L-R: Mr. Emmanuel Ovaga, MD/CEO, PufferPay Ltd; Sola Longe-Okenimkpe, COO, Nuvu Africa; Prince Cookey, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Business Journal; Mr. Jide Orimolade, President/Chairman of Council, CIIN; Dr. Chinyere Almona, DG/CEO, LCCI; Dr. Umaru Kwairanga, Group Chairman, NGX; Mrs. Idu Okeahialam, GMD/CEO, Royal Exchange Plc; Mr. Babatunde Ajiboye, Assistant Director, CBN; Dr. Muda Yusuf, CEO, CPPE; David Isiavwe, President, ISSAN) and Mr. Wale Oshodi, NCRIB at the Business Journal Fintech & Financial Inclusion Roundtable 2026 held in Lagos on Friday.
WELCOME SPEECH BY ALHAJI (DR.) UMARU KWAIRANGA GROUP CHAIRMAN, NIGERIAN EXCHANGE GROUP NGX AS CHAIRMAN OF THE OCCASION THE 3RD BUSINESS JOURNAL FINTECH & FINANCIAL INCLUSION ROUNDTABLE 2026 AT ORIENTAL HOTEL, VICTORIA ISLAND LAGOS ON FRIDAY JULY 31, 2026.
It gives me great pleasure to attend and serve as Chairman of the 3rd Business Journal Fintech and Financial Inclusion Roundtable with the theme “Fintech: Driving the Future of Digital Financial Ecosystem in Nigeria.”
There is no doubt that Fintech is revolutionising financial services in Nigeria. I worked in a Bank as a young graduate more than three decades ago and I can tell you that the banking and financial services sector was very different from what we have today.
Customers had to come to physical branches for almost all services that they required and our offices were filled with shelves loaded with files for customers KYC, customer loan applications, customer tellers, customer bank draft documentation.
Today, I can download an app, upload my KYC and open a bank account on my handset within minutes. I can, if I needed it, ask for a loan from that account that same day. I can make transfers in millions from my bank account from the comfort of my home.
I can buy insurance and invest in local and international stocks on my handset. The ease and speed at which such services are rendered through financial technology has encouraged adoption of financial services by both young and old and helped to advance Nigeria’s financial inclusion goals. People have forgotten my ‘Tally Number.’
At the Nigerian Exchange, we are also heavily invested in fintech and digital initiatives as we see it as an imperative for broadening our market and inculcating a savings and investment culture into millions of Nigerians.
Most of our trading licence holders have apps for order management services through which clients can trade stocks and bonds directly from their gadgets.
During the recent banking recapitalisation, we introduced NGX Invest, a digital platform for paperless and seamless subscription to public offers and rights issues and it was a huge success. We are taking this a step further for the much-anticipated Dangote Refinery initial public offer which is envisaged as a fully digital issue that will bring in millions of new investors.
The progress that we have made in fintech and financial inclusion without the vision and hardwork of regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission SEC; Central Bank of Nigeria, NAICOM and so many others. It also required the entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and can-do spirit of various operators and innovators, especially our young tech gurus.
But, there is still work to do as we have not yet achieved 100 percent across our financial inclusion goals and that is why conferences like this which bring stakeholders to brainstorm on how to further financial inclusion through fintech are important.
Seeing the list of panellists for this year’s conference which includes experienced professionals and young tech entrepreneurs, I am in no doubt that this year’s conference will come up with great and implementable ideas that will ensure inclusion and create value.
I congratulate the organisers for successfully organising and hosting this Roundtable and wish all participants a fulfilling experience.
Thank you.
Alhaji (Dr) Umaru Kwairanga
Group Chairman, NGX
