In today’s conversation, we sat down with Eghosa Nehikhare, a visionary entrepreneur whose journey from aspiring doctor to fintech trailblazer is anything but conventional.
Born in Nigeria and later relocating to England at the age of 16, Eghosa began studying medicine to fulfill family expectations, but a moment of clarity led him to abandon that path, straining his relationship with his father and forcing him to drop out.
With no connections and little certainty, Eghosa moved to Lagos a decade ago, starting out in a modest boy’s quarters and working at a food delivery startup. There, he helped scale operations and drive 1,500% revenue growth – an experience that ignited his passion for technology and business.
After five years at a major tech firm delivering solutions across power, education, and governance, Eghosa identified a critical gap: the lack of tailored payment infrastructure for large institutions. That insight birthed Multigate.io.
Originally focused on card payment processing for banks, Multigate has since pivoted to solving deeper trade and FX challenges for corporates, building a robust, compliant liquidity and cross-border payment platform in partnership with SWIFT, a process that took three years of rigorous onboarding.
Today, Multigate sits at the intersection of finance, technology, and global trade, helping institutions navigate the complexities of currency conversion, liquidity reconciliation, and international compliance.
This is not just a story of entrepreneurship, it’s a story of conviction, reinvention, and building value where others saw only obstacles. Excerpt:
Eghosa Nehikhare, founder of Multigate.io
TE: What is Multigate all about and what solutions are you bringing to the ecosystem?
Eghosa Nehikhare: Multigate is a licensed treasury management and cross-border solutions provider. Beyond payments, we facilitate payment in Naira, and your beneficiary abroad receives USD or CNY.
Take one of our clients with over 30 subsidiaries and 600 bank accounts across different banks. Every day their finance team had to download multiple bank statements, and reconcile accounts manually, a process that took hours.
With our solution, they now log into a single platform to view all balances globally, make payments, reconcile statements, manage trade finance, and handle FX transactions. We give corporates real-time visibility and control over their financial operations.
TE: Throw more light on what makes Multigate stand out. Why do you think you are the best in offering cross-border payment solution across the continent?
Eghosa Nehikhare: At Multigate, we approach corporate services from a position of true value. What does that mean? No company in Nigeria, Ghana, Ethiopia, or Mozambique today can tell a corporate ‘Link all your bank accounts worldwide to one platform and view your balances in real time.’ That’s exactly what we offer.
But we go further than cross-border payments. Our platform aggregates all a company’s accounts, local and international, into one interface. You can view balances, generate consolidated statements, and even integrate directly with your ERP. Many corporates are shifting towards ERP-driven financial operations, where transactions go from submissions to workflow approval, straight to the bank, and reconcile automatically.
Unlike many players, we ensure payments are made in the client’s name, not through intermediaries. We also give CFOs real-time visibility of their liquidity, a task that normally takes finance teams hours of manual work.
For instance, our clients now receive automated daily reports at 8 am showing account balances, liquidity distribution, and moving averages across multiple banks. That’s the kind of visibility corporates need to make sharper, faster financial decisions.
TE: Let’s talk about AFCTA and the drive to make sure that Nigeria is doing more trade with the rest of Africa. With your solution, how has it been so far, and where do you see the prospects in the near and long term?
Eghosa Nehikhare: AfCFTA is driving greater demand for seamless cross-border payments. As far back as 2018, we developed a framework for Pan-African settlement in anticipation of this shift.
Back in the days, industries like aviation faced the problem acutely – airlines collected local currencies across markets but needed naira in Nigeria, and there was no efficient way to settle. The trade agreement is changing that.
Are we where we want to be? Not yet. But we came in early, so we’re well positioned. Importantly, we don’t see ourselves as rivals to what is being built, we complement it. By working closely with banks, we help them and their corporate clients move money faster and more securely across borders.
The scope is expanding beyond Africa too. Today, a Nigerian importer can pay in Naira and their supplier in China receives yuan, sometimes in real time. That’s the kind of infrastructure we are building.
Our approach is to enable banks once demand reaches critical mass in their markets. Timing matters. The worst thing is to enter too early, make noise and then two years later, watch someone else capture the opportunity at the right moment.
TE: Share some of the feedback you have had from clients
Eghosa Nehikhare: One of our earliest clients had over 700 accounts across 25 banks worldwide, with 25 staff dedicated to downloading and reconciling statements daily.
With Multigate, that entire process is automated. When we visited recently, they told us every department now relies on the platform, and they’ve renewed their subscription for another two years. Moments like that remind us why we build – and push us to keep innovating.
TE: With the changes that we see in the global economy, do you think these changes in one way or the other can affect cross-border payments across Africa? And if it will, how are you coming in?
Eghosa Nehikhare: Absolutely. For instance, after the U.S. elections and the rise in tariffs, we noticed a sharp increase in trade between African countries and Asia. Just recently, we got a request from Angola that highlighted how much volumes have grown compared to the past.
Traditionally, if you had Naira and someone else had Kenyan Shillings, you’d first buy dollars from the parallel market, then wire them to China. That process could take five to seven days, sometimes longer, causing shipment delays and costly demurrage.
Today, businesses are asking us to create solutions where customers in Africa can pay invoices in their local currency without delays. What used to take a week can now settle in T+1 or even real time.
This shift is happening quickly, and demand is massive. If you don’t innovate at the pace of this demand, competition will overtake you. At Multigate, we are positioning ourselves at the heart of this new trading dynamic between Africa and Asia.
TE: What is your approach to fostering innovation within Multigate and also give us how the digital treasury solution comes in?
Eghosa Nehikhare: We never build in isolation. Every client request is scored against a formula that weighs demand and commercial value. The highest-scoring ideas take priority.
From there, our product managers sit with clients to define the real challenge and what success looks like. We then design a lean MVP, share interfaces for feedback, and run a proof of concept before scaling.
This way, innovation isn’t about chasing every idea, it’s about focusing on what matters most, allocating resources wisely, and ensuring every feature we launch solves a real client problem.
TE: Aside from seeing that your client experiences seamless transactions, what other thing motivates you? Do you play golf? Do you read books? Or do you just sleep?
Eghosa Nehikhare: I’m trying very hard not to give a cliche answer. For me, motivation comes from being synonymous with value. When a client calls with a challenge, 7am or 7pm, my answer is always yes. Once I commit, I find a way to deliver.
Outside work, I box, go to the gym, and take French classes twice a week. Nigeria is surrounded by francophone countries, and we once lost a major deal because we couldn’t communicate in French. I never want us to face that again.
I also make time for clients beyond the office, sometimes over whiskey or weekend visits. If you’re not spending that time with them, your competition is. And personally, I believe in living life in parallels, balancing family, health and relationships while building.
TE: What book sparks your interest and how do you stay grounded under pressure:
Eghosa Nehikhare: I love The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho, it remains one of the most influential books I’ve read. I discovered it in my final year at university, and it shaped my decision to abandon my father’s dream of me becoming a doctor.
Like the shepherd boy, I had my own dream, and the book taught me that when you truly want something, the universe conspires to help you achieve it. That conviction gave me the courage to pursue my own path.
As for staying grounded, leadership comes with intense pressure. Back in 2022, I went through a very difficult period and realized I had been living life in sequences, waiting for the storm to pass before enjoying the things I love. A mentor challenged me to instead ‘live in parallels,’ and that phrase has stayed with me.
Now I make time for what matters every day, family, health, relationships, even the gym or church. You can’t postpone the things that keep you whole. Challenges will come, but balance and consistency are what help me stay centered.
…redefining Cross-Border Payments in Africa
TE: What’s next for Multigate in terms of new markets, partnerships, or product innovations? And then also fast forward 10 years, what achievements will you be most proud?
Eghosa Nehikhare: We are currently in advanced conversations with partner banks who will serve as our corresponding banks across different markets. Once that goes live, we’ll be rolling out new solutions, trade finance automation being a major one.
Today, if a Nigerian customer wants to send Naira, their beneficiary in Kenya can receive Kenyan Shillings through SWIFT. We’re working closely with banks to expand this kind of innovation, enabling local currency matching across markets.
Looking ahead 10 years, my vision is for Multigate to handle at least 30% of Africa’s trade flows, whether through banks, corporates, or SMEs. If 10 trade transactions happen on the continent, we want three of them to touch Multigate.
TE: Are there plans to move into other markets?
Eghosa Nehikhare: Yes. Right now, we are focused on South Africa and Francophone Africa, particularly West and Central Africa. In phase two, we’ll extend to North Africa.
TE: What’s your Relationship with regulatory bodies in and outside Nigeria?
Eghosa Nehikhare: One thing I’ve learned is that there can be no wall between regulators and private institutions. In every country we enter, we obtain either a license or a ‘no objection’ from the central bank. If you try to avoid that, it’s only a matter of time before the hammer comes down.
But it goes beyond paperwork, you must understand the local context: the permissible activities, transaction limits, and documentation requirements. Respecting that builds trust and sustainability.
TE: How do you manage data and the safety of clients?
Eghosa Nehikhare: Security is non-negotiable for us. Our infrastructure is SWIFT-compatible, and every two years SWIFT conducts a month-long audit of our systems. Passing that audit is a badge of pride because their standards are among the highest in the world.
We hold three major security certifications, and our compliance, infosec, and operations teams ensure we live up to them daily. All client data is encrypted on Azure – we don’t even see the details ourselves.
And from onboarding, we demand robust KYC documentation to leave no gaps. When you operate across multiple markets, you must prove you are security compliant at the highest level.
TE: What advice do you have for upcoming founders?
Eghosa Nehikhare: Focus on value creation above all else. It’s not enough to launch a startup, the real question is, are you solving a problem? And only your customer can validate that. Focus on value, and the money will follow. Secondly, stay alive. The journey is long, and resilience is half the battle.
TE: Thanks for your time.
Eghosa Nehikhare: Thank you for the opportunity to share my journey and to highlight what we are building at Multigate.io
Peter Oluka (@peterolukai), editor of Techeconomy, is a multi-award winner practicing Journalist. Peter’s media practice cuts across Media Relations | Marketing| Advertising, other Communications interests.
Contact: peter.oluka@techeconomy.ng
