Fintech Association Of Nigeria Launches “The Start-Up Marketplace” To Provide For Fintech Start-Ups

With the wave of innovation happening lately, Nigeria has observed lately a rapid emergence of Fintech start-ups and tech giants. Although the sector has experienced a massive boom, there are still some challenges that these start-ups are often faced with. Just recently playing its part to address challenges posed by start-ups and investors in Nigeria’s Fintech ecosystem, the Fintech Association of Nigeria (Fintech NGR) launched ‘The Start-Up Marketplace’.

This newly launched innovative platform was designed to provide Startups playing in the Fintech ecosystem with access to free and heavily discounted services in funding, legal, infrastructure, cybersecurity, data privacy, business development, and a variety of other areas to accelerate their growth. Despite Nigeria being one of the biggest and most predominant African Fintech hubs, and the country being home to two Fintech Unicorns, Opay and Interswitch. There seems to be no relenting for Fintech start-ups at the moment, as they continue to break new grounds.

This initiative launched by FintechNGR has indeed encouraged start-ups not to rest on their oars. The Fintech ecosystem is one sector in the country that is doing exceptionally well and putting the country’s name on a global stage in a positive light. The fact that FintechNGR is not carried away with the remarkable achievements of some Fintech companies by still going ahead to address its challenges is indeed laudable. They are hell-bent on blocking any loophole that will pose a challenge to Start-Ups in the country.

Citing the whooping $4.65bn in disclosed funding received by African start-ups, as shown from statistics, with over $1.37bn of that amount coming to Nigeria and Fintechs in the country taking up a huge 73%. The president of Fintech NGR Mr. Ade Bajomo has opined that there are indeed many opportunities to leverage and achieve unparalleled transformation in the Fintech landscape”. To FintechNGR, they strongly believe that Nigeria has only scratched the surface of the Fintech ecosystem, as there is still more to be achieved.

In a recent meeting held by the Fintech Association of Nigeria, which was themed Fintech outlook 2022. In a bid to ensure that Fintech start-ups leapfrog and maximize impact this year and beyond. They had to Pinpoint some challenges that have often affected the Fintech ecosystem;

• Cybersecurity: They pointed out that this issue keeps occurring at an alarming rate, as well as its attention cost. They disclosed that companies need to move from just defense readiness to agile resilience in the light of the speed transformation the Fintech landscape and technology are seeing globally.
• Savings And Investments: They stated that there is a strong share of millennials who do not seem interested in maintaining the status quo of traditional investment methods like pensions and states interest rates.

They also highlighted some major drivers for the growth in the Fintech space and beyond, some of which include; Open Banking, Contactless Payments, data aggregation, and embedded finance.

Once challenges posed by Startups are properly addressed, one can only imagine the extraordinary remarkable achievements to come out from the Fintech space in Nigeria. It can only get better. The role of the fintech Association of Nigeria in the Fintech ecosystem deserves due credit, as they have accelerated the growth of most Fintech companies in the country. They have actively been at the forefront, connecting stakeholders, accelerating Fintech growth and impact, also promoting and advocating for a conducive environment for Fintech companies to thrive and the adoption of emerging technologies.