Cross-border Transactions at Leather Fair
Omolabake Fasogbon
Discussion around challenges with cross-border payments for SMEs and the place of African Continental Free Trade Area, AFCFTA in aiding intra-African businesses within the leather industry, took the centre stage at the just concluded Lagos Leather Fair.
Now in its fifth year, the Lagos Leather Fair is an initiative that sought to showcase West Africa’s leading leather brands. The fair aimed to showcase made in Nigeria and pan-African leather products to change the narrative of the industry in Africa, and position the sector as an alternative viable source of income.
The event had in attendance over 2000 key stakeholders including the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo, Ex-Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, leather designers and players in the sector, including local and international investors.
Commenting, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr. Adeniyi Adebayo described the industry event as a viable convergence and conversation platform for operators in the African leather industry.
“The result of this has become very visible with the growing attention gained by the industry and increased collaboration amongst players. For us as a ministry, we will continuously drive support till the potential of the leather industry is fully harnessed in Nigeria.”
Speaking during a panel session themed, ‘Navigating the Challenges of Payment Gateways: What’s the way out for SMEs’ ,Managing Director of SystemSpecs Technology, Demola Igbalajobi enlightened players on the need to adopt electronic payments to be able to scale.
He stressed that Africans must learn how to solve problems in the Africa ways.
He further predicted a positive outlook for intra-African transactions so far more payment gateways connect with banks.
“For businesses the first thing is to go online and get payment gateways that allow them to transact internationally. Over the next few months, you will see more financial institutions and more payment gateways that allow the option to transfer and pay seamlessly internationally”.
He added, “Already, eight banks have come on stream for the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPPS). Nigeria is currently one of the most advanced payment systems in the world. What other countries are celebrating today, we had done it in Nigeria over 10 years ago. The fintech ecosystem in Nigeria is so advanced that we now have unicorns.”
