MONDAY 11th October, 2021: Experts at the virtual inaugural Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) TechNovation Conference held in Lagos over the weekend have stressed the need for active collaboration between FinTech firms and regulators to improve digitalisation across Africa.
Key stakeholders at the virtual event themed, “Technology, Platforms and Markets", urged that the fintech industry must recognise that funders and regulators are the biggest stakeholders that must work hand in hand to ensure the advancement of the Nigerian economy.
The CEO and Co-Founder of Flutterwave, Olugbenga Agboola, one of the key FinTech stakeholders in the country pointed out that African startups have raised over $1billion in funding, which is unprecedented for technology companies.
He stated that the world is in the global era where technology is leapfrogging every business model and infrastructure.
The CEO, NGX, Temi Popoola also added, "NGX is a technology powerhouse that leverages smart business models to deliver vertical platforms across the capital formation, investment, capacity building, market development and a plethora of other services within the capital markets ecosystem." “The conference is particularly important to us at NGX because we have stepped into an era that signals a new horizon of opportunities."
The Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Lamido Yuguda while appreciating the organizers of the virtual conference stated, “I would like to begin by commending Mr. Temi Popola, CEO, NGX and his team for putting together an event like this which shows our resilience as a people and ability to face challenges.
“The theme of today’s conference, Technology, Platforms and Markets indeed captures the mood in the world today and the inevitable coming together of the three segments because of the COVID-19 pandemic which has forced us all to stretch possibilities and adopt new ways of performing our functions.”
He added that the recent shifts certainly pose a challenge and a huge opportunity to both financial sector regulators and conventional financial services providers like NGX. He went on to call on fintech firms to deepen conversations with regulators and ensure they strike the right balance between innovation, integrity and protection of investors.