Personality of the Week: Timothy Afolabi: The Tech Visionary Powering Dreams at PressPayNg

At PressPayNg, we believe people are our greatest strength; the dreamers, the builders, and the believers who make education financing accessible for every African family.

This week, we celebrate a man whose brilliance, empathy, and innovation continue to define the heartbeat of our technology and mission.

Meet Timothy Afolabi, Co-Founder and Chief Technology Officer at PressPayNg a seasoned Fullstack Developer, DevOps Engineer, and Social Innovator whose career tells the story of passion meeting purpose.

The Vision Behind PressPayNg

As Co-Founder & CTO at PressPayNg, Timothy is deeply invested in the company’s mission: to open pathways for students and parents to access education financing in Nigeria.

His leadership isn’t behind glass walls, it’s in the trenches:

• Architecting scalable, secure systems
• Merging backend, data, and DevOps with product strategy
• Ensuring uptime, reliability, and smooth user experience
• Elevating engineering culture with collaboration and excellence

Under his guidance, PressPayNg has become not just a fintech startup but a platform of hope, bridging gaps between ambition and affordability.

The Foundation: Academic Excellence & National Recognition

Timothy’s roots are anchored in academic rigor and consistent recognition:

• He holds a B.Tech in Computer Science from the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA)
• He graduated as the 2nd Best Student in his department, a mark of excellence and consistency
• His academic journey came with honor:
  • MTN Foundation Scholarship (3-time awardee)
  • Etisalat Nigeria Merit Award
  • First Bank Convocation Award

These accolades are not just trophies — they reflect Timothy’s mindset: learning, performing, and leveraging opportunity to create more opportunities for others.

The Journey Ahead, Building the Future of Education Finance

With Timothy at the technology helm, PressPayNg is steadily evolving into a global model for inclusive education finance.
His roadmap is bold yet practical; merging AI, open data, and fintech infrastructure to create a smarter, more human-centered ecosystem for African families and schools.

He envisions a world where:

• Students can access funds in minutes, not months.
• Parents can plan their children’s education without financial anxiety.
• Governments can use data from platforms like PressPayNg to make education policies that truly work.

It’s not just a dream but a blueprint.
And Timothy is building it, one system, one update, one breakthrough at a time.

Beyond the Startup: Civic Tech & Social Innovation

One of his proudest ventures is My Oyo Citizens App, co-founded in 2019 with journalist Edmund Obilo. This civic engagement tool empowers citizens across 33 local governments in Oyo State to:

• Report civic issues
• Access public data
• Demand responsiveness and transparency

What started as lines of code turned into a platform for democracy in motion; proof that tech can also heal, amplify, and give power back to people.

The Human Edge: Integrity, Leadership & Purpose

Timothy isn’t just a technical leader, he’s a moral conductor. His colleagues frequently mention:

• Integrity: decisions made clearly, transparently
• Empathy: understanding user pain, team struggles, real lives
• Leadership with humility: lifting people, not pushing them

He balances work with reflection, reading, music, and meditation form part of his daily rhythm. In a field known for burnout, he embodies calm and purpose.

Why This Matters: Code That Serves, Not Overpowers

In a world racing toward the next startup pivot or scaling obsession, Timothy’s approach is a refreshing anchor:
He codes not for the sake of code, but for the sake of people.
Every system he builds, every architecture decision he makes, carries the imprint of his guiding mission: enabling education, empowering students, and ensuring that lack of money doesn’t kill potential.

In spotlighting Timothy Afolabi as our Personality of the Week, we do more than praise a tech leader. We illuminate a paradigm: that purposeful technology is not optional, it’s necessary.

Every line of code he writes is stitched with empathy.
Every system he designs is built for sustainability.
Every decision he makes is grounded in character.

The best in the world? Maybe.
But this is celebrating a man who writes systems not just for the now, but for the next generation.

Here’s to Timothy Afolabi our CTO, Builder, Changemaker, and Architect of Hope.

About PressPayNg

PressPayNg is Africa’s first end-to-end Education Finance Platform, helping Learners and Families Save, access Loans, Scholarships, and Grants, while enabling schools to manage Payments, Invoicing, and Asset Financing seamlessly.

Visit app.presspay.ng to explore how PressPayNg is making education accessible, affordable, and achievable for every learner.