3 Nigerian entrepreneurs named among 28 global leaders in Bloomberg catalyst list

Three Nigerian entrepreneurs have been named among the 28 global thought leaders and policymakers in the Bloomberg new economy catalyst 2022 list.

They are Wemimo Abbey, co-founder and co-chief executive officer of Esusu, Odunayo Eweniyi, co-founder and chief operating officer, PiggyTech Global Limited and Olugbenga Olufemi, founder and chief executive officer of Reddi.

In the list published on Wednesday, Bloomberg said the 28 leaders are moving the world toward a more equitable, sustainable future.

The catalyst list encompasses visionaries at every stage — from promising start-ups to unicorns as well as policymakers and thought leaders driving the global conversation. 

According to Bloomberg, Abbey, a Nigerian-born US immigrant, is helping low-income households use on-time rent payments to build credit.

“Rent is often the largest household expense, especially among the poor. But for more than 90 percent of American tenants, monthly rent payments aren’t factored into credit scores — which makes it hard for renters to ever buy a home even if they pay on time month after month. Esusu bridges this gap by reporting rent payments to the three major credit bureaus — Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian — helping renters establish and improve their credit profiles,” Bloomberg said.

Eweniyi was recognised for encouraging economic growth in Africa via automated micro-savings.

“As long as cash is king in Africa, the poor will struggle to save enough money to make bulk, upfront payments for essential transactions such as apartment rentals. To help them, Nigerian activist Odunayo Eweniyi created PiggyTech Global, whose PiggyVest automated micro-savings and micro-investment service is aimed at making finances simpler and more transparent for low- and middle-income earners,” it added.

“The platform offers competitive savings interest rates and encourages discipline with few free withdrawals. The company says it has 4 million users and more than $200 million in assets under management.”

Also, Olufemi of Reddi is said to be providing clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to energy-poor places.

“More than 900 million people in Africa have either unreliable electricity or none at all. Nigerian-born engineer Olugbenga Olubanjo Olufemi has created Reeddi, a hardware-as-a-service company that charges consumers a small daily fee to easily access a reliable supply of off-grid electricity from renewable energy sources anytime, anywhere. Reeddi’s solar-powered batteries can be rented in a local corner store for as little as 50 cents per day, which Olufemi says can cut a user’s energy expenses by 30 percent,” it said.

The Bloomberg new economy catalysts include Gloria Walton (United States), Anastasia Volkova (United States), Emma Sánchez Andrade Smith (Mexico), Flavia Tata Nardini (Australia), Amira Yahyaoui (United States), Gloria Walton (United States), Gregory Rockson (Ghana), Alexis Rovner (United States), Taynaah Reis (Brazil), Abhilasha Purwar (India), Aneri Pradhan (United States).

Others are; Tamar Mohammed (Canada), Emiliano Kargieman (Argentina), Gibran Huzaifah (Indonesia), Edu Lyra (Brazil), Angel Hsu (United States), Nadine Hachach-Haram (United Kingdom), Andrés Gutiérrez (Colombia), Devendra Gupta (India), Tülin Akın (Turkey), Omar Abudayyeh (United States), Jun Asakawa (Japan), Carrie Chan ( Hong Kong), Anna Luísa Beserra (Brazil), Asrar Damdam (United States), Azeez Gupta (India).