The President of the Fintech Association of Nigeria, Ade Bajomo, says the government needs to raise the bar and support the fintech ecosystem in order to take the industry to unprecedented heights, through well-thought-out collaboration, initiatives, policies, and interventions.
Bajomo made the call at the opening ceremony of the Nigeria Fintech Week 2022, themed ‘Navigating the Next Normal: Sustainable Impacts in Fintech, e-Government and Emerging Technologies.
According to Bajomo, Nigeria has barely scratched the surface of digital technology despite seemingly significant efforts made in payment lending systems and web technology.
“We are still skimming the surface when it comes to the deep technology revolution,” he said.
The four-day event provides opportunities to showcase new thinking, solutions, thought leadership, and products by local fintech organisations, noting that environmental and social issues, extreme poverty alleviation, economic growth, and digital inclusion and governance should be at the top of every executive agenda.
He said there was room for new innovation in several sectors, and huge opportunities in agric-tech, insurance tech, health tech, edu-tech, and blockchain adoption.
“We also need to deepen the entire ecosystem at a much more fundamental level, building skills and solutions based on deep research, science, and technology to develop and manufacture computer chips, hardware, operating systems, and indeed the 4th Industrial Revolution capability such as Machine Learning, Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence,” the FintechNGR president stressed.
As a huge consumer of these services, Nigeria cannot remain on this level but to go two-three steps deeper and start powering the industry, solving its own problems, and reaching the widen global ecosystem, he stressed.
“We must be the digital light and trailblazer to Africa and the world. We need to move with a renewed commitment and deeper partnership in this respect,” Bajomo said.
He noted that the dwindling economic realities, the urgency to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty and the over 40 million people yet to be financially included give reasons to embrace the enormous opportunities in the fintech ecosystem.
He said, “We need a million developers to power the next level of digital transformation, funding for research centres and capabilities have to be top of mind.”
FintechNGR will strive for more collaboration and partnership to make Nigeria the go-to-destination for fintech innovation and investment, Bajomo said.
He noted that FintechNGR would not be naive to various distractors who posed as fintech but operate shady organisations that cannot be part of the fintech ecosystem.
He said, “We must also understand that we cannot avoid contrary views and scrutiny about our industry and operators which clearly is altering the status quo in innovation and competitive trend, and in creating opportunities for a new generation of Nigeria and the world at large.
“The data point clearly showed this and must be quite disturbing for incumbents that are willing to change. In fact, we must welcome contrary views, and our members must reflect on further steps to take to sustain the industry and their businesses.
Nigeria’s fintech space has recorded significant growth in the last five years with Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which was barely at $53 million a year, growing to about $1.3 billion in 2021, Bajomo notes, stating that FintechNGR would continue to collaborate with the regulators to create a safe and financial services environment for the growth of the industry and for the nation.
The four-day event will further provide an avenue to learning, and share ideas, vision, and development strategies for the progress of Nigeria and the global fintech system, more broadly.
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