Olugbenga Agboola, the founder and chief executive of Flutterwave, has been named to the Founders Council of Silicon Valley & The World, an advisory board whose co-chairs include some of the most powerful people in technology.
The appointment, announced on Oct. 8, places one of Africa’s best-known fintech founders in a group meant to shape how artificial intelligence and other technologies affect economies and governments.
What the Board Does
Silicon Valley & The World is a multiyear initiative launched by Semafor, the news organization. Its goal is to connect the people building new technologies with the officials deciding how those technologies are used.
The co-chairs are Sam Altman of OpenAI, Jensen Huang of Nvidia, Satya Nadella of Microsoft, Lisa Su of Advanced Micro Devices, Ruth Porat of Alphabet and Google, and Divesh Makan of ICONIQ Capital.
Mr. Agboola joins an expanded global advisory board of more than 50 people. Members were selected for building businesses and technologies expected to influence the next phase of global innovation.
The announcement did not say how often the board meets or what formal powers, if any, it holds.
An African Seat at the Table
Mr. Agboola, widely known as GB, said he would bring an African perspective to the group.
“Across Accra, Cairo, Lagos, Nairobi, and Johannesburg, innovators are actively building world-class platforms, infrastructure, and enterprises right on the continent,” he said in a statement.
African companies have largely been absent from the global debate over A.I. policy, even as the continent’s digital economy grows. A seat on a board chaired by the leaders of OpenAI and Nvidia gives Flutterwave visibility in rooms where rules and partnerships are discussed.
A Growing List of Boards
The appointment adds to Mr. Agboola’s existing roles. He is vice chair of the U.S.-Africa Business Center board at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
He also sits on the boards of the Corporate Council on Africa, Endeavor Nigeria and Lagoon Hospitals. He serves on the advisory board of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art.
Flutterwave’s Expansion
Flutterwave started as a payments gateway, a service that lets businesses accept card and bank payments online. It now describes itself as a global financial infrastructure platform.
The company says it has processed more than one billion transactions worth over $50 billion. It operates in 34 African countries and counts Uber, Air Peace, PiggyVest and Bamboo among its customers.
Its valuation stands at $3.2 billion after a Series E funding round that included strategic investments from Ripple and Circle, two companies active in digital currency.
This year, Flutterwave moved deeper into regulated banking and digital assets. It secured a microfinance bank license in Nigeria. It acquired Mono, an open banking platform that lets apps access customers’ bank data with permission. It also launched settlement systems built on stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to currencies like the dollar.
Those moves suggest Flutterwave is positioning itself as more than a payment processor. It wants to handle the full chain of moving money into, out of and across Africa.
The company also runs Send App, a remittance service for Africans abroad sending money home.
Beyond Flutterwave
Mr. Agboola also backs early-stage startups through Resilience17, or R17, a venture studio and investment platform focused on African founders.
What to Watch
The board’s influence remains unclear. Advisory councils often serve as networking forums rather than decision-making bodies.
But for Flutterwave, the timing matters. The company is expanding into banking, open finance and stablecoins, areas where regulators worldwide are still writing rules. A closer relationship with Silicon Valley’s leaders and the policymakers they meet could help it shape those rules.
