By Prince Osuagwu, Hi-Tech Editor
The Nigerian Financial Technology, FinTech industry was in its infancy a few years ago, but has now matured, becoming a major player in Africa.
The industry is gradually gaining international recognition and is increasingly embraced by consumers with stronger collaboration with existing enterprises.
The industry is growing sub-sectors, which are trending and bolstering the aggregate economy. Digital payments, digital investment, digital capital raising, digital assets, and neo-banking are emerging as some of the most significant trends.
The industry’s largest market appears to be the Digital Investment which according to Statistica, will have a total transaction value of US$58.37m before the last quarter of this year.
The average transaction value per user in the Digital Investment market is also projected to amount to US$15.78 in 2024 while the number of users is expected to amount to 146.10m users by 2027.
The statistics are not surprising considering the number of individuals seeking low-cost and easy-to-use investment options.
Digital payments have also seen an unprecedented surge in popularity, with consumers increasingly relying on mobile payment solutions for their day-to-day transactions.
However, despite the size of the market, the rural setting still grapples to catch up and that threatens total financial inclusion in the country.
As a result, corporate organizations with corporate responsibilities aimed at developing the economy are looking towards sponsoring innovations that will deepen the financial sector.
One of such is Telecom giant, MTN Nigeria. At the weekend, it doled out a whopping $10,000 approximately N12m, to three Nigerian tech start-ups who developed innovative ideas to deepen the Nigerian financial Technology, Fintech industry.
The gesture was in fulfilling the promises it made to support the three top innovative ideas to come out of the first edition of its MoMo Hackathon, floated to develope solutions to accelerate financial inclusion and digitization of payments in Africa.
At the end of the Hackathon Weekend, a budding tech innovator, Oluwapelumi Yusuf emerged as the winner.
Yusuf won the grand prize of USD 5,000 for inventing Rova Pay which incorporates MoMo APIs with features that transcend payment processing.
Rova Pay offers customers the convenience of making transactions anytime and anywhere using automated USSD, which eliminates the need for internet services and manual code dialing.
However, Oluwapelumi Yusuf was not the only standout participant at the MoMo Hackathon. Marvis Igbokwe partnered with Favour Ajie Divine to develop MoMo Cash, to clinch the second place with a cash prize of $3,000 while Isaac Odinaka Franklin’s solution, Clique Plus Pay, won third place with a cash prize of USD 2,000.
The grand finale of the hackathon held in Lagos, attracted tech developers, entrepreneurs, and innovators from various sectors, focused on developing solutions to accelerate financial inclusion and digitization of payments in Africa.
Chief Commercial Officer, MoMo PSB, Elsa Muzzolini while declaring open the hackathon spoke on the importance of the Hackathon in the Nigerian fintech industry, saying:“At MoMo, we stand firm in our belief that innovation thrives not just within our brand, but within the collective of stakeholders. That is why we are equipping developers with the tools and resources necessary to expedite reaching individuals who are excluded from financial access or believe that financial services are not tailored to their needs. Our commitment to fostering financial inclusion is a collaborative effort. By making MoMo accessible to innovators across Nigeria, we enable them to leverage its full potential in developing applications that hold the power to transform lives.”
