Even with a rebound of nearly 25% in the second half, the continent still couldn’t meet up, largely because digital access is tangled in complexity and misaligned systems that don’t always reflect how Africans live and work.

Consider that 61% of sub-Saharan Africans live within broadband coverage but do not use it. Not because the internet is absent, but because access is limited by poor localisation affordability, digital illiteracy, friction-filled user journeys and at times, poor design.

That’s the battlefield where Jecinta Fabiyi has pitched her tent. For her, design is about ensuring access, trust, and opportunity in a region where the gap between technology and people can feel like a canyon. She has built her career around one core conviction, which is: technology must be human before it can be powerful.

So, when Fabiyi was named a Global Tech Hero by The Connected Awards, it was not a polite nod to another rising designer. It was a recognition of impact that is both statistical and human. The Awards, known for immortalising professionals who embody craft, impact, and legacy, singled her out as someone who consistently changes complexity into clarity.

The Making of a Hero

At Youverify, a Lagos-and San Francisco–based identity verification startup, Jecinta Fabiyi designed YouverifyOS (YVOS), a compliance and verification platform now powering over 5 million identity verification processes. 

Through the simplification of KYC, KYB, and AML compliance into intuitive digital flows, she directly contributed to Youverify’s scale from 400 million to over 2 billion identities verified.

Her design of vFORM, a drag-and-drop onboarding tool, went further. What could have been another clunky enterprise form-builder became a seamless experience for businesses onboarding customers. The results?

• 300% increase in Youverify’s customer base, spreading across more than 400 banks and startups in Africa.
• 1,000% surge in application volumes, making identity verification almost routine for financial services and ride-hailing companies.
• A direct link to Youverify’s $1M seed extension funding, proving that design can, quite literally, drive investment.

These reveal how Fabiyi’s work answers one of Africa’s biggest problems: the trust deficit in digital finance and identity. In a continent where over 30 countries now enforce KYC/AML regulations, her designs are helping businesses keep pace without losing customers to bureaucracy.

Beyond Compliance: Human Impact

But Fabiyi’s influence isn’t limited to compliance dashboards. At Sidekick Health, she helped redesign the Zanadio obesity treatment platform, where patients were abandoning onboarding before accessing therapy. 

Her work simplified the funnel and reduced friction, leading to a 10% increase in visitor-to-signup conversions and a 12% growth in signups-to-activation. These numbers translate into something no spreadsheet can fully capture, more patients accessing life-changing treatment.

At Wunder Mobility, she shaped fleet management dashboards and rider experiences that made shared transport more reliable and scalable. In a continent struggling with urban congestion, such design work nudges cities closer to sustainable mobility.

Recognition Rooted in Impact

Her recognition as “Woman in Tech of the Week” by The Stack Journal and her feature in Daily Times Nigeria did not come from rhetoric but from measurable results. And now, with her new badge as a Global Tech Hero, she joins a circle of technologists celebrated for what they build and how their work ripples across communities.

The Connected Awards describe their honourees as “leaders whose work bridges the gap between complexity and clarity, between people and services, and between potential and lasting impact.” Jecinta Fabiyi fits that description without caveat. She has shown that design is not decoration, it is infrastructure. It determines whether millions of Africans can access services or remain excluded.

More than a Designer

Away from her corporate impact, Jecinta Fabiyi mentors junior designers, supports career switchers, and publishes free resources in the Figma Community, already used by 1,000+ designers. Her talks on accessibility, inclusivity, and design KPIs have equipped professionals to think beyond aesthetics and focus on outcomes. And on LinkedIn and Substack, she shares insights that demystify the tech industry for the next generation of creatives.

Why This is Important 

In African tech, funding is slowing, but adoption is growing. Emerging markets like Uganda (+304% growth in VC funding) and Tanzania (+108%) are proving that the future is not confined to Nigeria, Kenya, Egypt, or South Africa. However, the continent still struggles with high digital drop-off rates, compliance barriers, and trust issues.

This is why Fabiyi’s story is important. She represents a new kind of African tech leader, one who sees design not as the finishing touch but as the foundation. One who treats every interface as a bridge between ambition and reality. And one who insists that technology must include everyone, or it has failed.

As she continues to build products across industries, the Global Tech Hero award can’t be limited in description as a career highlight, but more like a milestone in an ongoing mission, which is to make digital experiences simpler, safer, and more inclusive for millions.

This win marks Youverify’s third consecutive recognition in this category by The Morgans, establishing its position as a key player and leader in the fight against financial crime.

In a fiercely competitive field with notable finalists, and an era of rapid digital transformation where fintechs like Moniepoint, Opay and countless others are reshaping the financial industry, and the risk of financial crime and fraud has never been higher, Youverify distinguished itself through its innovative use of machine learning, explainable AI, and real-time monitoring to tackle the evolving challenges of anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and fraud prevention.

Youverify’s solutions empower over a thousand financial institutions, including banks, fintechs, and non-banking financial institutions, to onboard customers seamlessly, conduct ongoing compliance checks, and secure their operations against fraud and AML risks.

Dr. Gbenga Odegbami, CEO of Youverify, expressed his pride in this milestone achievement, saying,

“Winning this award for the third consecutive year is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence. We are dedicated to making compliance accessible and effective for African financial institutions, enabling them to meet global standards in fraud prevention and risk management.”

The award highlights Youverify’s significant role in transforming the compliance landscape across Africa.

By blending authoritative and public data sources, Youverify enables financial institutions to properly classify customers based on risk levels, detect and report suspicious activities, and stay compliant across multiple jurisdictions.

Hakeem Akiode, head of Growth at Youverify, added,

“This recognition from The GRC and Fincrime awards motivates us to continue pushing boundaries in compliance technology. Our focus on leveraging data and AI to empower financial institutions across Africa and beyond demonstrates our commitment to making a tangible impact on the financial ecosystem.” As regulatory scrutiny intensifies worlwide, Youverify remains at the forefront, driving innovation to ensure compliance and security for the financial sector.

The partnership between Youverify and Elm will enhance the startup’s mission to streamline AML compliance for businesses worldwide and strengthen global AML risk intelligence.

Youverify has made waves in the fintech sector, serving customers in 12 countries. Its solutions are important for businesses aiming to comply with regulations, secure transactions, and build trust.

With a commendable footprint in 45 countries for electronic identity verification and over 140 jurisdictions for business verification, Youverify offers a reliable and secure solution.

The investment from Elm will stimulate Youverify’s product expansion to new markets and accelerate the development of its next-generation AML 2.0 products. These advancements aim to reduce business costs, boost operational efficiency, and simplify navigation of the complex global compliance sector.

“Partnering with Elm is a game-changer for Youverify and our customers,” said Gbenga Odegbami, CEO of Youverify. Elm’s proven accomplishments in delivering innovative digital solutions align perfectly with Youverify’s mission of providing the financial industry with the most dependable and efficient global AML solutions.

Famous Ehichioya, Youverify’s CTO and co-founder, emphasized that the combined resources and expertise will expedite the development of their AML 2.0 products. These solutions go beyond just meeting regulatory requirements; they aim to redefine the benchmark for efficiency and reliability within the financial sector.

Gbenga also expressed gratitude for the support of the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), whose guidance and resources were instrumental in Youverify’s growth journey.

John Lintzeris, the Regional Director of Technology Industry at BDC, commented on the company’s focus on supporting Canadian entrepreneurs.

Youverify exemplifies the innovative companies BDC is proud to back with financing and tailored advice. These partnerships contribute significantly to Canadian entrepreneurs’ growth plans and ultimately build a stronger economy.

Elm’s investment in Youverify is in line with its goal to drive digital transformation and security across industries.

Fahad bin Issa Ibrahim Al-Shathry, VP of Elm Investment, was also excited about partnering with Youverify, a company that shares same vision of leveraging technology to address critical business challenges.

Elm is collaborating with exceptional founders by investing in a growing technology ecosystem, both in Saudi Arabia and globally, to drive efficiency, security, and trust.

Its partnership with Youverify is well-positioned to accelerate the development and deployment of its AML 2.0 products, further strengthening its ability to serve businesses worldwide.

The extension round, which boosted Youverify’s total fund raised to $2.5 million, was led by Orange Ventures and LoftyInc Capital, and also received participation from Octerra Capital, Plug & Play Venture, Syntax Ventures, HTTP Investors, Afer Group and Fronesyz Capital.

On a mission to reduce the rate of fraud and compliance difficulties in Nigeria and Africa at large, Youverify is leveraging innovation to mitigate the circumstance and make KYC process simpler.

The startup was founded in Nigeria by Gbenga Odegbami, 2018, with its first service provision being an API for address and identity verification to several financial institutions. So far, it has included more KYC products and expanded into new markets such as Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, South Africa, Kenya and Uganda.

Youverify plans to enhance its services and expand its footprint across 30 countries, majorly in the southern, eastern and francophone parts of Africa. It also seeks to increase the number of IDs it can verify, from 400 million to 2 billion, and develop new automated compliance products for the gaming, travel, healthcare and telecommunications industries.

Youverify affirms that its customer base has increased by 300% to serve more than 400 banks and high-growth startups this year. The company’s application processes have also grown by over 1,000% in the last 24 months, to more than 5 million applications that have helped its clients hire talent, sell financial products, and remotely onboard ride-hailing drivers. 

The YouID digital identity platform by Youverify added more than 500,000 users, with 600 service providers on its marketplace waitlist across the continent and according to the company, its Lagos-based identity verification company crossed an ARR of over $1 million last year.