By Isqil Najim
In 2019, then 31 year old, Uzoma Nwagba was one of those at the forefront of driving “Africa’s largest social enterprise programme”. From one market in Zamfara to another in Anambra, he moved from one store to the other attending to petty traders who want to grow their businesses but do not have the fund.
He was then the chief operating officer (COO) of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), one of the components of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) under the office of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. He coordinated about 4000 agents across the country
The programme was implemented by the Bank of Industry. It comprises FarmerMoni, MarketMoni and TraderMoni products. To Nwagbam however, it is all about using technology to deliver measurable impact in financial inclusion and to make lives of the common man better. Now 36, he has been given a bigger assignment by the administration of president Bola Tinubu to head Creditcorp.
The Nigeria Consumer Credit Corporation (CrediCorp) is a company owned by the Federal Government of Nigeria. CrediCorp achieves this mission by: fixing the structural barriers to accessing consumer credit in Nigeria. Catalysing the market with capital, guarantees, and policy. CrediCorp including its consumer credit guarantee fund, works closely with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the financial sector, identity management, credit registries, fintechs, consumer protection, and policy makers on this mission.It provides wholesale and catalytic lending to financial institutions committed to advancing consumer credit.
Nwagba was born on September 7, 1987, in Aba, Abia state, where he hails from. He attended Kings College, Lagos and holds a first-class degree in electrical engineering from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard, both in the US. While at Howard, he served as the student government president.
Back in 2019, while leveraging his experience in finance and technology, Nwagba believes traders and artisans, who are financially marginalised, can get access to corporate financial services.
“I use the app, make the calls, monitor the systems, just to get a feel. Our GEEP agents are equipped with a proprietary application that enables full registration and capture of 48 data points, information on the market, nature of trader, pictures of trader and their trade point, GPS coordinate of the trade point, farm plot mapping, association membership and 43 other data points that enable credit assessment,” he told TheCable in 2019.
The engineer-turned public servant said he has been lucky enough to have several opportunities that accelerated his life; hence, it is only right that he helps others too.
“These are the things that motivate me personally. The idea that we can build something from scratch, deliver real measurable impact in financial inclusion at such an enormous scale, and in the process give back to the society that has raised us,” he said.
On his experience moving across the country and dealing with market women and artisans, he said: “The experiences are beautiful. I recall one time in Bauchi where a group of staunch Muslim traders gathered in a circle with their Imam and were praying for me, an Igbo Christian, and of course praying for the government. These are priceless moments. I have gotten a well-rounded view of this country to see that the things that unite us are stronger than those that divide us. We all want better lives and the dignity that comes with economic empowerment.”
Some of his challenges running the project come from enumerating millions of people, managing 4,000 agents nationwide and lots of technological tools and systems. But the most daunting one comes from the wrong narratives that the initiatives are political.
Still in 2019, Nwagba had a mission to create an enabling environment for more small businesses and reduce poverty among the lower people in the economic ladder.
According to him, “In Nigeria, our biggest social challenge is poverty. I am a strong believer that the most effective way to fight poverty is to accelerate enterprise. At some point, this could all be private sector and industry-driven; but until then, we must be deliberate about achieving what you call “fiscal cushions” on the way there, and do it at all levels – even the poor, otherwise the country will implode before our very eyes.”
“I would like to use GEEP to give a new meaning to possibility: for government projects, for digital finance, for credit, for impact, for applied tech and innovation, for what young people can do when given a real leadership chance. This happens to be one platform but there are several more where we can achieve results of similar scale and magnitude,” he said.
Now, his prayer has been elevated in a bigger way, he has the opportunity to play significant roles in the mission to lift 50% of Nigerian poor out of poverty by 2030. Courtesy of teh CreditCorp which he now headed.
Uzoma Nwagba has built his expertise at the intersection of technology and finance. Before this appointment, he was the Chief Operating Officer of Nigeria’s Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), managing the world’s largest microcredit scheme.
GEEP leveraged the power of a technology-driven operation to disburse and manage a portfolio of two million loans to underbanked Nigerians, demonstrating the biggest advancement of financial inclusion via credit in Africa.
Uzoma, a first class engineering graduate, started his career as an Analyst at Goldman Sachs, New York, and then proceeded to be a Product Manager at Microsoft, Redmond, where he received a Gold Star Award, one of the highest honors in the company, for his effective management and leading of a vast mobile technology team.
Following an MBA at Harvard Business School, he returned to Nigeria to a career in private equity at African Capital Alliance, driving investments in financial services and healthcare. This he did prior to making a turn to public service where he felt he could have an impact on a larger scale. Uzoma is passionate about running public enterprises like ethical, results-oriented businesses.
He was selected as a 2019 Desmond Tutu Fellow by the African Leadership Institute for his impact in public service.
Uzoma plays the guitar and sings. He is also co-founder of Leadership Seed, an organization focused on case-based teaching of ethics and governance in high schools.