With over a decade of experience working across Financial Services and Banking sectors, Abimbola Odedeyi has developed into a business leader with a proven record of success in growing territories while developing and managing strategic partnerships with C-Level executives in federal and state governments, FinTechs, and other stakeholders in the financial services industry.
She has led and executed transformation initiatives and projects worth over $1Billion in value while achieving market share increase and revenue growth year on year.
A Bradford University MBA holder as well as multiple certifications and training from the Lagos Business School, Abimbola is a committed lifelong learner.
In this exclusive, she sits with our team to discuss the Nigerian payments and fintech landscape and what to expect in a few years.
What is your on-the-spot assessment of the FinTech space in Nigeria?
It’s fantastic! Knowing where we were a few years ago, the transformation has been nothing short of impressive and it brings a lot of excitement as to what we are yet to uncover. The wave of FinTech solutions has kept the banks on their toes and you would agree that the services from financial institutions have also improved just to keep pace with the developments.
What has been the defining factor in the growth of FinTech in Nigeria?
I wouldn’t say there has been a single defining factor. It’s a combination of things that have led to this critical melting point in the ecosystem. For example, we couldn’t have grown this much without the presence of adequate talent to build these products. Companies like Andela have been in the trenches developing talents and placing them on projects that helped 10x their skills. Another thing to note is that we could be building any other type of product but a lot of our efforts have been focused on FinTech. Why do you think that is? It’s basically because of the problems facing the country. Over 40% of the country is living below the poverty line; only about 50% of Nigerians have access to financial services. It is only natural that the first set of solutions we try to solve with technology is geared towards these problems. That’s why you’d find lots of FinTech solutions with a promise of growing income, passive income, and so on.
One more thing contributing to growth is that the technology ecosystem is very public on Twitter and community events. This is critical because new entrants and non-participants are seeing the possibilities technology holds and as such are putting their hats in the ring and trying to create solutions.
How can the government help to facilitate the growth of FinTech?
The government is already doing fantastic work but most outsiders don’t notice. The Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement Systems (NIBSS) is one of the most effective payment processing systems in the world. Without the APIs and infrastructure provided by NIBSS, there’s no way you can sit in your house and send money to your friends and they get it immediately. This is something that even advanced economies struggle with. This is just one way the CBN is facilitating FinTech growth however, there’s still a long way to go.
Soon, some level of banking licenses will be required by independent FinTech companies, some will require licenses for foreign investments from the SEC, and access to foreign exchange will be crucial to the survival of others. The government can help facilitate these processes to ensure a level playing field for incumbent companies and startups.
…On indigenous companies leading the way
I have always maintained that we always need to look inwards for sustainable growth and success in any industry. It’s no surprise that companies like Flutterwave and PayStack are leading the drive. Nigerians understand Nigeria. Nigerians understand the problems facing their people. Nigerians understand the nuances of building in Nigeria. As much as we clamor for ease of doing business and the government can be doing better in this case, there are unique hurdles in the Nigerian business landscape that a foreigner just can’t navigate. It’s no surprise that indigenous companies are leading the FinTech drive.
How do we open up to the rest of the world?
First, the Nigerian market is too large for a single FinTech company to serve. There is a myriad of problems to be solved so before we even start to open to the rest of the world, let’s try to serve our market. I see opening up to the rest of the world being in areas of diasporans and others looking to trade with the Nigerian market.
The answer is simple, investments. Venture Capitalists. To enter new markets with our products and services, we need not only the financial backing of investors but also need their networks and experience in the countries we are interested in.
What developments can we expect to see in the next decade?
This is interesting. We will see lots of investments, mergers, and acquisitions. Our FinTech growth is not under the radar. Foreign payments and financial services companies are carefully evaluating and are already probably in discussions with Nigerian companies that are showing good traction. In the next decade, we’ll see companies like PayPal with a Nigerian partner. I reckon that we’ll have our first unicorn before 2023. When this happens and Nigerian companies and founders now have more money than they ever imagined, we’ll see them also becoming Venture Capitalists. We’ll naturally follow the Igbo-apprenticeship route where founders start backing their super employees to start their own companies and the cycle will continue. There are exciting times ahead for Nigerian FinTech.
Another growing subsector is blockchain technology and cryptocurrency. We’ve had Nigerians make some thousands of dollars from investing in cryptocurrency. Although it’s pretty new and still confusing to a lot of people, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing Nigerian cryptocurrency startups.
©️ Written by Abimbola Odedeyi
Abimbola Odedeyi is a payment technology expert with verifiable experience working with stakeholders in the fintech industry. She also holds an MBA from Bradford University School of Management.
