Wednesday, June 17, 2026 F&G 22 · Extreme Fear
BTC $65,760 -0.52% ETH $1,792 +1.62% USDT $0.999023 -0.03% BNB $607.12 -1.09% XRP $1.22 -0.77% USDC $0.999774 +0.01% SOL $73.56 -0.21% TRX $0.317807 +0.00% FIGR_HELOC $1.04 +0.77% HYPE $74.23 +3.27% DOGE $0.087310 +0.03% USDS $0.999608 -0.01% LEO $9.69 -0.24% RAIN $0.014126 +3.18% ZEC $513.21 -1.67% XLM $0.224376 +3.71% XMR $352.30 +0.77% ADA $0.172481 -2.54% WBT $54.00 +0.02% CC $0.160967 -2.43% BTC $65,760 -0.52% ETH $1,792 +1.62% USDT $0.999023 -0.03% BNB $607.12 -1.09% XRP $1.22 -0.77% USDC $0.999774 +0.01% SOL $73.56 -0.21% TRX $0.317807 +0.00% FIGR_HELOC $1.04 +0.77% HYPE $74.23 +3.27% DOGE $0.087310 +0.03% USDS $0.999608 -0.01% LEO $9.69 -0.24% RAIN $0.014126 +3.18% ZEC $513.21 -1.67% XLM $0.224376 +3.71% XMR $352.30 +0.77% ADA $0.172481 -2.54% WBT $54.00 +0.02% CC $0.160967 -2.43%
TheWeal
James Okafor
TheWeal · Staff

James Okafor Verified

Editor-in-Chief

he/him · Lagos / London · Contact ↓
Articles published
1
Experience
11years
Joined
Jan 2026
Languages
English, Yoruba, French (working)

James leads TheWeal's editorial direction and is responsible for sourcing standards, predictions methodology oversight, and ethics policy. He has 11 years of financial journalism experience across Africa, the UK, and the US. Previously he was a senior editor at a Pan-African business publication where he established the crypto desk in 2018, ran the editorial pipeline for the 2022 contagion coverage, and led the project that produced the first localised African crypto adoption index.

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Identity & credentials verified

Verified January 2026 · TheWeal Editorial — Identity verified via government ID; prior employment cross-referenced

Beats covered
  • Editorial standards
  • Predictions methodology
  • African market coverage
  • Regulatory frameworks
  • DeFi governance
Background
Education
  • Columbia Journalism School 2014
    MS Investigative Journalism
  • University of Lagos 2012
    BSc Economics
Previous employers
  • African Business Magazine 2018u20132025
    Crypto Desk Editor
  • Financial Times Africa 2015u20132018
    Staff Reporter
  • BusinessDay Nigeria 2014u20132015
    Reporter
Certifications
  • Knight-Bagehot Fellowship (2017)
  • Poynter Institute leadership programme (2020)
Awards & recognition
  • Sigma Award nominee (2023) — data journalism
  • Knight-Bagehot Fellowship (2017)
  • Diageo Africa Business Reporter of the Year (2019)
Speaking & press
  • Africa Tech Summit (2025) — keynote on African crypto regulation
  • Africa Money & DeFi Summit (2024) — moderator
  • Oxford Reuters Institute (2023) — guest lecturer
Conflicts of interest & editorial transparency

Holds a small position in BTC acquired in 2018, disclosed publicly and excluded from his individual editorial coverage. No other crypto positions. No compensation from covered projects.

Read TheWeal's ethics policy →

Recent articles

By James Okafor

1 articles published on TheWeal.

Get in touch

Story tips, source intros, comment requests

James can be reached at james@theweal.com. For Signal contact details, use email first — Signal numbers are exchanged after initial vetting. Pitches that are off-topic for Editor-in-Chief coverage will not receive replies.