FirstBank, Fintechs Poised To Deepen $5 Trillion Dollar Global Gigital Economy

By Edu Abade

In a bid to deepen fiscal literacy and penetration of digital financial services in Nigeria, Africa and the global marketplace, FirstBank of Nigeria Limited and Financial Technology Firms (Fintechs) have vowed to continue to raise the bar with a view to reaching the under-banked and underserved with innovative digital banking solutions irrespective of their social class and financial status.

This follows projections that the Fintech ecosystem has the capacity to generate over 82 million Fintech firms and digital players by 2028 and that the over 600 Fintech firms worldwide as of 2024 have spent over $5 trillion to expand the market with Africa and Nigeria contending with about $3 billion of global spend and earnings in the fast growing digital financial industry.

Industry experts who gathered at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Fintech Festival, which held on Thursday, September 26, 2024 in Lagos with the theme: Celebrating Nigeria’s Digital Payments Ecosystem said while the Nigerian Fintech industry has achieved several milestones worth celebrating, a lot still remains to be accomplished in the financial technology sub-sector.

In his keynote address titled: Digital Transformation in Nigeria: The Journey So Far and the Next Steps, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Optimus AI Labs, Lanre Adelanwa, argued that the sector has made significant strides since the days of teller and crowded banking halls, but there is still enough room for improvements.

He stressed the need for continued collaboration and partnerships to grow and develop the Fintech ecosystem to distribute greater value, unlock more opportunities and ultimately create more robust value in the system.

“The Nigerian Fintech ecosystem, worth over $300 million as of 2023, is poised to stimulate growth to the extent that about 82 million Fintechs and digital firms will be created by the year 2028. And as such, opportunities abound in the sub-sector and as we all can testify, technologies will be readily available to serve the diverse needs of clients and the larger society,” he said.

In her presentation titled: The Role of Innovation in Driving Ecosystem Growth and Advancement, Chief Innovations Officer of Interswitch Limited, Mrs. Adaobi Igwe-Okerekeocha, who pointed out that fintech firms hold the future of the global financial sector, stressed the need for investors in fintech companies to innovate, leverage, invest and where necessary, acquire new technologies to actualize their business projections.

Igwe-Okerekeocha, who maintained that investors should develop the appetite to invest in startups with the right corporate collaboration, insisted that industry players must develop talents, internal innovation programmes, explore viable opportunities, utilize external expertise and technologies, as well as accelerate Research and Development (R&D) innovation cycles to drive growth in the sector.

“Such innovation risks, R&D initiatives and an appetite for investments is what gave the likes of Amazon, Netflix, Google and OpenAI, among others, the edge in their markets and areas of operation. With an estimated global spend reaching over $5 trillion in 2024 and rising and with $3billion of that amount in Nigeria and Africa, Fintech firms hold the future of the global digital economy,” she stated.

In his presentation on Marketing Masterclass -Product Marketing Strategies to Drive Brand Equity and Growth, Managing Director of Total Scope Marketing Solutions and convener of the festival, Ikechuckwu Ugwu, explained that today’s businesses face five critical challenges including Foreign Exchange (Forex ) fluctuations, human capital losses, lack of access to capital and credit, increasing inflation and shrinking consumers income.

He said to successfully navigate the modern complex business environment, business owners need to make strategic decisions by increasing their marketing efforts, focus on business development, optimize sales operations and cut costs, with special attention to Return On Investments (ROI)-driven marketing, especially with brand and growth marketing.

Topics examined during the panel session include Modernized Cybersecurity and Data-Protection Measures to Adopt in the Age of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning; Expanding Growth and Influence of Women in Tech; The Role of Credit and Lending in Growing Nigeria’s Economy; Building the Next Cross-Border Rails for African Trade and Commerce; and Digital Transformation: The Role of B2B Partnerships in Accelerating Nigeria’s Fintech Growth.

During the panel session moderated by Gbenga Aborowa, Chief Data Officer of FirstBank, Steve Asemota and Chief Technology Officer of FirstBank, Rachel Adesina along with Head of Banking Technologies at Interswitch, Chijoke Eze and Chief Solutions Officer of Cybervergent, Gbolabo Awelewa, explored ways of minimizing threats of fraud and cyber insecurity, while making efforts to deepen the Fintech space in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and learning machines.

Other facilitators in the panel sessions are Head of Retail Payments, Interswitch Limited, Suzan Fasipe; Chief Executive Officer, Ash Nelson Partners Limited, Sheila Ash Nelson; Commercial Manager, PayU GPO, Ibifaa Maclayton; Founder and CEO OF P2Vest Technology Limited, Austine Abolusoro; Co-Founder of Crendly, Damilare Oduero; Country Director, Onafriq Nigeria, Oladimeji Akano; Director of Sales, Comviva Anglophone West Africa, Samuel Chukwu; Co-Founder, PaddyCover, Mayowa Owolabi; Chief Revenue Officer, BlinqPay, David Nwosu; and Managing Director and CEO of Shago Payments, Sabastine Enechi.

A highlight of the festival was an evening of cocktail After-Party in which the participants were treated to comedy, solo music and live performances, as well as unwinding and networking among partners, sponsors and invited guests.