The Fintech Association of Nigeria held its 2nd Annual General Meeting and Social Meet 4.0 on Thursday, April 11th, 2019 proudly hosted by the Nigerian Stock Exchange at the Exchange House, Marina. The event was well attended by key executives and management staff of member institutions and ecosystem stakeholders including Banks, Consulting, Legal, ICT Venture Capitalists and Investment firms, Research Institute and Tertiary Institutions, Professional bodies, core Fintech firms, Startups, financial services providers, students, media houses, Regulators including the Central Bank of Nigeria amongst others. The event witnessed a dole-out of milestones attained by the Association in 2018 which include facilitation of Fintech Adoption Roadmap in the Capital Markets, participation in the CBN FSS 2020 Strategy Retreat, significant membership increase, inauguration of the Africa Fintech Network, partnership and support for the take-off of the UK-Africa Investment Group, an initiative of the UK Government, creation and leadership of the Fintech Sub-Committee of Nigeria Economic Summit Group, NESG amongst others. While welcoming members to the meeting, Dr. Segun Aina, President of the Association told the audience that 2018 was an exciting year for fintech which continue to transform many industries especially the financial services industry in terms of breakthroughs in innovation and investment globally and especially in the African continent. According to him “The expected impact of fintech in Africa’s development was epitomised by IMF’s statement that Fintech could be the critical stepping stone towards a digital economy for Africa” Dr Aina who attributed the success of the Association during the year to the quality, commitment and contributions of members says the Association pursued vigorously its three core objectives of CONNECT, ADVOCATE and ACCELERATE as its impacts are felt across the length and breadth of the Nigerian and African Fintech ecosystem at large. The Vice President of the Association, Ade Bajomo, ED, IT & Operations, Access Bank particularly articulated the focus of the Association on breeding young innovators right from the school days as he said the Association strongly believe the future of the nation rests on its teeming youths properly playing active roles in digitalizing the economy. Wole Oyeniran, Director, Technology, Deloitte, West-Africa, a member of the Governing Council of the Association while informing participants on the future plans of the Association said that in order to consolidate on the Association’s successes, maximize its impacts and value delivery to its diverse members as well project a future, the Association has mapped out an audacious road map to cover the period 2019 to 2021. According to him, the Roadmap is expected to usher in significant changes in membership categories, growth and value offerings while creating other more sustainable revenue sources and strengthening of internal capacity and governance. In his words “ FintechNGR has strategically positioned itself to serve the ecosystem better as well as meeting the enormous expectations that come with the surging growth of the Association while building on the gains of the past two years” Olufemi Awoyemi, Founder & CEO, Proshare and member of the Governing Council of the Association

The Fintech Association of Nigeria having successfully established a model for the establishment of national fintech associations in Africa leads the charge in the formation of Africa Fintech Network that was formally launched at the 52nd Session of United Nation Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development held from 20th to  26th March 2019 at Palmarie Hotel, Marrakech, Morocco. The launch of the Network that was one of the most prominent and well-attended side events at the Conference was co-hosted by Dr. Segun Aina, President, FintechNGR  and had in attendance the Executive Secretary of ECA, Dr Vera Songwe, Ugandan Minister of Finance, Planning & Economic Development, Twamuhabwa Wilson, Former Nigerian Minister for Communications Technology, Dr. Omobola Johnson, representatives of the Africa Development Bank, Dr Uche Olowu, President and Mr Seye Awojobi, the Registrar of Chartered Institutes of Bankers of Nigeria, representatives of Africa Fiintech Network member countries and other notable individuals from across the continent Dr. Vera Songwe while launching the Network alluded to the fact that the objectives of the Network are critical to building the Africa we want and aligns with the Commission’s digitalized Africa goals, as such, she welcome partnership with the Network towards accelerating digitization of the continent. According to her “ Africa Fintech Network holds the key to the digitalized Africa as all nations in the continent must join the Fintech in Africa agenda. Dr Segun Aina, President, Africa Fintech Network, during his remarks said that the network was created to unify fintech regulation across the continent, foster collaboration and shared development at the national levels, support the attainment of continent goals such as Agenda 2063 and African Continental Free Trade Area of AU, Sustainable Development Goal as well as promote indigenous solutions for the peculiar Africa challenges. According to him “African governments and development partners are formulating strategies and policies to create an inclusive financial sector but every country should have its own Fintech Association to coordinate and accelerate the Fintech growth as a strategic driver of government initiatives” According to Dr. Omobola Johnson in her remarks, “The biggest challenge for fintech companies today is regulation and policy, and the fact that many central banks do not innovate and do not understand what it takes to scale and build a technology company” You would recall that the establishment of the Africa Fintech Network was formalized and earlier launched on 4th December 2018 at the maiden edition of the Africa Fintech Festival organized by the FintechNGR and other partners during the opening session of the Festival in Lagos-Nigeria in the presence of delegates from ten African countries and representatives of IMF, UNECA, AFDB, Ecobank Group, Office of the Vice President of Federal Republic of Nigeria and other leading continental and global institutions. The side event ended with the announcement of Uganda as the host of 2019 Africa Fintech Festival in Kampala from 5th to 6th November as the Nigeria Fintech Week would hold a week before the Festival in Lagos from 27th October to 1st November 2019. In