The 5th edition of Nigeria Fintech Week organised by the Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR) and Fintech Associates Limited provided a platform for industry leaders, experts and tech enthusiasts from Nigeria and across the world to have insightful conversations on pertinent issues across the Fintech ecosystem.
Themed Sustainability and Ecosystem Building, the event featured keynote addresses, tech talks, fireside chats, a cocktail and other inspiring knowledge sessions covering Payment and Sustainability, Femtech, emerging tech, fintech funding, CapTech, regulatory engagements, as well as an Ecosystem Hour with global partners. The week-long event held from October 25 to 29, 2021; had over 8,000 participants in attendance both online and onsite from 20 countries, 14 Sectors of the economy, 72 Speakers, 18 Presentations, 11 Panel Sessions, and two keynote addresses.
Ade Bajomo; President, FintechNGR, in his opening address stressed the need for financial inclusion. He stated that about 46% of Nigerians are still financially excluded. In his words, “there are still a lot of opportunities to be harnessed within the industry”. He also lauded the efforts of fintechs making giant strides as witnessed in the funding raised this year in comparison with that of the previous year.
This year’s event featured keynote addresses from Raghav Prasad, Division President, Mastercard SSA, and Patrick Akinwuntan, MD, Ecobank Nigeria, Dr. Segun Aina, Chairman, BOT, FintechNGR gave the closing remarks at the opening session. A fireside chat with Ebenezer Onyeagwu, GMD, Zenith Bank Plc, Guarang Shah, SVP, Digital Payments & Labs, MEA, Mastercard, Akin Jones, Co-Founder & CEO, Aella, Premier Oiwoh, CEO NIBSS, and Dr. Anino Emuwa, Founder & Director, Avandis Consulting focused on collaboration in the ecosystem.
Some other speakers and panelists included Wole Adeniyi, MD, Stanbic IBTC, Chijioke Ugwuh, Head Partnerships Development, Infobip West Africa, Davidson Oturu, Managing Partner, AELEX, Jude Onochie, Head, Investor Relations & Strategy, Courteville Group, as well as officials from regulatory bodies; Dr. Dan-Azumi Mohammed Ibrahim, DG, NOTAP, and Prof. Umar Danbatta, EVC, NCC, and many others.
Key Takeaways
- In the Fourth Industrial Revolution, Africans are solving African problems across various industries and in the socio-economic context, leveraging global technologies, partnerships and African talent.
- The successful trial of the fifth-generation technology (5G) in Nigeria in November 2019 and recent approval for policies to guide implementation, puts Nigeria on track for commercial 5G launch
- Banks are willing to extend their knowledge in risk management, compliance, cybercrime, fraud management, amongst others to fintechs. Thus, there should be more strategic collaborations. – Ebenezer Onyeagwu, Group Managing Director, Zenith Bank Plc.
- The fintech ecosystem must start focusing on unbanked areas, where financial inclusion is still low. There is so much competition and concentration on markets that are already having access to payment solutions. – Agada Apochi, CEO, Unified Payments
- The problem of cross-border payment within Africa must be expediently addressed. Just as traditional banks have employed many agents to extend their services to certain areas, fintechs must develop solutions that will target the underbanked market. – Dr. (Mrs) Markie Idowu, CEO, Xpress Payments
- What we need is banking and not banks. We need services that can provide last-mile services. There should be a place for banks but there shouldn’t be total dependency on banks..
Notable highlights during the event were the official launch of DigiStuds – A digital academy project for students of public tertiary institutions in Nigeria, the virtual appearance of the semi-humanoid robot, Pepper by Stanbic IBTC and the various product/emerging technology demos and launches, as well as the award of excellence given to notable individuals who had distinguished themselves in their respective disciplines.
Giving the closing remarks on the final day of the event, Mr. Stanley Jacobs; Vice President, FintechNGR, announced that next year’s edition of the Nigeria Fintech Week would be holding from 24th to 28th October 2022 at the Landmark Event Centre. He also enjoined everyone present to run with the new disruptive solutions that were showcased as well as the knowledge shared from facilitators and discussants. In his words; “The future is here; the future is now”.
Some of the sponsors that supported this well-attended event include Zenith Bank, Mastercard, Ecobank, Aella, Access Bank, VFD Group, Jackson, Etti & Edu, Infobip, Aelex, AppZone, FastCredit, AppZone, CoinNewsExtra, Odu’a Investment Company, Credit Registry, Unified Payments, amongst others. There were also a few ecosystem and media partners such as NIBSS, CIPM, Proshare, Nairametrics, SDM, and TechCabal that supported the event.
If you are interested in the #NFW2021 event report, kindly download here and you could also still visit the event platform if you would like to catch the replays of the sessions. To get early updates on Nigeria Fintech Week (NFW2022), kindly keep your eyes fixed on our website at www.nigeriafintechweek.org and follow us @nigeriafintechweek across social media. If you are also interested in sponsorship or partnership, send us a mail at hello@nigeriafintechweek.org or call +2349030003013
