Africa's digital money future hinges on collaboration rather than capital alone, experts said at the BusinessDay Fintech Summit 2026. Ifeoluwa Akinbode, head of programs at Oxygen X Finance Limited, identified ecosystem fragmentation as the biggest obstacle, stressing that without alignment among regulators, fintechs, and financial institutions, players will remain in silos. She argued that scalable growth depends on startups viewing themselves as part of a unified system and leveraging shared infrastructure. Aisha Adedeji, global private banker and wealth management specialist, pointed to inconsistent regulation and access as key deterrents to investor trust, urging investors to understand financial products before investing. "If you don't understand it, don't invest in it," she said. Damola Giwa, country manager for Visa West Africa, emphasized that global players must work with local banks, regulators, and fintechs to adapt solutions, while expanding Visa acceptance to boost cross-border interoperability. Dennis Ajalie, CEO of TeamApt Limited, represented by Emmanuella Edeh, product delivery lead, stated Nigeria has sufficient regulatory frameworks but lacks execution speed. She cited the Global Standing Instruction (GSI) framework as proof of existing interoperability structures but called for harmonizing the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) database. Benjamin Oyemonlan, CEO and co-founder of Platnova Technologies Limited, described disconnected technologies as a barrier to seamless payments, advocating consolidation over duplication. He highlighted stablecoins as a complementary tool for faster cross-border settlement and global fund mobility.
Regulators preach interoperability while maintaining separate identity systems that block the very integration they endorse. The continued disconnect between BVN and NIMC data means businesses and users in Nigeria face operational delays despite existing frameworks like GSI. If harmonization is technically possible, as experts note, then the delay is not technical but institutional. This inertia directly undermines trust and efficiency in the digital finance ecosystem that officials claim to be building.
💡 NaijaBuzz is an AI-assisted news aggregator. This content is curated from third-party sources — NaijaBuzz is not the original publisher and is not responsible for the accuracy of source reporting. The NaijaBuzz Take is AI-assisted editorial opinion only, not established fact. All persons mentioned are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a court of competent jurisdiction. NaijaBuzz does not endorse the views expressed in source articles.
