Mitchell Elegbe is Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors at Interswitch, a business he conceptualized and has led since 2002, when the company went into operation. Under his leadership, Interswitch has remarkably diversified its business, broadened distribution channels and expanded into new markets across Africa, driving revolutionary payment innovation and social impact and delivering strong growth in revenue and profits (recognized by Deloitte in 2014 as ‘Africa’s fastest growing technology business’).

Mitchell is an Electrical/Electronic Engineering graduate from the University of Benin, Nigeria and also an alumnus of the IESE/Wharton/CEIBS Global CEO Program. He is a consummate people-centric leader who believes in motivating his colleagues at Interswitch to have confidence in their value as individuals; in the value of the work they do; and in their value as team members, whilst being relentless in his pursuit of sustainable value for stakeholders.

Apart from leading Interswitch to win numerous coveted industry awards, Mitchell’s leadership abilities have earned him several awards, including the CNBC/Forbes All African Business Leader (AABLA) for West Africa in 2012, the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, the International Finance Corporation’s Inclusive Business Leader Award and the acclaimed African Leadership Network (ALN) 2013 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship (AAE), which is one of the most distinguished Africa-focused award programmes, giving over USD 200 000 prize money to outstanding African entrepreneurs who demonstrate business excellence and social impact. In June 2019, Mitchell
was named as the 2019 African Banker Icon by The African Banker. Most recently, he was awarded as the 2023 EY West Africa Entrepreneur of the Year.

A Bishop Desmond Tutu fellow of the African Leadership Institute, he enjoys actively mentoring young entrepreneurs, a passion he finds expression for as a member of the board of Endeavor Nigeria.