Olaseni Alabede, a seasoned payments technology expert with over 18 years of experience, has taken on a new role as the CTO of Global Technology Partners (GTP).
GTP is a subsidiary of MFS Africa. It is based in the US and was acquired by MFS Africa in June 2022. The firm is one of the leading processor of prepaid cards in Africa, serving over 80 banks, including some of the largest financial institutions in the region.
Before joining GTP’s executive team, Alabede was the Vice President of Product Development at MasterCard’s Installments business in New York, where he was in charge of designing and developing Mastercard’s Buy-Now-Pay-Later products.
Alabede’s career in the payments industry began in 2003 when he started as a web designer at City Express Bank in Nigeria. He then spent almost a decade at Interswitch, rising from a project engineer to the head of enterprise service management.
According to the new CTO, his decision to join GTP was driven by the potential impact the company, especially under the ownership of MFS Africa, can have.
He sees himself as a part of the effort to bring more markets into the fold and help them transition from cash to seamless technology solutions that integrate various offerings.
In order to achieve this impact, Alabede will focus on creating a smooth customer experience, considering the elimination of friction in payments as a top priority. He believes that reducing friction for the consumer will lead to a better payment experience.
Alabede sees significant opportunities for innovation in the area of integrating technological trends and believes that African companies and consumers will benefit from this convergence. He believes that delivering frictionless payments and experiences will be key to success and expects to see a lot of innovation in this area.
“We are thrilled to have Olaseni come on board as the new CTO for GTP,” says GTP CEO, Christian Bwakira. “His extensive experience in both the African and international payments spaces and his clear passion for technology’s ability to improve people’s lives and help build better futures makes him the ideal person to drive us forward technologically.”
