John Lombela is a seasoned technical founder and the CEO of Axalio, a compliance-native marketplace and software platform for African gold and critical minerals. Axalio integrates KYB/KYC, escrow automation, provenance and chain-of-custody, and insured logistics to turn opaque, broker-heavy transactions into bank-grade, auditable trade flows.

Across 17+ years, John has led product and engineering teams spanning the U.S., Europe, and Africa, shipping enterprise software while building partnerships with miners, refiners, structured-finance desks, and OEM procurement leaders. His work centers on practical trust: aligning technology, regulation, and field operations to reduce counterparty risk, accelerate settlement, and expand equitable participation for small-scale producers.

John has engaged with programs such as IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator, Draper University, and StartupBootcamp Amsterdam, and collaborates with stakeholders across Ghana, DRC, Uganda, South Africa, the EU, and the U.S. He’s now focused on connecting ethical African supply corridors to American industry, so buyers gain compliant access to the critical inputs they need while communities at the source benefit from transparent, fairly financed trade.