Innovation is central to transforming business services across Africa. This Ugandan's journey illustrates how technological solutions are becoming essential for economic activity.

Francis Nkurunungi is a Ugandan technology entrepreneur and the Chief Executive Officer of Xente, a financial technology company he co-founded in 2014 with Allan Rwakatungu and Kenneth Legesi.

Xente was established to simplify and digitize financial operations within the business-to-business (B2B) segment. The company targets small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), large corporations, and institutions seeking to centralize and automate their transactions amid the continent's accelerating digitalization.

The Xente platform manages a company's entire payment chain. Its integrated features include settling payments with vendors and partners, collecting funds from clients, secure storage of financial documents, issuing and controlling virtual payment cards in partnership with VISA, and managing regulatory compliance using automation tools. The platform connects and harmonizes mobile, banking, and digital payments.

Prior to Xente, Nkurunungi founded Francom Solutions in 2009, a software and web solutions development company, which he led until 2018. In 2019, he established Cognative Insights, a software development firm serving organizations and corporations.

Nkurunungi holds a Master of Business Administration from the Edinburgh Business School at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland. His career started in 2012 at BetPawa, a Ugandan betting company, where he served as Head of Customer Development before becoming Chief Technical Officer in 2014.

Melchior Koba