New Telegraph

Nigeria’s finance space houses 200 fintech firms

Over 200 financial technology firms have been operating in Nigeria’s finance space between 2019 and now with combined Investment portfolio in excess of $600 million. ThiswasdisclosedMondayinLagosbyManagingDirectorandChief Executive Officer of the Nigeria DepositInsuranceCommission( NDIC), Alhaji Umaru Ibrahim, while declaring open annual workshop for Finance Correspondents (FICAN). Umaru said Nigeria currently housed over 200 fintech companies, which in 2019 alone, attracted $122 millionof the$491.6millionraisedby African fintech startups, adding that the closest country to Nigeria was Kenya, which attracted $149 million.

This year FICAN workshop has as its theme, “COVID-19 and FinTech Disruption: Opportunities and challenges for banking system and deposit insurance. “Nigeria is now home to over 200 fintechs, and there are a number of fintech solutions offered by banks and mobile networks operators as part of their product portfolio. Within 2014 and 2019, Nigeria’s bustling fintech scene attracted more than $600m in funding; attracting 25 per cent, that is, $122 million of the $491.6 million raised by African fintech startups in 2019 alone. We are only second to Kenya which attracted $149 million.

“The emergence of digital financial services enabled by financial technology (Fintech) has enhanced efficiency in the financial sector but has also posed new challenges to financial regulators and consumers.

This became more apparent during the pandemic when the lockdown protocols hindered physical access to financial services, encouraging more Nigerians to rely on digital financial services. “Inevitably, the media was also adversely impacted by the pandemic. Our attempts to tackle the erosion of public confidence due to the prevalence of fake news, particularly via social media, became a matter of serious concern.”

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