Kennedy Ekezie-Joseph is the CEO of Waymaker and Founder of Kippa, a financial management platform empowering African small businesses. Born in Lagos and raised in Calabar, Kennedy was deeply influenced by witnessing small merchants struggle with manual bookkeeping systems that limited their growth potential. At just 16, he founded the Calabar Youth Council for Women's Rights to combat female genital mutilation across 200 communities in Nigeria. Kennedy graduated as the youngest-ever student from the University of Calabar at 19, before spearheading TikTok's expansion across Africa.
Founded in 2021, Kippa has revolutionized how 1.2 million African businesses operate by digitizing their financial management. The platform has processed over $3 billion in transactions, and created 235 jobs for young professionals across six countries. By transitioning businesses from paper ledgers to digital systems, Kippa has eliminated the need for 2.4 billion pages of paper, significantly reducing environmental impact while providing underserved entrepreneurs access to formal financial services previously beyond reach.
Kennedy has received numerous accolades including the Queen's Young Leader Award from Queen Elizabeth II, the Forbes 30 Under 30 Award in Finance, The Future Prize for Technology, and President Obama's Young African Leaders Fellowship. He is a Yenching Scholar (China's Rhodes Scholarship) and two-time Nigerian National Debate Champion (2015-2017). Kennedy lives in Lagos, championing technological solutions that create both economic prosperity and social impact across Africa's entrepreneurial ecosystem.