EFInA is a financial sector development organisation committed to promoting financial inclusion in Nigeria, with the vision of becoming the leader in facilitating an all-inclusive, growth-promoting financial system.

New Board Member, Kola Aina has been instrumental in advancing financial inclusion across Nigeria and Africa.

His venture capital firm’s investments in fintech companies, such as PiggyVest, have provided financial services to over 5 million underserved individuals, contributing to a 13.5% increase in financial inclusion in Nigeria.

In addition to financial inclusion, Aina and his team at Ventures Platform foster entrepreneurship, create jobs, optimise supply chains, and empower founders to develop market-creating innovations that address Africa’s complex challenges while accelerating digital transformation across the continent’s startup ecosystem.

Commenting on Aina’s pivotal role in the enhancement of financial innovation and access in the Nigeria tech ecosystem, Dr. Agnes Olatokunbo Martins, former Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria, and Chairman of the Board, said that Aina’s venture capital firm – Ventures Platform strategically invests in fintech innovations that can deepen financial inclusion across the continent and his appointment to the board is pleasant and strategically beneficial decision that the African financial sector will forever be grateful for.

“We are delighted to welcome Kola Aina to the EFInA Board. Kola has been a pivotal figure in the African tech ecosystem, funding financial innovations that align with our mission to promote income growth for the bottom 40% of the population and foster social and economic inclusion, as outlined in SDG 10 on Reducing Inequalities. Kola’s experience in entrepreneurship, mentorship, and backing fintech giants that have significantly improved financial inclusion will be invaluable as we strive to create a more inclusive financial sector,” Dr Martins said.

On his appointment, Aina said,

“I am thrilled to join the EFInA board. EFInA is a critical market enabler that has been a key driver of financial inclusion and a champion of the unbanked. The organisation’s reports and research have been credible sources of information for key stakeholders of the economy, and I’m proud to be part of a gathering of intellectuals that are committed to steering the nation’s approach to financial inclusion in the right direction. I look forward to working closely with my fellow board members and contributing to the achievement of our goal in Nigeria and across Africa. I remain committed to our collective ambition of promoting an inclusive financial sector that serves the excluded and underserved in Africa.”

A significant portion of Aina’s venture fund (37.5%) is currently dedicated to fintech companies, aiming to increase access to financial services, credit, and digital banking solutions for underserved populations. Through these investments, Aina and his team at Ventures Platform are bridging the financial inclusion gap and reducing inequalities.

Portfolio companies like PiggyVest, Moni, Traction App, and Shekel Mobility, currently backed by Ventures Platform, serve over 4.5 million users, providing increased access to savings accounts, capital, credit histories, and financial management tools primarily for underserved, unbanked, and underbanked individuals and entrepreneurs across Africa.

Kola Aina joins other distinguished EFInA board members, including Dr. Agnes Olatokunbo Martins, former Director at the Central Bank of Nigeria; Olu Akanmu, former President and Co-CEO of OPay-Nigeria; Professor Janice Olawoye, Professor of Rural Sociology, University of Ibadan; and Saude Amina Atoyebi, former Deputy Chief of Staff (Administration) in Kaduna State Government.

EFInA continues to collaborate with experts across the public and private sectors to promote financial inclusion in Nigeria.

The organisation is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Last Thursday, Technext hosted the second edition of the Convo in Lagos. With the theme “Maximizing for geometric growth”, the event featured a fireside chat with Olu Akanmu, the president and co-CEO of Opay and Kehinde Ogundare, the country manager for Zoho in Nigeria.

The event had in attendance over 70 startup founders, top company executives, and stakeholders in the Nigerian tech ecosystem.

Both speakers, Olu Akanmu and Kehinde Ogundare shared valuable insights from years of leading businesses and maximising resources to grow and scale exponentially. 

Technext Convo was designed to be an exclusive event for key stakeholders in select segments of the ecosystem to meet, greet and share knowledge once every quarter. It features a fireside chat with notable players in the space for an hour followed by hours of networking.

The first edition of the technext convo was held in March 2023. It featured a fireside chat with Abubakar Suleiman, CEO of Sterling Bank and Dickson Nsofor, co-founder and CEO of Kora. 

This edition of Technext Convo is exclusively sponsored by Zoho. Zoho Corporation is a technology company that makes computer software and web-based business tools to help businesses increase organizational efficiency.

The speakers share their experiences 

Speaking about his experience at the event, Olu Akanmu described the event as a “very great event and a very good platform to share experiences”.

According to him:

“There were a lot of very good questions, practical questions from the audience. I also like some of the very probing questions they are asking which also helps to think about what we are also doing”.

Speaking on his motivation for accepting to speak at the event, the experienced business leader said he is always thrilled to share his wealth of experience with young people who are the future of the tech ecosystem and Nigeria at large.

“I like the atmosphere of our startups, very young startups who are willing to soak knowledge and experience. I am happy to be here because we have a lot of talents and whatever we can do to show that knowledge so that I can multiply in the much younger generation”,

– he concludes. 

Similarly, Kehinde Ogundare, the country manager for Zoho in Nigeria expressed his pleasure for being at the event. He described it as fantastic. “It’s very insightful, I feel it’s good to be mean people of like mind. I think it’s high time we start doing community meet up to share ideas because nobody can work in silos, right?”

Maximizing for geometric growth 

On his part, Olu Akanmu advised startup founders to not always seek to compete with the key players in certain spaces but should always look out for opportunities where services are still needed if they seek to maximize for geometric growth. 

“I think one thing that stands out is the principle of a contested process when a start-up wants to go head to head with incumbents, the chances that they will succeed, given that they don’t have resources is very low.

They can find other spaces that have the potential to scale where the incumbents are not serving, where you can use your technology to unlock those opportunities and go for it.

When you do that, that’s what most of the successful companies like, like the bigger ones, the other ones I’ve done and that’s the way to find those things that they are not doing and do them very well”, he explained.

Similarly, Kehinde Ogundare reiterated the need for collaboration as the key to exponential growth. According to him, for businesses to scale founders have to look at collaborating with other players instead of competing.

When you are trying to scale, you don’t go for the big markets, you look for the easier ones to cash, and then you gather them together, which will now propel you to become a unicorn that you always want to be fantastic”,

– he adds.

Kehinde Ogundare also disclosed that the Zoho team is working tirelessly to provide tools that will help other businesses scale exponentially over the next few months.

He also advised founders to always be on the lookout for AI automation tools that will make it easier for them to scale their businesses.