Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Interswitch, Mitchell Elegbe, has urged young Nigerian entrepreneurs to build with the country’s long-term economic potential in mind, saying Nigeria’s potential to become one of the world’s top 15 economies by 2050 could create significant opportunities for businesses equipped to serve its growing needs.
Elegbe made the call during his keynote presentation at The Platform Nigeria 2026, hosted by The Covenant Nation at The Covenant Place, Lagos, where he encouraged young Nigerians to consider what the country’s economic and demographic trajectory could mean for the businesses, solutions and capabilities they begin building today.
He said he had adopted 2050 as a strategic planning assumption, based on long-term projections of Nigeria’s economic potential. Referencing a PwC publication, he noted that the projection places Nigeria at number 14 among the world’s largest economies by 2050. He also cited a Goldman Sachs projection that places Nigeria as the world’s third-largest economy by 2075, highlighting the scale of Nigeria’s potential in the coming decades.
For Elegbe, the significance of these projections goes beyond Nigeria’s position on a global GDP ranking. A larger economy would create demand for products, services, infrastructure and technologies, while the country’s expanding population would provide a substantial market and workforce.
“The mandate is to utilise available resources, understand our environment, build the right solutions and create businesses that can grow sustainably. With the abundance of opportunities that exist, the onus is to think critically about shaping a future through tailored solutions,” Elegbe said.
Nigeria’s large and youthful population, he noted, would be an important part of this opportunity. With the country’s population potentially reaching about 375 million to 400 million by 2050, he said the scale of demand would open opportunities across sectors including food and agriculture, energy and clean cooking, water and sanitation, healthcare, housing and construction.
Against this backdrop, Elegbe urged young entrepreneurs to identify important problems today and develop solutions with the capacity to grow as the markets they serve expand.
He drew from Interswitch’s own journey to illustrate the importance of combining a focused starting point with the foundations for scale. Founded in 2002, the company began by developing an online, real-time payment system suited to the Nigerian market, while building the people, systems, technology, architecture and partnerships that would support its growth.
As the company gained experience and developed its capabilities, it identified opportunities to apply what it had built and learned in other African markets. Its expansion into Uganda, for instance, followed interest from stakeholders who had seen what Interswitch had successfully built in Nigeria and approached the company about bringing its capabilities to their market.
For entrepreneurs, Elegbe said, starting with a specific problem should be accompanied by deliberate decisions about the people, systems, technology, partnerships and business architecture needed to support future growth and expansion.
“Execution is more important than the size of the dream. But once you get it right, it’s called knowledge. It’s called experience. With experience, you can then scale,” he said.
With 2050 only about 25 years away, Elegbe encouraged young Nigerians to consider what they can begin building today for the country they expect to see in the decades ahead.
The crux of Elegbe’s message at The Platform Nigeria 2026 was that Nigeria’s economic trajectory presents an opportunity for a new generation of entrepreneurs to think beyond today’s market, solve meaningful problems and build businesses with the capabilities to grow alongside the country.
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