L-R: Dr. Olayinka Olutola, Director General/CEO, Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals; Maureen Chigbo, President, Guild of Corporate Online Publishers; Mr. Paul Ehiagbonare, Chief Digital Officer, Accion Microfinance Bank Ltd; Prince Cookey, Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Business Journal; Mr. Afeez Ramoni, Head, of Data and Innovation and representative of Chairman, NGX Group; Mrs. Bukola Ifemade, former Chairperson, Lagos Area Committee of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers and Dr. Jeff Duru, Managing Director/CEO, Universal Insurance Plc during the 2nd Business Journal Fintech & Financial Inclusion Roundtable ’25, on the theme, ‘Fintech & Financial Inclusion: The Opportunities & Challenges for Nigeria’ held in Lagos on Friday.
Stakeholders at the 2nd Business Journal Fintech & Financial Roundtable 2025 have called for collaboration by regulators and operators to advance sustainable growth of fintech ecosystem and financial inclusion in the country.
Dr. Umaru Kwairanga, Group Chairman, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) in his remarks as Chairman of the event, said Nigeria has emerged as one of Africa’s most vibrant fintech ecosystems in the last decade.
“We have witnessed the rise of mobile payments, digital lending platforms and wealth management applications that have transformed how Nigerians access and interact with financial services. At the Nigerian Exchange Group, we have recognised this trend not as a disruption to be resisted, but as an opportunity to be embraced. Our mission has always been to democratise access to investment opportunities and to deepen participation in the capital market. To achieve this, we have consistently opened our doors to fintech innovation.”
On the role of NGX in driving financial inclusion, Kwairanga stated:
“From deploying API-driven market data solutions that allow fintech companies to seamlessly integrate trading information into their platforms, to creating regulatory sandboxes that encourage innovation, and supporting digital trading applications that provide retail investors with direct market access, we have worked deliberately to ensure that fintech inclusion in the capital market is not just an aspiration but a tangible reality.”
During the panel session, the stakeholders agreed that harmonisation of relevant policies by such regulatory agencies as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) and the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) will ensure public confidence and mitigate various operational risks in the fintech space.
Dr. Olayinka Odutola, Director-General/CEO, Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals (AERMP) commended the rising level of fintech and financial inclusion practice in the country, insisting however that the greed factor remains a potent danger in the market.
“Fintech and financial inclusion have started very well in Nigeria but we must consider the greed factor in terms of risks and cyber breaches. People can hack into systems and engage in identity fraud. People-risk is a major risk. Prevention is still better in terms of players and institutions to contain digital fraud.”
Odutola bemoaned the regulatory fragmentation in the system and called for harmonisation of policies and information sharing by the CBN, SEC, NDIC, NAICOM and NIMC to protect both operators and institutions in the system. He lamented that data privacy and ethical hacking are still under-rated.
Dr. Jeff Duru, the Managing Director/CEO of Universal Insurance Plc stated that both fintech and insurtech provides great opportunities for the insurance market in terms of financial inclusion.
“There is little level of financial inclusion in the hinterlands but fintech and insurtech will close the gap in the area of insurance penetration. Insurance companies alone cannot handle financial inclusion. There must be collaboration to ensure reality and no longer a talking point.”
Duru added that both fintech and insurtech are tools to grow the business of insurance in Nigeria in terms of speed, which is a critical issue for operators because it builds trust.
Mrs. Bukola Ifemade, the former chairperson, Lagos Area Committee of the Nigerian Council of Registered Insurance Brokers (NCRIB), said the Council is passionate about insurance penetration through fintech and financial inclusion.
“We believe in collaboration. We are making efforts on insurance penetration through the deployment of fintech and financial inclusion.”
In her submission, Ms. Maureen Chigbo, President of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) raised the issue of credible communication in the expanding space of fintech and financial inclusion in the country.
“Communication is key in advancing financial inclusion and fintech operations in Nigeria. We need to combat the rising level of misinformation and disinformation in order to deal with the issue of trust in the system.”
Chigbo added that the emerging online publishing community stands ready to combat such communication threats and become a veritable tool for businesses to market their products and services for sustainable growth of the Nigerian economy.
“Fintech can also support human capital development through training, re-training and financial literacy programs in schools and communities.”
