How Nigeria is leading financial technology hub in Africa by Amb. Olaoluwa

Amb. Fashina Olaoluwa, who represented Nigeria at the Best Diplomatic Conference in the United Kingdom (UK), has spoken about how Nigeria is the leading hub of financial technology in Africa.

According to Amb. Olaoluwa, the forum would not be complete without knowing Nigeria’s impressive impact towards achieving a fair and inclusive technological space, thus bridging the digital divide.

He said in recent years, Nigeria has made significant strides in ensuring fairness and inclusivity in technological advancements, serving as a cheerleading force in championing the Sustainable Development Goal 10 on the African continent.

Olaoluwa further stated that the works being put into the SDG 10 “have by miles paid-off and continue to yield impressive results”.

He also stated: “Looking at the financial technology sector popularly known as FinTech, Nigeria is now a leading hub on the African Continent, as innovations continue to steer on, creating a fair ground for all genders, most especially enhancing female meteoric rise in the country’s tech space.

“A McKinsey report released in 2022 projected Africa financial services market to grow by a record 10% per annum, reaching a revenue mile of $230 billion by 2025.

“Given the status of this report, it is noteworthy to state that Nigeria controls one third of Africa’s FinTech market, and this is evident in the financial solutions coming into play from Nigeria”.

The Ambassador mentioned one of  the ways Nigeria had achieved fairness and inclusivity, adding that this could be seen in the successes gained by ensuring that every  citizen has an easy access to information and communication technology; introduction of technological skill acquisition programmes; sharing and distribution of computers to schools and students in public institutions; collaborations between government agencies and technological corporations like Google, Microsoft, Andela, Cchub among others.

Ola-Oluwa pointed out capable and visionary leadership, have not only helped but shaped the trajectory of technology in the country.

This, according to him, has steered the wheels of Nigeria’s technological space, citing an example of Dr. Bosun Tijani, the country’s Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, “who have taken up the drive for an all-inclusive digital space to a different level  marked to be monumental in such a way that aligns with the SDG 10.

He said the introduction of the 3 million Technical Talent programme in 2023 to train providers for tech skills, saw a recorded success of empowering 30,000 Nigerians in its first phase and an additional target pitch of 2,700,000 Technical talents across the country.  

Amb. Ola-Oluwa further said:” While all these have been tremendously executed by the government, it is of good cognizance to highlight the gargantuan efforts of the private sector in this success. The likes of Flutterwave, Paystack, Kuda, Opay, PiggyVest, Carbon, Interswitch, Remita, Moniepoint, Credpal, JumiaPay, eTranzact, Palmpay, and many more, have continued to proffer solutions that have not only been adopted by Nigeria but shared to other African countries and the world at large.

“The journey so far has not been smooth as merely projected by our numerous successes, but rather, had been a daunting task that needed to be undertaken for the actualization of a better space and environment. An example of this could be seen in funding, mobilization and integration, talent acquisition, management, sustainable policy formulation and many more.

“In our bid to achieve a fair and inclusive technological space, we have not only closed the gaps, but we have gone beyond our previous years position by adopting a grassroots approach which has so far paved the way for future innovators, giving both men, women and children a good and comfortable ground to thrive, thus leading to a robust and prosperous economy”.

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