Co-founder of M-KOPA and “father” of M-PESA

Nick Hughes OBE

Nick Hughes has been at the forefront of mobile commerce activities in emerging markets for over a decade, pioneering digital fintech solutions that solve real problems. He is the co-founder and Chief Product Officer at M-KOPA, currently providing pay-as-you-go clean energy and finance services to over 650,000 customers in East Africa.

Holding a PhD in Applied Science and an MBA from London Business School, Nick was previously Global Head of Payment Solutions at Vodafone Group, where, in 2003, he started the ground-breaking mobile payment service M-PESA, delivering it across multiple Vodafone territories. In 2010, Nick won The Economist’s Innovation Award for Social & Economic Impact for his work on M-PESA. In 2017 Nick was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list for services to ‘innovation in Africa’.