Popular tech leader, Iyin Aboyeji has chided the younger generation of Nigerian financial technology entrepreneurs for not seizing new opportunities that are emerging within the country. The tech leader said this at the Arise New’s The Morning Show, where he was a guest.
According to the Andela co-founder, average Nigerians need help navigating the current financial and economic realities occasioned by rising inflation and its consequences. These realities and their challenges, he believes, are creating opportunities for fintechs to seize and provide solutions.
He said these solutions must be targeted at helping the average person in this high-inflation environment. However, the new crop of fintech entrepreneurs prefer to do the same things older fintechs have done during their time and “bellyache” that it is no longer lucrative.
“There is an opportunity now for fintechs to move beyond what we did in our time which was just bare-line payments, to now actually thinking deeply; what do people need in terms of food, in terms of energy, in terms of jobs, in terms of assets management. What do they need, and then provide those services to the people? Unfortunately, the fintech entrepreneurs are not doing that. They are bellyaching about a bygone era where you could make money on cheap arbitrage of FX. That day is over,” the Flutterwave co-founder said.
He admonished fintech founders to seek to help Nigerians better manage their finances and find ways to earn especially in foreign currencies.
He also admonished them to do a better job of helping people save towards long-term purchases because borrowing is not an option at 2 or more per cent benchmark interest rates. These problems are what fintechs should be helping people solve.
Iyin Aboyeji blames the lack of intergenerational solidarity for the frosty bank/fintech relationship
Speaking about the frosty relationship between traditional banks and fintechs, Iyin Aboyeji, who noted that the industry would not exist today without the banks, said the problem was the people and not a matter of policy.
He pointed out that the Banks and Other Financial Institutions Act (BOFIA) 2020 tried to solve the problem from a policy perspective by permitting banks to invest in fintech companies, something that was previously frowned upon.
Sadly, the collaboration that was envisioned has failed to materialize despite this.
“I do not think it is a function of policy. I think it is a function of the people. The younger ones have to humble themselves a bit, and the older people also may have to stoop to conquer a bit and help to understand that this is the future of the country. I think there is a lot younger people have to learn and there is also a little bit the older people have to understand. And the lack of what I call intergenerational solidarity between the fintechs and the banks may be what is leading to this,” he said.
Speaking on engagement with the government, Iyin Aboyeji expressed his belief that younger entrepreneurs need to get together to pose to the government what they need to do. He said they cannot allow political leaders to be the “tail wagging the dog” because they don’t generally know what the industry requires.
“During the Osibanjo/Buhari administration, even with some of the policy upheavals that they had, the industry was able to tell them, hey, here is what we need and to their credit, they were responsive. They responded in many cases, but in some cases, they did not respond as well. But they responded in many cases in such a way that the industry can thrive despite the economic circumstances,” the Flutterwave co-founder said.
Iyin Aboyeji noted that there is a general lack of coordination which is unfortunate, especially at this time.
Speaking about the opportunities for fintech startups under the Tinubu administration, the Nigerian tech leader said while it is still early days, there are impressive early signs.
One of these signs is the appointment of a respected member of the startup ecosystem, Dr Bosun Tijani as the minister of the digital economy. He said the minister is currently tackling some of the biggest problems like talent, connectivity and artificial intelligence.
He also said the government needs to deal with issues surrounding regulation. While commending the previous administration for doing a good job regulating the fintech space from the banking side, he said it is now time to innovate on the security side. The capital market side.
“We also have to start thinking about the insurance and risk. They have done some interesting things when it comes to digital assets but there is a lot of need for us to now think carefully about what it is they can do in terms of lowering the bar for advisors to enable more young people to come into the scene with new products and new ideas,” Iyin Aboyeji said.
See also: Yellow Card to ‘actively’ pursue regulatory approval in Nigeria following $33m raise
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