As fintech innovation continues to evolve, in particular before and during COVID-19, can the world rely on fintech to bail it out of the looming global financial and economic crisis?
Not new to crisis, Fintech emerged as an organised sector from 2008 global financial meltdown and has become key enablers of innovation and disruption in the financial sector. With the evolving global economic disruption, the Nigeria Fintech Week (NFW) 2020 aims to discover, launch and bring to limelight the new fintech solutions that can be leveraged in key important but neglected sectors such as health, agriculture, education, ecommerce, logistics amongst others. The 2nd edition of Nigeria Fintech Week (NFW) 2020 and the 5th in the series of National Fintech Conferences in Nigeria would unearth the paradigm shift in innovation and the new waves of digital and financial disruptions and solutions to rescue economies of the developing countries, according to their website.
Nigeria is an emerging player in the fintech space in Africa. In terms of population Nigeria by far is the largest country in the African continent, which according to the World Bank is over two-hundred million inhabitants. Nigeria’s largest city and financial hub is Lagos at over twenty million people.
From a previous article by The FinTech Times, Lagos is home to the nation’s largest financial institutions such as First Bank of Nigeria (FBN), Access Bank, Ecobank, Zenith Bank and First City Monument Bank (FCMB) as well as international banks such as Citibank. Nigeria has a relatively young population who are digital natives. The World Bank’s Global Findex report in 2017 stated that 40% of Nigerian adults had a bank account in 2017, 6% had an online account, while more than two-thirds of adults had a mobile phone. It presents an opportunity for fintech to grow in this market.
In terms of the continent as a whole, growing Africa’s fintech ecosystem is important, as it not only will bring new innovations, but, also foster home-grown talent and intellectual property. For instance, by several estimates, is home to the largest share of the world’s unbanked and underbanked population. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that Africa’s informal economy is one of the world’s largest, which gives fintech startups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) the opportunity to tap into this large pool of unbanked and underbanked citizens. Africa surpassed $1 billion USD in VC to startups in 2018, where fintech was the focus of much of the capital and deal-flow.
NFW 2019 had over 600 attendees, 85 speakers, 25 exhibitors and 28 sessions – with thought leaders from Nigeria, the rest of Africa and beyond.
Due to COVID-19, as what has happened with the rest of the world, NFW 2020 will be completely virtual. Held from the 5th-10th of October, the event’s mission hasn’t changed, which is We are on a mission to foster support for the growth of the Nigerian Fintech Landscape and the World at large.
To register for the event visit the official Nigeria Fintech Week website.
Correction: Since this was published Nigeria Fintech Week has been rescheduled for the 2nd-6th November.
