Flutterwave awards 25 grants to young entrepreneurs at YEEP 2026

Flutterwave has awarded 25 grants to young Nigerian entrepreneurs to support business growth and to invest in the next generation of African builders.

The announcement was made in partnership with the Activate Success International Foundation at the National Youth Entrepreneurship and Empowerment Programme, YEEP 2026, held over the weekend in Abuja.

The summit brought together young entrepreneurs, business leaders, and ecosystem stakeholders to discuss how technology, mentorship, and access to resources can drive business growth.

Building the Infrastructure African Businesses Need

Flutterwave Founder and CEO Olugbenga Agboola spoke at the event, addressing the importance of equipping young entrepreneurs with the infrastructure, tools, and opportunities needed to build sustainable businesses. 

In a fireside chat with Activate Success Foundation CEO Ms. Love Idoko-Uloko, Agboola described how the company was built around a vision of creating “the infrastructure of infrastructures,” enabling businesses across Africa to reach customers from Abuja to Nairobi, London, and beyond without friction.

Agboola drew on Flutterwave’s early days, recounting pitching the company’s vision in San Francisco before it had established global credibility. He told the audience that those early conversations, often held from a position of limited leverage, shaped the company’s approach to building trust and opening doors in new markets. He credited the late Herbert Wigwe, whose guidance and support helped create some of the opportunities that defined Flutterwave’s growth trajectory.

Opportunity comes to those who are ready

Agboola used those experiences to speak directly to young entrepreneurs in the room, pointing out that the barriers that once made it difficult to build and scale African businesses have shifted significantly. Access to knowledge, digital tools, and global markets now places possibilities within reach that previous generations of African founders did not have.

“You are living in a world where you can learn anything, build anything, and become anything. The question is whether you are locking in and investing in yourself with the consistency and excellence that will carry you to where you are going,” Agboola said.

Olufunmilayo Olaniyi, Business Development at Flutterwave, also addressed the summit. Olaniyi spoke about the company’s work to reduce the friction emerging entrepreneurs face in accessing digital payment infrastructure, arguing that removing these barriers is central to enabling the next wave of African business growth.

“This is 2026, and the question has evolved from whether Africa is open for business to whether you are ready when that opportunity shows up for you,” said Olaniyi.

The grants awarded through the programme form part of Flutterwave’s broader effort to support early-stage businesses with the financial and technical resources needed to compete in an increasingly digital economy.

Last updated: June 24, 2026