By Judith Obaze
Nigeria has been described as one of the leading countries in the financial technology (Fintech) space in the world.
The Executive Director, Systemspecs Limited, Mr. AdeRemi Atanda, stated this recently at the Centre for Financial Journalism (CFJ)-Association of Corporate Affairs of Managers of Banks’ (ACAMB) Business Forum held in Lagos.
According to him, many things have happened in the fintech landscape in Nigeria that have not happened elsewhere in the world.
However, he lamented that the success stories in this area has not been adequately captured and celebrated.
This, he said, was because “we are not schooled in value narratives.”
He advised that we should “understand the paradigm that shape narratives.”
This way, we can capture the successes achieved so far in the fintech landscape.
According to Atanda, despite the successes achieved so far, even well acknowledged by advanced countries, there are still lots of room for improvement.
Atanda said fintechs are part of the digital age which evolved partly as a result of revolution in mobile telecommunications.
He said fintechs which are driven by data, were transforming the ways financial and business transactions are now carried out.
He noted that pay-tech is just one aspect of fintech, and virtually the only aspect that “we are still dealing with now as there are many other aspects that are yet to be integrated into the entire architecture of fintechs.”
According to him, it is not only the banking sector that requires the services of fintech providers.
He said insurance, pension schemes, medical services, oil and gas and even agriculture require fintech to drive their activities.
“There is huge potential yet untapped that can help to move the entire system forward to new stage of development,” he added.
“Many things will still shape and re-shape the future we see before us. We should be ready to be part and indeed at the forefront of the global movement in fintech space,” Atanda added.
