A Partner at Future Africa, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji has discussed the current state and future challenges of the Nigerian Fintech industry, reiterating the need for stronger collaboration between entrepreneurs and the government.
In an interview with Arise News on Tuesday, Aboyeji noted the critical role of entrepreneurs in shaping the economy. “We can come together to build infrastructure. Government doesn’t deliver solutions that builds economies, entrepreneurs do,” he said.
Aboyeji further illustrated this point by noting, “Look at every successful economy that we admire; they are built by entrepreneurs, by collectives of entrepreneurs who come together and solve problems with the governments.”
He added that the Fintech industry “was not built by begging the government or relying on its thinking or knowledge; it was built by entrepreneurs who collaborated and sought the government’s help on specific issues.”
Addressing whether former Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele did a lot for the Fintech sector, he said, “They definitely did a lot, with the prodding over well-organised Fintech lobby and industries.”
He emphasised the importance of entrepreneurial leadership in engaging with the government as he said, “My general belief is start-up entrepreneurs need to get together to push to the government what they need to do. We cannot allow political leaders to be tail-wagging the dog because they don’t generally know what the industry requires. We as entrepreneurs have to engage them to do so.”
Aboyeji highlighted the Fintech industry’s ability to influence policy during the Osinbajo-Buhari administration, stating, “Even with some of the policies that they had, the industry was able to tell them what they actually needed, and to their credit, they were responsive.
“Though in some cases they didn’t respond as well, they also responded in many cases in such a way that the industry was able to thrive in spite of the economic circumstances.”
However, he noted a lack of coordination in the current environment as he explained, “Where we are now is a general lack of coordination in the industry coming together and having a conversation with the government about where it needs to go.
“Even in this time, more importantly, with the people. Where we are now is a lot of new opportunities opening up for Fintech in Nigeria, but these opportunities have to be targeted at helping the average person.”
Aboyeji further stressed the role Fintech companies could play in improving financial management for everyday Nigerians, especially in an inflationary economy as he said, “We have to help them better manage their finances in this high inflation environment.
“We have to help them do a better job of earning income, particularly foreign income, and also help them save, because borrowing is not an option at 20+% benchmark interest rates. Saving toward long-term purchases like homes is crucial.”
He pointed out that Fintechs should now go beyond just facilitating payments, saying, “There is an opportunity now for Fintech to move beyond what we did in our time, which was just baseline payments, to now actually thinking deeply about what people need in terms of food, energy, jobs, and asset management, and then providing those services to the people.”
Aboyeji however said he believed that Fintech entrepreneurs are not fully addressing these issues, saying, “Unfortunately, the Fintech entrepreneurs are not doing that; they are bellyaching about a bygone era where you could make money on cheap arbitrary charges of FX. That age is over.”
Regarding the current administration under President Tinubu, Aboyeji acknowledged that while it’s still early, there are promising signs. “In President Tinubu’s administration, it’s early days, but the early signs are there.
“A member of the start-up ecosystem, someone I respect deeply and consider my mentor, Dr. Bosun Tijani, was appointed as a minister. That is a big deal, and we did not get that honour in the last administration.
“He’s taking a big interest in many of our problems and issues that have been long-standing,” he said.
He also called for continued engagement with the government as he asked, “Now, is there more the government can do? Absolutely. We will never stop asking for things, but I still think it’s important to engage government and tell them what to do.”
Aboyeji pointed out that while regulation was strong in the last administration due to low interest rates, further improvement is needed in other areas. “The biggest issue I have right now is that with the last administration, because of the low interest rate, we were able to do a good job regulating the Fintech space from the perspective of the banking side, and I think we’ve done a good enough job on that.”
He noted the need for innovation in areas like security, capital markets, insurance, and risk management, saying, “It’s now time to innovate on the security side and the capital market side, because that’s the side of the equation that’s lagging behind.
“We also have to start thinking about insurance and risk and innovate on that. We have to think carefully about what they can do in terms of lowering the bar to advise us, enabling young people to come out with new ideas in terms of helping people create new products that enable better asset management.”
Aboyeji then said he believes there’s a lot both younger and older Fintech entrepreneurs can learn from each other, saying, “There is a thing the younger Fintech players have to learn, and there is a little bit the older people have to understand.
“The younger ones have to humble themselves a bit, and the older ones have to stoop to conquer and help understand that this is the future of the country. We need to have that collaboration happening. As more of that collaboration happens, you will see the benefits,” he said.
Boluwatife Enome
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