## Accenture's Venture Arm Deploys Capital Into Nigeria's Okra: African Fintech Gains Enterprise Backing

Accenture Ventures has committed investment capital to Okra, a Lagos-based open finance data infrastructure company reshaping how financial institutions, fintech developers, and consumers connect across Africa. The move marks Accenture's first venture deployment into the African technology ecosystem, signaling confidence in the continent's digital financial services trajectory.

### The Market Opportunity Behind the Investment

Africa houses the world's largest unbanked population alongside substantial numbers of underbanked consumers and small-to-medium enterprises—a demographic void that fintech solutions are rapidly filling. Industry research projects that by 2025, fintech startups could command approximately $78 billion of the global banking payments market, representing 3.9% of the anticipated $2 trillion total. This projection underscores why established technology consultancies like Accenture are now directing capital toward emerging fintech platforms in high-growth regions.

### What Okra Does and Why It Matters

Operating since its 2019 launch, Okra functions as a connectivity bridge—enabling developers and businesses to construct tailored digital financial products by allowing individuals and corporations to authorize secure connections between their bank accounts and third-party applications. This infrastructure layer addresses a fundamental gap in African financial services, where traditional banking systems and modern fintech applications historically operated in silos.

Fara Ashiru Jituboh, Okra's co-founder, CEO, and CTO, emphasized the strategic advantage: "Gaining access to Accenture's global banking experts, clients and technology ecosystem partners through Project Spotlight will contribute greatly to the success and growth of our business moving forward." Jituboh, who began coding at age 11 and later studied at North Carolina A&T State University, previously held engineering roles at JP Morgan Chase and Fidelity Investments before launching Okra alongside co-founder David Peterside (chief operating officer).

### Investment Structure and Support Ecosystem

The capital deployment occurs through Accenture Ventures' Project Spotlight—an immersive program designed to connect emerging technology startups with Global 2000 enterprises to address strategic innovation gaps. Beyond capital, Okra gains access to Accenture's international innovation infrastructure, collaboration opportunities with Accenture software architects and payments specialists, and potential enterprise client introductions.

Okra's trajectory reflects market validation: the startup previously attracted $1 million in pre-seed funding from TLcom Capital following its launch, demonstrating investor confidence in its business model.

### Accenture's Africa-First Bet and Broader Vision

Vukani Mngxati, Accenture Africa's chief executive, framed the investment within a larger strategic thesis: "Across Africa, technology startups are emerging, bringing new thinking and new solutions to help address endemic challenges—from financial inclusion to market access—and stimulating economic growth."

With 537,000 professionals operating across more than 120 countries, Accenture positioned this investment as catalyzing innovation impact by connecting emerging fintech talent with established enterprise clients and ecosystem partners, thereby accelerating value creation across African economies.

Tom Lounibos, managing director of Accenture Ventures, summarized the conviction: "Okra is a rising force in the high-growth digital financial services arena, and we believe that the platform has potential to address critical challenges in Africa. We're excited to work closely with the team to help scale its solutions for maximum impact."