The Startup Helping African SMEs Access Business Loans | Salad Africa’s Story with Chikodi Ukaiwe

In this episode of Founders Connect, Peace Itimi sits with Chikodi Ukaiwe, the Founder and CEO of Salad Africa, to uncover his incredible journey through banking, tech, entrepreneurship, and eventually building one of Africa’s most impactful fintech startups. Salad Africa is transforming how small businesses and employees access credit in a continent where banks often say “no.”Chikodi shares his inspiring background, growing up in a university community that shaped his leadership spirit and resilience. He studied Computer Science at Babcock University and began his career in banking before pursuing his master’s. But his return to the banking world was met with rejection, sparking a shift that would lead him to disrupt the African tech ecosystem.His wife submitted his CV at Jumia, and in 2012 the Jumia founders took a bold bet on him, appointing him as Head of Growth and Partnerships. That role became a defining moment in his career, setting the stage for what was next. After two and a half years, Sim Shagaya recruited him to join Konga, where he spent over four years building one of Nigeria’s leading e-commerce brands.Chikodi later ventured into consulting, worked with the Nigerian government for over two years, and during the COVID-19 pandemic founded a nonprofit initiative called Show Love to support small businesses. Though that venture failed, it inspired him to launch Salad Africa, a platform providing salary advances and credit access to SMEs and employees.Starting Salad Africa was no easy feat. Chikodi talks about the many rejections he faced when fundraising and how Techstars became a turning point for him and his company. Through that five-month accelerator, Salad Africa secured its first major funding and laid the foundation for growth. Today, Salad has achieved incredible milestones, from raising capital to partnering with companies like Glovo.In this conversation, Chikodi opens up about the toughest challenges of entrepreneurship, including being sued for two years in a corporate dispute, navigating m