FROM MY WINDOW | EDO YOUTH AMBASSADOR | INAUGURAL EDITION

From representing Nigeria in an international physics competition to building a financial technology enterprise that has processed billions of dollars in transactions.

By Chris Osa Nehikhare | Publisher, From My Window

Every generation produces individuals who challenge expectations.

Young men and women who refuse to be confined by the circumstances of their birth, the limitations of their environment or even the ambitions others have carefully mapped out for them.

Some find their calling in science. Others in business, technology, medicine, sports, the arts or public service.

What unites them is not simply success.

It is the courage to imagine something different, the determination to pursue it and the resilience to endure the uncertainties along the way.

Today, From My Window opens another chapter in its continuing celebration of Edo excellence.

Welcome to Edo Youth Ambassador.

This new series is dedicated to the sons and daughters of Edo State whose accomplishments, enterprise, innovation and contributions to society are creating new possibilities for their generation and inspiring those who will follow.

Through Edo Icons and Edo Icons (Legacy Series), we have celebrated remarkable personalities whose achievements have helped shape our society and whose contributions deserve recognition and remembrance.

Now, we turn our window towards a generation still writing its story.

And for our inaugural personality, we have chosen a young man whose journey demonstrates that the road to achievement is not always the one originally planned.

His name is Eghosa Nehikhare.

ROOTED IN EDO, REACHING FOR THE WORLD

Eghosa Nehikhare traces his ancestry to Evboehighae Dukedom in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of Edo State.

From those ancestral roots, his journey would take him through some of Britain’s respected academic institutions, into international business and ultimately to the leadership of a financial technology enterprise with ambitions extending across Africa and beyond.

Yet perhaps the most interesting part of his story is that he did not originally set out to become a financial technology entrepreneur.

His early path pointed in an entirely different direction.

And the first indications of his intellectual abilities emerged long before the name Multigate entered the conversation.

In 2008, Eghosa represented Nigeria at the International Young Physicists’ Tournament in Seoul, South Korea.

It was a remarkable early experience.

The tournament brings together young scientific minds to investigate challenging physics problems, present their findings and defend their reasoning before fellow participants.

For a young Nigerian to participate on such an international platform was an achievement in itself.

It also offered an early glimpse of qualities that would become relevant in his later professional life: analytical thinking, intellectual curiosity and a willingness to confront complicated problems.

At that stage, however, his future appeared more closely connected to science and medicine than to the world of business.

Eghosa subsequently attended Durham University in the United Kingdom, graduating with a Bachelor of Science with Honours in Health and Human Sciences.

But somewhere along the journey, his ambitions began to change.

There is a familiar story in many Nigerian homes.

A bright child performs exceptionally well academically, and the family begins to imagine a future in one of the traditional professions.

Medicine. Law. Engineering.

These are respectable ambitions, often encouraged by parents who want security, recognition and a better life for their children.

Eghosa’s experience was not entirely different.

In a published interview, he recalled the expectations surrounding his pursuit of medicine and the difficult decision to abandon that direction.

It was not an easy choice.

His decision created a disagreement with his father, a painful chapter in their relationship that was eventually resolved.

But it was also a defining moment.

He had begun to recognise that a successful life could not be built solely around another person’s expectations, however well-intentioned those expectations might be.

Interestingly, Eghosa has identified Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist as one of the books that influenced his thinking about personal ambition and the importance of pursuing one’s dreams.

For him, the question was becoming less about what he was expected to become and more about what he genuinely wanted to build.

That distinction would prove consequential.

Eghosa’s professional journey eventually brought him to Lagos, where he became involved in the rapidly evolving world of technology-enabled businesses.

One of his early experiences was with Africa Courier Express, where he participated in developing the company’s food delivery operations.

It was a demanding environment in which business ideas had to confront the everyday realities of the Nigerian market.

Customers had to be won. Systems had to work. Teams had to deliver. And ambitious projections had to survive the test of practical execution.

He subsequently joined Venture Garden Group in 2016, taking on senior responsibilities in an organisation involved in building technology solutions for businesses and institutions.

His experience there exposed him to the intersection of finance, technology, business operations and institutional systems. It was an environment that would help shape his understanding of the enormous opportunities hidden within Africa’s financial infrastructure challenges.

The young man who had once pursued the sciences was now developing an entirely different kind of expertise. He was learning how businesses grow, how technology solves commercial problems and how complex systems can be made more efficient.

Those experiences would eventually lead to Multigate.

MULTIGATE: BUILDING BRIDGES ACROSS BORDERS

In 2017, Eghosa Nehikhare and Kunmi Demuren founded Multigate.

The company began with financial technology services and subsequently evolved into a licensed treasury management and cross-border financial infrastructure provider.

For readers unfamiliar with the terminology, the idea is relatively straightforward.

Imagine a Nigerian company doing business in Ghana, Kenya, Europe or Asia.

It may operate several bank accounts, transact in different currencies, make international payments and receive funds from customers across multiple countries.

Managing these transactions can be complicated, expensive and time-consuming.

Multigate develops technology and financial infrastructure designed to make such operations easier for businesses and financial institutions.

Its services help organisations manage financial information, coordinate treasury activities and facilitate transactions across borders.

In an increasingly interconnected world, this is no small ambition.

Africa’s economic future depends partly on the ability of its businesses to trade more efficiently, access international markets and move money through reliable, compliant financial systems.

Multigate has positioned itself within that important space.

And the scale of its achievements becomes even more remarkable when viewed through the numbers.

According to the company’s official account, Multigate processed over US$5 billion in card transactions during its first six years of operation.

Five billion dollars.

For a business established in 2017, that represents a substantial volume of financial activity.

The figure is not the company’s profit or valuation, but the value of transactions processed through its infrastructure during that period.

Behind the impressive number lies a more important story: the development of technology capable of supporting financial activity at considerable scale.

For Eghosa and his fellow founder, it marked an important milestone in a journey that has since expanded from card acquiring into treasury management and cross-border financial infrastructure.

Over the years, Multigate has developed institutional relationships and pursued international regulatory and infrastructure partnerships.

Among its reported milestones are developments involving SWIFT financial messaging capabilities and regulatory approvals supporting operations in additional African markets.

The journey from a business idea to an enterprise operating within complex international financial systems speaks to the demands of entrepreneurship in a highly regulated industry.

For Eghosa, it has required more than technological knowledge.

It has demanded leadership, patience, institutional credibility and the ability to build relationships in an industry where trust is fundamental.

One of the interesting aspects of Eghosa’s story is that his movement away from a medical career did not signal an abandonment of education.

Rather, his academic interests evolved alongside his professional ambitions.

He subsequently obtained an Executive Master of Business Administration from the University of Oxford, adding formal business education to the practical experience he had accumulated in the corporate and entrepreneurial worlds.

His journey from the sciences to financial technology and business leadership illustrates an important reality.

Education need not imprison an individual within a single profession.

Knowledge acquired in one discipline can provide valuable foundations for success in another.

The analytical skills developed through scientific study can become useful in business.

The discipline required for academic achievement can strengthen professional judgement.

And the willingness to continue learning can become one of an entrepreneur’s greatest assets.

Eghosa’s entrepreneurial work has attracted recognition beyond Nigeria.

In 2024, he was featured among the personalities recognised by the Most Influential People of African Descent (MIPAD) initiative, which highlights individuals of African descent making notable contributions in their respective fields.

He has also been profiled by international business and academic networks, including the Cambridge Africa Business Network.

Such recognition reflects the increasing visibility of African entrepreneurs participating in industries once dominated almost exclusively by established international institutions.

But perhaps more important than recognition is the significance of the work itself.

Across Africa, a generation of entrepreneurs is attempting to solve problems that have persisted for decades.

Problems involving payments, financial access, trade, infrastructure, logistics and technology.

Their businesses may not always attract the public attention reserved for entertainers or sports stars. Yet their work has the potential to influence how economies function and how opportunities are created.

Eghosa belongs to this emerging generation.

It would be easy to describe Eghosa entirely through his professional achievements.

But people are more than their qualifications and corporate titles.

One revealing aspect of his personality is his interest in art.

He has been described as an avid collector with interests spanning Renaissance, Surrealist, contemporary and African art.

There is something intriguing about a financial technology entrepreneur who spends his professional life navigating complex systems and numbers but finds personal expression in the creativity of artists.

Perhaps it is a reminder that the human mind need not be restricted to a single interest.

In interviews, Eghosa has also reflected on the importance of personal relationships, family, health and finding balance amid the pressures of entrepreneurship.

These reflections matter. Because the pursuit of professional success can sometimes become so consuming that the individual forgets the very life that success was supposed to improve.

Achievement, after all, should not be measured exclusively by financial performance.

WHAT HIS JOURNEY TELLS EDO YOUTHS

There are several lessons in Eghosa Nehikhare’s journey.

The first is that talent must be nurtured.

The young man who represented Nigeria in an international physics tournament in 2008 could not have known precisely where his intellectual curiosity would eventually lead.

The second is that life’s direction can change.

An early ambition does not have to become a lifelong obligation.

The third is that education remains valuable even when an individual’s career takes an unexpected turn.

And perhaps the most important lesson is that ambition must be accompanied by preparation, hard work and the willingness to confront difficult realities.

Eghosa did not move directly from university into the leadership of an international financial technology company. There were years of professional experience, changing responsibilities, learning and difficult decisions.

That is an important distinction in an age when social media sometimes presents success as an overnight occurrence.

For young people in Edo State, his story offers a reminder that the world of opportunity extends far beyond familiar professions and conventional career paths.

Technology, finance, innovation, enterprise and emerging industries offer possibilities that earlier generations could scarcely have imagined. But these opportunities demand knowledge, discipline, integrity and perseverance.

FROM MY WINDOW

There is a reason we have chosen Eghosa Nehikhare to open our Edo Youth Ambassador series.

His story captures something important about the generation we hope to celebrate.

A generation that is increasingly comfortable challenging conventional expectations.

A generation whose ambitions are not confined by geography.

A generation that understands that Edo identity and global relevance are not competing ideas.

One can be proudly rooted in Evboehighae, Orhionmwon, Edo State, and still participate meaningfully in shaping the financial infrastructure of a changing continent.

That, in many ways, is the essence of this new series.

We will celebrate young Edo men and women in business, technology, science, medicine, entertainment, sports, academia, public service and community development.

Not because they have accumulated titles.

Not simply because they have become wealthy or famous.

But because their journeys offer lessons, their achievements expand possibilities and their experiences may inspire someone else to attempt what once appeared impossible.

Eghosa Nehikhare’s story is still unfolding.

Multigate continues to evolve.

His ambitions, undoubtedly, extend beyond the milestones already achieved.

But the journey from a young Nigerian representing his country in an international physics competition to an entrepreneur helping build financial bridges across borders is already worthy of recognition.

And perhaps that is the most enduring lesson of all.

The future does not always belong to those who follow the path laid out for them. Sometimes, it belongs to those who have the courage, preparation and conviction to discover a different one.

Welcome to From My Window: Edo Youth Ambassador.

Our window is open.

And a new generation of Edo excellence is coming into view.