Integrated payments and digital commerce company, Interswitch, has wrapped up its 20th anniversary celebrations with the Interswitch Ball event which took place in Lagos.
The event, which drew top government functionaries, representatives from the financial services sector, captains of industry, customers, employees, and other well-wishers, was an evening of good speeches and entertainment – a befitting end to months of celebrations.
Members of the board of directors of Interswitch, led by the board chairman and Lord Lieutenant of Greater London, Sir. Ken Olisa, were also present to add pomp and pageantry to the celebrations.
In his goodwill message, which was broadcast during the event, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria, commended the payment company’s pivotal role in shaping and growing Nigeria’s payment system over the past two decades. Speaking about Interswitch, he said, “It’s incredible that what began as a noble idea, has in barely two decades, become something of an icon of technology and innovation, literally pioneering Africa’s ongoing fintech revolution. In 2002, only 569 million people were connected to the internet worldwide, and at that time, Nigeria had less than 200,000 people with internet access. It is therefore a testament to the quality of the talent and courage of the founders of Interswitch that they saw the future clearly and predicted the potentials of a nascent technology for scale and application.”
Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, who was present to celebrate the milestone, congratulated the organisation on the milestone and applauded Interswitch for being a laudable example of the good that can come out of Nigeria.
While addressing attendees, Mitchell Elegbe, Founder and Group Managing Director, Interswitch, shed more light on the fintech giant’s twenty-year journey, and its outlook for the future.
He said, “Two decades ago, we wondered what singular problem we could solve that would automatically solve other problems by extension. We identified the payments problem and set out to solve it, making a bold move to make commerce easy and trade blossom naturally by eliminating the mystery associated with cash, and the stigma associated with not having it. We ensured that cash was available in the exact time and quantity required, and transferrable electronically.’’
