Nigeria has developed into a hub for technological innovation and research, according to Aituaz Kola-Oladejo, a fintech expert and executive director of Financial Services Innovators (FSI).
This information was disclosed earlier this week in Lagos during a press conference held to commemorate the third-year anniversary of the organization.
There have been both direct and indirect impacts on the country’s technological environment as a result of FSI’s three years of existence as a nonprofit organisation dedicated to supporting startups in the financial and technology industries through empowerment, entrepreneurship, and mentorship.
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Financial Services Innovators’ accomplishments so far
Kola-Oladejo talked about what the company has done since it was founded in 2021. He said, “Among our accomplishments are promoting open innovation among the top players in the tech ecosystem and making it easier to use fintech APIs.”
The innovation sandbox was made by 16 fintech API partners, which included banks. As a result of the sandbox, 125 real products have been made. FSI has come a long way. It now has seven “corporate members,” 3,438 individual members, 2,535 student members, and over 1,900 people who have taken part in nine innovation challenges.
Over the past three years, FSI has held nine hackathons to solve problems with financial inclusion in agriculture, transportation, health, trade, commerce, and energy.
The nonprofit group has people from Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America, and North America as members. I
Since it started in 2021, FSI has grown to have 2,535 student members and 712 campus ambassadors. Three universities have expressed interest in adopting FSI’s platform for technology innovation.
Kola-Oladejo says that FSI has given 141 free start-up clinics, had 114 people take part in our business validation series, and given the winners of our innovation challenges $81,000 US to help them get their start-ups off the ground. Through the advancement of Nigerian technological goods and the empowerment of young people and entrepreneurs, FSI has promoted productivity on a national and international level.
Our main goal is to create an ecosystem of financial service providers that works together and is open to new ideas. The group advocates for laws and regulations that foster innovation in the fintech sector and works to remove entrance barriers and promote a fair playing field for innovators while maintaining the safety and security of the payment system for the general public.
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FSI History
On February 23, 2017, the Central Bank of Nigeria and NIBSS Plc put on a breakfast fast forum for innovators to plan how to encourage innovation in the Nigerian financial services sector.
People from the fintech ecosystem, which includes licensed and unlicensed players, local innovation hubs, and fintech fans, were also there. Three (3) working groups—the knowledge sharing and education working group, the innovation sandbox and technical standards working group, and the association and fundraising working group—were established during this meeting to discuss the difficulties and obstacles to innovation further.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, in collaboration with the Nigerian Inter-bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS Plc), once again hosted an innovators’ breakfast forum with the theme “Empower fintech startups and facilitate payment innovation in Nigeria” on July 7, 2017 at the Virgin Rose Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos. The Financial Services Innovators Association (FSI) was established at this conference. Representatives from the licensed and unlicensed players in the fintech ecosystem, as well as from NIBSS and CBN, agreed to work tirelessly to develop a framework that would foster innovation, foster trust, strengthen operational practices and governance, and offer a stage for the success of fintech startups.
The main goals of FSI were to carry out CBN’s directive to foster innovation among fintechs within a controlled environment and to portray a unified voice. In addition to advocating for policies, FSI’s job was to set up forums and workshops to help build the CBN’s rule- and regulation-related skills.
Through these forums, the CBN will find out how healthy the companies are and teach them more.