Obi Igwe

The Mastercard Foundation 2013 - 2014

Alumni

Legatum Fellow

From:

Nigeria

Sector:

Financial Services

Location:

Nigeria

Degree:

MBA, Sloan School of Management

Obi Igwe has founded Ajo.com, an online peer-to peer-lending service, in order to help overcome the information gap in low-income countries by leveraging ancient social lending practices inherent in many African cultures. In countries such as Nigeria, middle-income families and solid small- and medium-sized enterprises find it difficult to access short- term credit financing, often due to the cost of gathering sufficient information upon which a sound credit decision can be made. In many cases, the data is not available at all. Ajo.com fills this gap by connecting good-quality borrowers to potential lenders in their immediate and extended networks. Lending done in this way can help reduce the cost of loan processing, while increasing borrower access to finance; it provides a good return to the lender while keeping default rates relatively low.

The entrepreneurial bug first bit Obi after directing the MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference 2013. The daring nature and creativity shown by the finalists inspired him to develop and pursue Ajo.com. Originally from Lagos, Nigeria, Obi has worked with the African Development Bank in Tunis and in the Investment/Wholesale Banking Division of Guaranty Trust Bank in Lagos. At MIT, he has been actively involved with the Africa Business Club, both as a conference organizer and as a Vice President of Admissions & Alumni Relations.

A first-year MBA student at MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Obi obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Nigeria and Imperial College London, respectively. He intends to return to the continent after his studies in Cambridge and will spend part of this summer seeking partners for Ajo.com and another part working as a Summer Consultant for Bain & Company in Johannesburg.