KOFO AKINKUGBE 

Innovator and technology market leader

Founder of Secure ID

Country: Nigeria

Sector: Smart Card Manufacturing

Kofo Akinkugbe is recognised globally for her entrepreneurial success story and strong business track record. She is founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd a market leader in smart card technology and digital security. SecureID is a world-class manufacturing facility with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent. This company serves 16 countries across Africa and is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard. In 2012, Kofo won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award.

Kofo is one of Africa's thought leaders in the subjects of entrepreneurship and innovation in the technology sector. 

Kofo Akinkugbe.jpg

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Kofo's Startup Story 

After serving in the Nigerian Youth Service Corps, Kofo started her career in the banking industry, working with International Merchant Bank Plc and Chartered Bank Limited.  She remained in the financial sector for over 12 years until 1997 when she left to start Interface Technologies, a security management and biometrics technologies company.  With a mathematics major, and an MBA from the University of Strathclyde, she successfully ran Interface Technologies Ltd. (ITL) for nine years, before establishing SecureID Nigeria Ltd., an offshoot from a small department in Interface Technologies and the first VISA certified plant in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Kofo is a business leader who recognizes the power of innovation as a vital factor for business success, something she not only encourages in all her employees at Secure ID, but in the many business conference speeches and presentations she gives around the world.  As chief executive of Secure ID, which is still a relatively young firm creating MasterCard and Visa and operating in 16 African countries, Kofo is an excellent example of a chief executive that is building a successful company based on innovation.

Read more about Kofo's startup story →

 

"SecureID has been recognised as setting the standard for innovation and creativity in the SmartCard Sector in sub-Saharan Africa."

Kofo is recognised globally as a leading African woman entrepreneur, who has founded a world class manufacturing company competing successfully in a global market.

Featured

Follow Kofo making news
Kofo Akinkugbe’s SecureID launches new SIM Card manufacturing line in Nigeria
Kofo Akinkugbe’s SecureID launches new SIM Card manufacturing line in Nigeria

SecureID Limited, founded by one of Africa’s leading women entrepreneurs, Kofo Akinkugbe, has commissioned a SIM Card manufacturing line to support the needs of Nigeria’s rapidly growing mobile telecoms sector. Launched in 2005, SecureID is an independent, privately owned company located in Lagos, Nigeria that manufactures banking and telecom cards with mag stripe and chip encoding. This new manufacturing line ensures SecureID will continue to lead the way in delivering ‘innovative and first to market’ card technology and solutions.

Kofo Akinkugbe’s SecureID a market leader in smart card technology unveils a new online enrolment solution for Nigerian lawyers
Kofo Akinkugbe’s SecureID a market leader in smart card technology unveils a new online enrolment solution for Nigerian lawyers

Nigerian specialist smart card company, SecureID, the brainchild of the highly-respected entrepreneur, Kofo Akinkugbe, is once again demonstrating why it is a leader in its field of expertise. This month, the company has unveiled a new pre-paid solution to aid the seamless enrolment of members to the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in Abuja.

Kofo Akinkugbe founder of SecureID Nigeria unveils state-of-the-art new smartcard manufacturing plant
Kofo Akinkugbe founder of SecureID Nigeria unveils state-of-the-art new smartcard manufacturing plant

SecureID founded by one of Africa's leading women entrepreneurs, Kofo Akinkugbe, commissioned a brand new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility on January 19th. This new facility in Lagos is a world class, EMV-certified smartcard manufacturing plant – the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. 

Kofo Akinkugbe's SecureID Nigeria launches first of a kind bank and identity card manufacturing plant in Sub-Saharan Africa
Kofo Akinkugbe's SecureID Nigeria launches first of a kind bank and identity card manufacturing plant in Sub-Saharan Africa

Kofo Akinkugbe the founder of SecureID in Nigeria has launched the first EMV Plant in Sub-Saharan Africa that enables the local production of SIM cards, and SIM packages for the telecoms industry, bank payment cards and other high security polycarbonate identity cards.

Kofo Akinkugbe's SecureID teams up to advance financial inclusion in Nigeria
Kofo Akinkugbe's SecureID teams up to advance financial inclusion in Nigeria

SecureID Nigeria Limited, founded by Kofo Akinkugbe, a leading Nigerian digital solution provider certified by Visa, MasterCard, and Verve for Chip Embedding, Chip Encoding, Chip Personalization, Card Personalization, and Card Fulfillment, in partnership with Sterling Bank has provided a Biometric ID Card to enable ‘Financial Inclusion’. 

Read the article here.

Kofo Akinkugbe: Innovation is key to SME success
Kofo Akinkugbe: Innovation is key to SME success

Source: Business Day, January 27, 2014

Kofo Akinkugbe, chief executive, Secure ID, a relatively young firm creating MasterCard and Visa, operating in 16 African countries, is an example of a chief executive that is succeeding based on innovation. Speaking at a forum recently on innovation on the CEO’s agenda, Akinkugbe urged business owners to build capacity that will sustain the creativity, that is, developing the capacity of employees....

Read the full article here.

Secure ID Emerges Most Outstanding Business in Africa
Secure ID Emerges Most Outstanding Business in Africa

Source: All Africa, published on October 29, 2012

In recognition of its excellent business practice, SecureID Limited has been named the Most Outstanding Mature Business in the 3rd African Leadership Network Awards for Entrepreneurship.

SecureID, it stated, was recognised for its pre-eminence as a thoroughbred start-up of African origin, competing successfully in a global market.

Read the full article here.

Kofo Akinkugbe wins Africa Entrepreneurship Award
Kofo Akinkugbe wins Africa Entrepreneurship Award

Source: Reporters 365, published October 12, 2012

Mrs Kofo Akinkugbe, on Thursday in Accra, Ghana, won the “2012 Africa Award for Entrepreneurship” for her contribution to socio-economic development of the continent. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Akinkugbe bagged the 100,000 dollars prize in the Outstanding Mature Business category.

Read the full article here.

Entrepreneur Advice

Learn from Kofo's entrepreneur playbook

Keep innovating!…

“Encourage staff to be innovative, do things innovatively.”

Kofo Akinkugbe, founder, Secure ID, (Nigeria)

We must be creative....

"We need to create an environment that would drive creativity. Do not be afraid to test new things.  We must be creative, ensuring we are a step ahead of competition."

- Kofo Akinkugbe is founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd. She is a highly respected African business leader who has become a market leader in smart card technology and digital security. SecureID is world-class manufacturing company with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent. Her company serves 16 countries across Africa and is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard. In 2012, Kofo won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award.

Trust that the funds will always come....

"Once you have a good plan and a good concept and you work through it, the funds will always come."

- Kofo Akinkugbe is founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd. She is a highly respected African business leader who has become a market leader in smart card technology and digital security. SecureID is world-class manufacturing company with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent. Her company serves 16 countries across Africa and is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard. In 2012, Kofo won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award.

Videos

Essential videos featuring Kofo
VIDEO: Kofo Akinkugbe shares her entrepreneurial journey to founding SecureID in Nigeria
VIDEO: Kofo Akinkugbe shares her entrepreneurial journey to founding SecureID in Nigeria

Kofo Akinkugbe, founder of Secure ID Limited share her entrepreneurial journey at the 7th Annual Career Conference themed ''Continuous Improvement'' held in Lagos on 17 March 2015. She talks about the birth of her company SecureID Nigeria Ltd.

Kofo Akinkugbe: Creativity and capacity for Nigerian businesses
Kofo Akinkugbe: Creativity and capacity for Nigerian businesses

Published on Nov 27, 2013

The growth and development of businesses in the 21st Century hinges on the strategic engagement of creativity and capacity into the models that guarantee sustainability of operations and service delivery. This is pivotal to Small Medium Enterprises, that are drivers of the economy. In this discourse on 'Creativity and Capacity' for Businesses from the FBN SME CONNECT conference Mr Seyi Oyefeso Group Head Retail, First Bank engages leading enterpreneurs Mrs Kofo Akinkugbe, Mrs Ndidi Nwuneli, Mr Audu Maikori on this important topic.

Introducing SecureID - Nigeria's foremost Smart Card manufacturing company
Introducing SecureID - Nigeria's foremost Smart Card manufacturing company

Published on Nov 29, 2012

African Leadership Network introduces you to the winner of the 2012 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship "Outstanding Mature Business" category, SecureID. SecureID is Nigeria's foremost Smart Card manufacturing company. It is the leading Europay, MasterCard and Visa- certified card plant in West Africa, one out of only 6 on the continent and a member of the elite club of only 80 such companies in the world. SecureID provides comprehensive end-to-end payment, identity management and digital security solutions for the financial services, telecommunications, education, healthcare, petroleum and transport sectors.

Quotes

Be inspired by Kofo's words

"Whatever you do, do well. You never know who is watching."

Kofo Akinkugbe, founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd (Nigeria)

"Once you have a good plan and a good concept and you work through it, the funds will always come."

- Kofo Akinkugbe is recognised globally for her entrepreneurial success story and strong business track record. She is founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd a market leader in smart card technology and digital security in Africa. SecureID is a world-class manufacturing facility with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent. In January 2015 the company commissioned a new state-of-the-art EMV-certified smartcard manufacturing plant – the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company serves 16 countries across Africa and is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard. In 2012, Kofo won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award.

"You will have opposition. If you're going to stand out, you are not going to be loved by the crowd. It can be lonely." 

- Kofo Akinkugbe is recognised globally for her entrepreneurial success story and strong business track record. She is founder & CEO of SecureID Nigeria Ltd a market leader in smart card technology and digital security in Africa. SecureID is a world-class manufacturing facility with the only smart card production plant in West Africa and one of only six on the continent. In January 2015 the company commissioned a new state-of-the-art EMV-certified smartcard manufacturing plant – the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company serves 16 countries across Africa and is fully certified by VISA, Verve and MasterCard. In 2012, Kofo won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award.

Awards & Accolades

Kofo's awards and honours include:

  • In 2012, Kofo Akinkugbe won the Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship Mature Business Award in recognition for the impact and innovative business model of her company, SecureID.

  • In 2012 Financial Technology Magazine awarded Kofo Akinkugbe 'IT Personality of the Year (Female)'