Download the AgriKore Risk Review titled – Smart Farming: A Solution To Prevailing Hunger In Africa, A publication by Cellulant. Issue 1

The President of Fintech Association of Nigeria, Dr. Segun Aina and the Management led by Dr. Babatunde Obrimah in a bid to support its members and the ecosystem to weather the storm of economic and business impacts of COVID-19 and prepare them for post COVID-19 challenges and opportunities, engaged in strategic discussions with the fifteen (15) sectors that make up its one hundred and twenty-six (126) member institutions:  Banks, Startups, Insurance, Financial Services, Payment, Incubation and Acceleration, lending, Consulting, ICT, Blockchain, Investment and Venture Capital, Legal, Media, Education and Professional Bodies.The engagement was done through nine zoom sessions with each session hosting members from particular sectors. The immense acceptance and partnership the Association fosters with  Regulators came to fore as the two (2) of the foremost financial services Regulatory Agencies in Nigeria also participated in the engagements. Mr. Sunday Thomas, Commissioner for Insurance, Mr. Pius Agboola, Director, Policy and Regulation, and Mr. Abiodun Aribike, Head, IT, National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) participated in the engagement with the Insurance Sector while Mr. Taiwo Oladimeji, Deputy Director, Payments System Policy and Oversight, Central Bank of Nigeria participated in the engagement with members from the Payment, Lending and Financial Services space. The occasion presented the stakeholders of the Association the opportunities to assess the impact of COVID-19 on their businesses, take holistic views on what should be done to mitigate the impact of the pandemic and sustain the growth of the sector. The participants across the board believe that the country is still far away in the digital adoption journey as  COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the lack of digital readiness of the economy. Participants identified some of the challenges the sector faces as poor infrastructure (power supply and telecoms services), high cost of data and internet tariff, low volume of transactions, low productivity of workers, insecurity, increase in cyber threats and frauds, lack of structured data necessary for making an informed decision amongst others. The need for synergy and more focused interactions amongst stakeholders, business, professional and indigenous funding support for startups, capacity building, digital education and literacy programmes for professionals, advocacy programme, the establishment of centralized fintech database, ecosystem cybersecurity strategy amongst others are some of the survival strategies participants proposed. Participants also seized the occasion to task the Regulators in the country to deepen engagement with the sector through partnership on research, early involvement of operators in the process of drafting policies, review of KYC policies to make them more flexible to meet dynamic business needs, digitization and streamlining of licensing processes, ensure flexibility of licensing and capitalization cost, the establishment of a centralized database for lending and foster progressive interaction with the sector. According to Dr. Segun Aina in drawing the curtain on the engagements; “stakeholders must cooperate, co-create, collaborate and compete to make the sector more vibrant”

Fintech Association of Nigeria was among the entities invited by the government of the United Kingdom to participate at the event that brought together key decision-makers, business moguls, influencers, top government functionaries, innovators and others in the UK and African circle to deliberate on the prospects of business and investment opportunities between the Kingdom and the continental as Brexit draws near. At the end of the Summit, we see a lot of prospects for fintechs in Africa especially in the area of funding, shared resources, regulatory support, talent development and innovative solutions transfer. FintechNGR is excited to have contributed to the actualisation of the Summit through its President, Dr Segun Aina who is a member of the UK Africa Fintech Investment Group.  Recall, the UK-Africa Fintech Investment Group chaired by UK Prime Minister Ambassador for Business Fintech, Alastair  Lukies had the inaugural meeting of the Group co-chaired by Mr Lukies in London and Dr Aina in Lagos on the eve of the maiden Africa Fintech Festival organised by FintechNGR and Fintech Associates Ltd in Lagos in December 2018. The full offerings of the UK-Africa Investment Group would be greatly realised as an outcome of this Summit. Dr Segun Aina President, FintechNGR and Mr Gbite Oduneye, CEO, Eagle Global Markets (a member of FintechNGR) joined the rest of the world including Presidents of twenty-one African countries at the event and the subsequent launch and reception of the Catalyst Fund. The FintechNGR and Africa Fintech Network delegation to UK-Africa Investment Summit also engaged the teams at Financial Conduct Authority and Innovate Finance to further deepen supports and partnerships around regulation, global best practice, knowledge exchanges and training.

FintechNGR is getting more involved in entrenching Fintech as a veritable tool in combating financial and cybercrime in Africa as the Association represented by its COO, Dr Babatunde Obrimah participated in a two-day Seminar organised by Inter-Government Action Group against Money Laundering in West Africa (GIABA) held in Sally, Dakar, Senegal on the 16th-17th of January 2020. Read More Dr Obrimah made a presentation on THE SCOPE AND EXTENT OF FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY AND ITS DEPLOYMENT at the event. In his presentation, he harped on the need to build the capacity of Regulators in the Region on digital transformation, the necessity of the Regulators especially the Central Banks having sandboxes, foster handshake with the rest of the world on global best prices and leverage Regtech tools and blockchain elements to combat crime and money laundering in the Region.  

FintechNGR was among the Value-Added Service Providers and Strategic Partners recognised by NSE on Wednesday, 29th January at the launch of the Growth Board as Dr Babatunde Obrimah, COO, FintechNGR joined the CEO of NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema and other Strategic Partners in sounding the closing gong. The Growth Board encourages the listing of companies, which are active in their respective sectors and have exhibited high growth potential. The Growth Board is designed to offer relaxed entry criteria – less stringent listing requirements, that provide greater accessibility for growth-oriented companies, making it easier to attract capital flows and at reduced pre and post-listing requirement obligations. We are excited to be part of the process leading to the launch of the Growth Board by the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Recall, the Governing Council of Association on 21st December 2017 led selected budding Fintechs/SMEs from the ecosystem to the Exchange to brainstorm on the NSE Alternative Securities Market “ASEM” as a “Growth Board”, the insightful, robust, fruitful and indeed, a value-based engagement provided salient inputs and structural adjustments to the “Growth Board”, making it more encompassing. Download Rules of Listing on the Growth Board Nine member institutions of FintechNGR – Proshare, Deloitte, The New Practice, G.Elias & Co, Udo Udoma & Bello Osagie Law Firm, Olaniwun Ajayi Law Firm, Banwo & Ighodalo Law Firm, Alliance Law Firm, Africa Prudential and others were also recognised. Download the Growth Board Value Propositions and the Rules for Listing on the Exchange under the initiative