The fintechs in Nigeria are growing yearly in terms of operations and investments. In fact, the ecosystem accounted for 63 percent of the $1.37 billion in funding raised in Nigeria in 2021.
Aside from the growth, it is recording, the players have also disrupted the banking industry. The commercials are more or less forced to embrace digitization and offer some mouth-watering services to customers.
Last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) set capital benchmarks for fintechs. Those in the top category, dealing with switching and processing as well as mobile money operations, will have a total of N2 billion in shareholders’ funds unimpaired by losses.
According to a document conveying the guidelines published on the bank’s website as of May 2021, six categories of payment operators were newly approved by the CBN.
The CBN Director, Payment System Management Department, Musa Jimoh, hinted at this during an event tagged “Collaborating for Industry Growth and Profitability” organized by Interswitch.
The gathering gave industry professionals a chance to talk about how to improve the digital payment ecosystem and make Nigeria a major player in the world of payments.
Jimoh stated that because technology is so pervasive, fintechs must demonstrate that they have what it takes to live up to client expectations for transaction efficiency and security.
“We want to ensure that every single entity we regulate has financial muscles,” he said.
According to Jimoh, CBN’s responsibility as a regulator is to create an enabling environment where all the entrants can thrive and compete healthily.
“We understudy all the interoperable operations of each technology company and all the participants generally.
And from time to time, we bring all these entities together for a dialogue to enable us to decide what the best industry practice is in relation to Nigeria’s payment ecosystem. “
In the 2021 Fintech Times report, with respect to fintech, Nigeria’s fintech landscape consists of 210 to 250 fintech companies, key stakeholders (banks, telecom companies, and the government), enablers and funding partners (i.e universities and research institutions, investors, incubators, technology, and consumers)
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