Tosin Eniolorunda wasn’t always a millionaire. In fact, before 2017, he was just another tech entrepreneur trying to make a name for himself in Nigeria’s growing fintech space. He ran a software consulting firm, TeamApt, from his apartment in 1004 Estate, Lagos, building banking apps for institutions like Sterling Bank and Unity Bank. Business was steady, and life was good—until the email that changed everything.
It was an ordinary day, and Tosin was driving through Ikoyi when the notification popped up on his phone. Sterling Bank, one of his biggest clients, was pulling out. No warning. No explanation. Just like that, a crucial revenue stream was gone.
His mind went blank. How he managed to complete that drive remains a mystery. The blow was not just financial—it was existential. TeamApt wasn’t a giant company with deep pockets; losing Sterling Bank meant losing stability, and for a young entrepreneur, that was a devastating reality.
But rather than let the setback crush him, Tosin and his team went back to the drawing board. If banks could drop them so easily, why not build something of their own? Something bigger. Something that put financial power directly into the hands of the people. And so, Moniepoint was born.
Moniepoint wasn’t just an idea—it was a revolution. But revolutions need capital, and finding investors who believed in the dream wasn’t easy.
Then came Olu Oyinsan, the man who saw what others didn’t. As the head of Oui Capital, an African venture capital firm focused on fintech startups, Olu met Tosin and instantly knew he was onto something. “His understanding of banking technology and payment infrastructure was impressive,” Oyinsan later recalled. “I knew he was building something special.”
In 2019, with nothing more than a strong belief in Tosin’s vision, Olu invested $150,000 in Moniepoint for a 1.2% stake. It was a risk—startups fail all the time—but he bet on the man, not just the idea.
Fast forward five years.
Moniepoint is no longer just a startup—it’s a unicorn, valued at over $1 billion. The initial $150,000 investment? Now worth more than $10 million. Just last month, Olu and his team partially cashed out, walking away with $8 million. A rare success story in Nigeria’s tech ecosystem.
But as we celebrate Moniepoint’s rise, a troubling question lingers: would Tosin’s story have been possible if he had been born in Onitsha instead of Lagos?
Across the Southeast, young innovators with dreams just as big as Tosin’s struggle to find support. Instead of patient capital for tech startups, millions are raised overnight for lavish funerals and extravagant weddings. Zenco’s friends pulled together over a billion naira for his mother’s burial. A friend of mine, about to wed, has had over 200 million raised by his committee of friends—including 500k from me this morning.
Yet, if a young entrepreneur in that same group had pitched a game-changing startup like Moniepoint, would he have found investors? The answer is no.
This is why the Southeast lags. Our brightest minds flee to Lagos, to the UK, to the US—anywhere but home—because they know their dreams won’t be funded where they were born. The next Tosin, the one who chose to stay, is doubting himself. Frustrated. Defeated. Watching his peers succeed elsewhere while he fights for recognition in a land that doesn’t understand him.
It’s time for introspection and change. If we continue to prioritize vanity over vision, we are killing our future. Moniepoint is proof of what is possible when belief meets opportunity. How many more Tosins are we letting slip through the cracks?
Our land is poorer today because we refuse to invest in tomorrow!
Credit: Chukwudi Iwuchukwu
