in driving inclusive growth. He reflects on advancing open finance as Africa’s next frontier.

About Dr. Robert Ochola
Dr. Robert Ochola is an expert in strategy and innovation within the African banking and mobile telecommunications industry.

He is responsible for AfricaNenda’s overall strategy execution and leadership. His primary focus at AfricaNenda is on building momentum for an inclusive and interoperable approach to digital payments across Africa.

During his career, Robert has pioneered the development of a new Pan-African Payments and Settlement Systems (PAPSS) for driving cross-border trade, led the development of mobile payment solutions and the expansion of its product suite, along with overseeing the successful roll-out of solutions for ultra-low-cost mobile devices across Africa and the Middle East.

Prior to joining AfricaNenda, as Chief Executive Officer, Robert served as the Director of Strategy and Innovation at Afreximbank, served as Head of Strategy with Safaricom, and was the Director of Strategy, Research and Innovation at the KCB Bank Group.

He is an alumnus of Imperial College London, Warwick Business School and the University of Cape Town.