The success of Kuda Bank is built on a synergy between two very different backgrounds: Babs Ogundeyi, the finance-trained strategist who understands the global capital markets, and Musty Mustapha, the technical veteran who understands the inner workings of traditional banking systems.
Babs Ogundeyi: The Financial Strategist
Babs was born into an environment where finance was the primary language. His father, Bayo Ogundeyi, was a highly respected official at the Central Bank of Nigeria, which gave Babs an early education in how a nation’s “financial plumbing” works.
He attended King’s College Taunton in the UK, a prestigious boarding school that has produced several notable business figures. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Studies and Accounting from Brunel University London. This provided him with the analytical tools to dissect corporate balance sheets, which he later applied at PwC.
From 2011 to 2015, he served as the Special Adviser on Finance to the Oyo State Government. During this time, he helped navigate the state’s economy through a period of transition, notably raising the largest infrastructural bond in the state’s history. He is married to Honey Ogundeyi, a powerhouse entrepreneur in her own right who founded Fashpa, one of Nigeria’s pioneering fashion-tech companies.
Musty Mustapha: The Software Visionary
While Babs was navigating government halls and auditing firms, Musty Mustapha was deep in the world of enterprise software. He is often described as the “calm engine” of the company.
Musty studied Computer Science at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), an institution known for producing some of Nigeria’s most successful tech founders.
Before co-founding Kuda, Musty spent over a decade in the Nigerian banking sector. He worked at Stanbic IBTC Bank (a subsidiary of Standard Bank Group) and Diamond Bank (now part of Access Bank).
His time inside traditional banks is what directly inspired Kuda’s technical architecture. He saw how legacy systems—old, slow, and expensive to maintain—were the primary reason banks charged customers high fees. He was determined to build a “core banking engine” from scratch that was cloud-native and fee-efficient.
In recent years, Musty has become a vocal advocate for upskilling Nigerian tech talent in AI and machine learning, ensuring that Kuda stays ahead of the curve as an “AI-first” financial institution.
The partnership began in 2016 with Kudimoney, a simple online lending and savings platform. However, the duo soon realized that to truly fix banking, they needed a license.
“We didn’t just want to be an app on top of a bank; we wanted to be the bank.” — Babs Ogundeyi
By 2019, they obtained a microfinance banking license from the Central Bank of Nigeria and rebranded as Kuda.
Current Milestones (As of 2026)
The founders’ synergy has propelled Kuda to heights previously unseen for a Nigerian digital bank:
• National Expansion: In January 2026, Kuda received a National Microfinance Bank license, allowing it to expand physical “experience centers” across Nigeria while remaining digital-first.
• Global Reach: The bank has expanded into Tanzania, Canada, and the UK, targeting the African diaspora.
• Financial Power: Under their leadership, Kuda processed over ₦14.3 trillion ($10.2 billion) in transactions in Q1 2025 alone.
The success of Babs and Musty lies in their division of labor. Babs navigates the complex world of venture capital (raising over $100 million to date) and regulatory policy, while Musty ensures the platform remains secure and scalable. Together, they haven’t just built an app; they have built a blueprint for how technology can provide financial dignity to millions of people who were previously overlooked by the traditional banking system.
Together, they transitioned from Kudimoney (a small 2-person operation) to Kuda Bank, a global brand with over 7 million users and offices in London, Lagos, and Cape Town.
