How this Nigerian scaled two digital banks
In this edition of After Hours, we follow Segun Adeyemo, Founder of Sava Global and his journey from digital communications to scaling banking products.
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Segun Adeyemo’s relationship with technology started early, thanks to his school’s computer lab, pay-by-the-hour cybercafes, and a growing curiosity about how people interact with digital tools. <br />
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By 2020, that curiosity had brought him into the banking scene, where he helped drive growth for GoMoney at Sterling Bank and scaled Kuda into a mass-market digital bank. Today, Adeyemo runs Sava Global, a venture studio helping Africans scale. <br />
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In this edition of After Hours, Adeyemo shares how he went from digital communications to scaling digital banking products and now building travel and ecosystem solutions for Africans.<br />
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Early interactions with technology<br />
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My earliest memory of technology takes me back to primary school. Every Thursday, we had computer lessons, and I remember walking into the lab and seeing those big, chunky desktop computers with the old Windows background. It felt unreal.<br />
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The first time I learnt to switch on a computer, open Coral Draw, and draw something, I was fascinated. I was only five, but I would sneak back into the computer room with my friends just to doodle. That curiosity followed me home. I played with my dad’s gadgets, especially his organiser, which was like a mix of a calculator and scheduler. Later came video games, phones, cameras, and any device I could get my hands on.<br />
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Growing up, my environment also contributed. As a teenager, I had Walkmans and MP3 players. I also spent time in cybercafes buying browsing time by the hour, or trying to join early chat rooms so I didn’t feel left out. Those early exposures shaped my curiosity about how things worked and deepened my interest in digital opportunities before they fully took off in Nigeria.<br />
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The first tech tool I could say I owned for work was a laptop I used at GoMoney. It wasn’t even functioning perfectly, but it was mine, and it got the job done. Personally, I would say my phone is the one tech tool I can’t do without.<br />
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Scaling digital bank engines<br />
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I officially started working...
