In celebration of their contributions to the growth and development of the Nigerian Fintech industry, the organisers of the Nigerian Fintech Awards in Lagos singled out four institutions and nine individuals for special recognition.
Some of these are founders of fincumbents, fintech companies that have been existing for over three decades while others are a few new unicorns, startups valued at $1 billion and above.
The four institutions are the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS), Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities (SANEF), Ecobank PLC and Digital Encode, a frontline cybersecurity firm in Africa that has endeared itself to the young community in the cybersecurity space in Nigeria.
The ten individuals recognised are Abubakar Suleiman, MD/CEO, Sterling Bank Plc, Austin Okere – the founder and Executive Vice Chairman, Computer Warehouse Group Plc, Dr Yele Okeremi, the co-founder and CEO of Precise Financial Systems, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, the founder of Future Africa as well as John Obaro, the founder and Group CEO, Systemspecs Holdco.
Others are Mrs. Kofo Akinkungbe, the founder and CEO of SecureID, Mitchell Elegbe, the founder and Group CEO, of Interswitch Group, Musa Jimoh, Director, Payments System Policy and Oversight at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Olugbenga Agboola, co-founder and CEO, Flutterwave, and Sir Ademola Aladekomo, the founder of Chams Plc.
Speaking on behalf of the recipients, Sir Aladekomo said, “Thank you for this honour. It is appreciated. Best wishes for future outings.”
Sola Fanawopo, the Event Director for the Nigerian Fintech Awards explained that the Special Recognition cut across generations of dreamers, doers, and drivers of the Fintech industry in Nigeria.
“Some of the individuals recognised are founders of fincumbents that have been around for over two to three decades while the rest are founders of the new few unicorns.”
Fanawopo said the Nigerian Fintech Awards was founded in 2012 and are dedicated to honouring excellence in financial technologies and services companies and products.
He added that the awards provide public recognition for the achievements of Fintech companies and products in many categories. These categories include payments, personal finance, wealth management, fraud protection, banking, lending, regtech, insurtech, and more.
“The Nigerian Fintech Awards has no tie with any fintech company. This means that our decisions and actions are independent of any interest or operational restrictions. The ethos of the awards is in line with this freedom,” he said.
According to him, to celebrate the Nigerian Fintech industry was in order as the 2021 Fintech Times report has shown, Nigeria’s fintech landscape comprised 210 to 250 fintech companies, key stakeholders (banks, telecom companies and the government), enablers and funding partners (i.e universities and research institutions, investors, incubators, technology, and consumers).
