When Payaza shook the Nigerian fintech ecosystem by raising and repaying ₦14.9 billion through commercial paper in under six months, it wasn’t just a financial milestone, it was a signal.
A signal that with structure, discipline, and a plan, capital markets can work for tech founders too. At the centre of that signal is Seyi Ebenezer, the founder and CEO of Payaza.
In an ecosystem still maturing, Ebenezer is building something quietly radical: a fintech rooted in financial discipline, not just disruption.
From Banking Floors to the Frontlines of Fintech
Seyi Ebenezer’s credibility was built over a decade in Nigeria’s banking and financial institutions, where he worked at KPMG, Access Bank, and Keystone Bank.
Here, he developed not just technical skills but a clear conviction: structure and trust matter more than speed when you’re dealing with people’s money.
These convictions would later shape how he built Payaza, and more importantly, how he chose to fund it.
“While managing many businesses in my banking days, I discovered that the companies with structure were able to stand the test of time despite their issues, while the companies without structure, which were solely dependent on the decisions of a few people, had a lot of issues,” he said in a recent interview.
Building Payaza
Founded in 2022, Payaza Africa was built to simplify collections and disbursements for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). Payaza now offers a robust suite of tools for merchants, aggregators, and corporate clients.
Where most startups wait years before implementing audits, Ebenezer made Deloitte Payaza’s auditor from inception and had ₦14.9bn commercial paper issuance fully repaid within six months.
“In technology today, we talk about speed, artificial intelligence, and innovation. But when it comes to the world of finance, where you handle people’s hard-earned money, then we talk about trust,” he explained.
Payaza’s choice of commercial paper was a strategic and philosophical decision. For Ebenezer, equity can sometimes breed complacency. Debt, on the other hand, enforces discipline.
Credentials That Speak Volumes
Ebenezer is one of the most credentialled founders in Nigeria’s fintech space. He holds the following designations:
- ACA (Associate Chartered Accountant)
- CMA (Certified Management Accountant)
- ACI (Accredited Commercial Investor)
- ACIB (Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers)
- CTP (Certified Treasury Professional)
He also holds an MBA from Lagos Business School and recently completed an Executive MBA at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.
Boardroom Influence and Sector Advocacy
Beyond Payaza, Seyi Ebenezer serves as an independent board member at Prosperis Holdings, where he sits on the Audit Committee, and at NucleusS, a digital infrastructure company.
He’s also an advocate for a more localised approach to finance, particularly when it comes to credit rating agencies.
“Africa has one of the lowest default rates globally,” he said. “It’s interesting to note that Western Europe has a default rate of about 9.1%, so it’s very important for us to write our stories, and we do this by creating our own credit rating agencies.”
Seyi Ebenezer’s approach defies many of the norms celebrated in African tech. According to him, he’s offering a different story: one of discipline before hype, structure before scale, and debt before dilution.
