Interswitch, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, has been inducted as a founding corporate supporter of the Professor Albert Alos Endowed Chair in Strategic Management, Lagos Business School’s (LBS) first endowed chair, reinforcing its long-standing commitment to advancing leadership, knowledge creation and institutional excellence across Africa.
Established ahead of Professor Albert Alos’ 87th birthday in September 2026, the landmark initiative honours his enduring contributions to management education and is dedicated to advancing Africa-focused research, strengthening faculty leadership, fostering thought leadership, and developing the next generation of responsible business leaders who will drive Africa’s growth on the global stage.
Having transformed Africa’s payments landscape through innovation and technology for more than two decades, Interswitch believes that sustainable economic progress depends just as much on investing in the institutions that cultivate ideas, develop leaders and inspire enterprise. Its support for the Professor Albert Alos Endowed Chair reflects this conviction and highlights the vital role that collaboration between academia and industry plays in building globally competitive African economies.
The announcement further deepens a longstanding relationship between Interswitch and Lagos Business School, built on a shared commitment to leadership development, innovation and enterprise excellence. Founder and Group CEO, Mitchell Elegbe, serves on the Lagos Business School Advisory Board and as Executive-in-Residence, where he contributes strategic insight to the School’s pursuit of excellence in management education while engaging students, executives and business leaders on innovation, entrepreneurship and building enduring African enterprises.
Reflecting on the significance of the partnership, Elegbe said:
“Building Africa’s future requires more than technological innovation; it requires strong institutions that cultivate leaders capable of solving complex challenges and creating lasting value. Our support for the Professor Albert Alos Endowed Chair reflects our belief that academia and industry have a shared responsibility to generate the ideas, research and leadership that will shape the continent’s next chapter. We are proud to deepen our partnership with Lagos Business School in advancing excellence, innovation and responsible leadership across Africa.”
According to a statement released by the Lagos Business School,
“It is with great pride that we welcome Interswitch Group as a founding corporate supporter of the Professor Albert Alos Endowed Chair in Strategic Management, Lagos Business School’s first endowed chair. This landmark initiative is dedicated to advancing Africa-focused research, strengthening faculty leadership, fostering thought leadership, and developing the next generation of responsible business leaders who will drive Africa’s growth on the global stage. Interswitch’s support reflects a shared conviction: that innovation, rigorous research, and deep collaboration between academia and industry are indispensable to building globally competitive institutions and driving sustainable development across Africa.”
The company’s support for the endowed chair builds on a broader legacy of investing in initiatives that expand opportunity through education, innovation, entrepreneurship and talent development. Beyond enabling digital payments and commerce across Africa, Interswitch has consistently championed programmes that promote financial inclusion, STEM education, youth empowerment and entrepreneurial development, reflecting its belief that empowering people remains central to the continent’s long-term prosperity.
As Africa’s economies become increasingly interconnected and digitally enabled, the need for locally grounded research, world-class management education and values-driven leadership has never been greater. Through this partnership, Interswitch is helping to strengthen the intellectual infrastructure needed to produce globally competitive institutions, nurture visionary leaders and equip African businesses to thrive in an increasingly complex global economy.
By supporting the Professor Albert Alos Endowed Chair, Interswitch is investing not only in an academic institution, but also in the ideas, leaders and partnerships that will define Africa’s next generation of growth. It reflects the company’s enduring belief that the continent’s greatest competitive advantage lies not only in the technologies it creates, but equally in the strength of its institutions, the quality of its leadership and its capacity to innovate.
