A Technologist Who Helped Transform African Payments
Olubi earned a reputation early on for the depth of his technical expertise and his unconventional public persona. Long before Paystack became a benchmark for African payment gateways, he had already built a foundation in enterprise software engineering, mobile application development, and digital infrastructure. His proficiency in designing secure and scalable systems later became essential to building a platform capable of serving thousands of businesses simultaneously.
In 2015, he co-founded Paystack with longtime collaborator Shola Akinlade. The company emerged in response to a lingering problem: the difficulty African merchants faced when trying to accept dependable online payments. Under Olubi’s leadership as CTO, Paystack developed a fast, secure, and developer-friendly architecture that quickly earned it traction among startups, established enterprises, and major brands across the continent.
The company soon gained global attention. In 2016, Paystack became the first Nigerian startup to enter Y Combinator, receiving early funding and validation from Silicon Valley. Four years later, its acquisition by Stripe—valued at over $200 million—cemented Paystack as a defining milestone in African tech, enabling businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, and other regions to process billions in transactions.
A Sudden and Disputed Departure
The closing chapter of Olubi’s time at Paystack came abruptly in November 2025. Following allegations of misconduct and the resurfacing of explicit personal posts from 2009–2013, the company suspended him pending an internal investigation. Paystack later announced his termination on November 22, stating that the decision was based on “significant negative reputational damage” and that it had acted within its contractual rights after following due process.
Olubi disclosed the development the next day in a personal blog post. In it, he asserted that he was dismissed before the investigation concluded and without being given an opportunity to respond to the findings. According to his statement, his legal team is now reviewing whether the process adhered to company policy. He declined to offer further public comment.
The episode sparked considerable debate within Nigeria’s tech community, raising questions about governance, accountability, and the responsibilities of founders in high-visibility roles.
Professional Journey Before Paystack
Long before co-creating one of Africa’s leading payment platforms, Olubi established himself as a capable and inventive engineer across several Nigerian organisations. His early roles included:
- IT Administrator at Business Management Consultants Ltd.
- Web Applications Developer at North Ocean Logistics & Solutions Ltd.
- Head Developer and Web/Applications Developer at Softcom Imagio Ltd.
His experiences with Eyowo.com—a unified payment system—highlighted limitations in existing solutions, contributing to conceptual frameworks later applied to Paystack.
He went on to serve as Chief Technology Officer at Jobberman Nigeria (2012–2013), where he led cloud migration efforts designed to support millions of daily transactions. From 2014 to 2015, he held the CTO role at Delivery Science Inc.
In recognition of his contributions to advancing technology in finance and business, he was conferred with the national honour of Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) in 2022 by then-President Muhammadu Buhari.
Education and Early Life
Born on November 12, 1986, in Ibadan, Oyo State, Olubi pursued his formal training in technology at Babcock University in Ogun State, studying computer science/computer engineering. During his undergraduate years, he reportedly earned the institution’s Programmer of the Year award multiple times, underscoring an early dedication to software development.