Nigeria: Why Invest In Nigeria?

Nigeria is Africa’s largest economy, the sixth largest population in the world, and a good country to invest in. According to Wikipedia, as of January 2022, Nigeria had a population of 215 million (approximate) with young people in the 0-14 age group representing 42-54% while the 15-35 age range also represents 36%. The population is estimated to grow to 480 million by the end of the year 2050. This highlights its vast human capital (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Nigeria / https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.TOTL.IN?locations=NG).

Nigeria is endowed with creative, innovative, and hardworking individuals that cut across industries, mostly championing the technology space. The country is one of Africa’s top economies to invest in.

A Land Full of Natural Resources.

Nigeria is one of the countries in the world that is widely rich and diverse in natural resources, with the resources spanning from minerals, petroleum, agriculture, and many others.

These resources cut across the 37 states in the country, and its agriculture and petroleum products are the major primary exports, making it accountable for 90 percent of the country’s exports.

Nigeria first discovered coal in 1909, and more coal was discovered by other explorers in 1918. It is still regarded as one of the best coals in the world because of its low sulphur and ash content, which makes it eco-friendly.

The country has about 3 billion tons of coal preserved, compared to 1.5 million tons of rock salt, one of the most in-demand natural resources. There are 700 million tons of bentonite, 7.5 million tons of barite, 1 billion tons of gypsum, 4 billion tons of talc, and an estimated 10 million tons of zinc, which contains 3 billion tons of iron ore. — Source: https://www.legit.ng/1161400-list-natural-resources-nigeria-locations.html

Nigeria’s FDI Report

Nigeria has the third-highest level of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), making it a great place for investors who access untapped opportunities in which they can invest in.

With its enormous potential for growth in the West African Sub Region and Sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria’s FDI is estimated to grow to over 750 billion USD by the fourth quarter of 2022.

According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria attracted a sum of $223.3 million in Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the first five months of 2022, between January and May of the year, with a 3.7% increase compared to the $215.3 million recorded in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Nigeria’s GDP Report

The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Nigeria was worth 440.78 billion US dollars in 2021, according to official data from the World Bank. Nigeria’s GDP value represents 0.05 percent of the world economy. Source: World Bank

The Benefits of Investing in Nigeria

  1. Abundant Resources: As mentioned above, Nigeria has vast human capital resources. There are tremendous investment opportunities that exist in Nigeria’s mineral and agriculture sectors due to the endowment of agricultural, mineral, and petroleum resources.

These resources are conveniently used for the country’s economic purposes through exporting and trading and serve a huge investment turnover, while its booming textile and fabric industries serve a great amount of investment inflow.

Opportunities in Nigeria – Resources and their locations

Agricultural Resources

Location

Cocoa

Edo, Anambra, Imo, Kwara, Ondo, Ogun, Osun,Oyo

Coffee

Kwara, Bauchi, Osun

Cotton

Katsina, Kano, Niger, Kwara, Sokoto

Groundnut

Ebonyi, Katsina, Sokoto, Kano, Niger

Kolanut

Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Kwara

Oil Palm

Akwa Ibom, Imo, Anambra, Oyo, Abia

Plantain

Ogun, Oyo, Osun

Rubber

Delta, Cross River, Ogun, Edo

Sugarcane

Sokoto

Timber

Edo, Ogun, Delta

 

Location

Mineral Resources

Abia

Gold, Lead/Zinc, Limestone, Oil/Gas & Salt

Abuja

Cassiterite, Clay, Dolomite, Gold, Lead/Zinc, Marble & Tantalite

Adamawa

Bentonite, Gypsum, Kaolin & Magnesite

Akwa-Ibom

Clay, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Oil/Gas, Salt & Uranium

Anambra

Clay, Glass-Sand, Gypsum, Iron-ore, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Phosphate & Salt

Bauchi

Gold, Cassiterite (tine ore), Columbite, Gypsum, Wolfram, Coal, Limestone, Lignite, Iron-ore & Clay

Balyesa

Clay, Gypsum, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Manganese, Oil/Gas & Uranium

Benue

Barite, Clay, Coal, Gemstone, Gypsum, Iron-Ore, Lead/Zinc, Limestone, Marble & Salt

Borno

Bentonite, Clay, Diatomite, Gypsum, Hydrocarbon, Kaolin & Limestone

Cross River

Barite, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Manganese, Oil/Gas, Salt & Uranium

Delta

Clay, Glass-sand, Gypsum, Iron-ore, Kaolin, Lignite, Marble & Oil/Gas

Ebonyi

Gold, Lead/Zinc & Salt

Edo

Bitumen, Clay Dolomite, Phosphate, Glass-sand, Gold, Gypsum, Iron-ore, Lignite, Limestone, Marble & Oil/Gas

Ekiti

Feldspar, Granite, Kaolin, Syenite & Titanium

Enugu

Coal, Lead/Zinc & Limestone

Gombe

Gemstone & Gypsium

Imo

Gypsum, Lead/Zinc, Lignite, Limestone, Marcasite, Oil/Gas, Phosphate & Salt

Jigawa

Butyles

Kaduna

Amethyst, Aqua Marine, Asbestos, Clay, Flosper, Gemstone, Gold, Graphite, Kaolin, Hyanite, Mica, Rock Crystal, Ruby, Sapphire, Sihnite, Superntinite, Tentalime, Topaz & Tourmaline

Kano

Cassiterite, Copper, Gemstone, Glass-sand, Lead/Zinc, Pyrochinre & Tantalite

Katsina

Kaolin, Marble & Salt

Kebbi

Gold

Kogi

Cole, Dolomite, Feldspar, Gypsum, Iron-ore, Kaolin, Marble, Talc & Tantalite

Kwara

Cassiterite, Columbite, Feldspar, Gold, Iron-ore, Marble, Mica & Tantalite

Lagos

Bitumen, Clay & Glass-sand

Nasarawa

Amethyst (Topaz Garnet), Barytex, Barite, Cassirite, Chalcopyrite, Clay, Columbite, Coking Coal, Dolomite/Marble, Feldspar, Galena, Iron-ore, Limestone, Mica, Salt, Sapphire, Talc, Tantalite, Tourmaline Quartz & Zireon

Niger

Gold, Lead/Zinc & Talc

Ogun

Bitumen, Clay, Feldspar, Gemstone, Kaolin, Limestone & Phosphate

Ondo

Bitumen, Clay, Coal, Dimension Stones, Feldspar, Gemstone, Glass-Sand, Granite, Gypsum, Kaolin, Limestone & Oil/Gas

Osun

Columbite, Gold, Granite, Talc, Tantalite & Tourmaline

Oyo

Aqua Marine, Cassiterite, Clay, Dolomite, Gemstone, Gold, Kaolin, Marble, Sillimanite, Talc & Tantalite

Plateau

Barite, Bauxite, Bentonite, Bismuth, Cassiterite, Clay, Coal, Emerald, Fluoride, Gemstone, Granite, Iron-ore, Kaolin, Lead/Zinc, Marble, Molybdenite, Pyrochlore, Salt, Tantalite/Columbite, Tin & Wolfram

Rivers

Clay, Glass-Sand, Lignite, Marble & Oil/Gas

Sokoto

Clay, Flakes, Gold, Granite, Gypsum, Kaolin, Laterite, Limestone, Phosphate, Potash, Silica Sand & Salt

Tariba

Lead/Zinc

Yobe

Soda Ash & Tintomite

Zamfara

Coal, Cotton & Gold

 

2. Large Consumer Market: Nigeria has a massive customer base with a population of more than 200 million people, 75% of whom are under the age of 30. Therefore, Nigeria has a very strong domestic industrial sector, which is supported by attractive incentives for investors.

3. Free Market Economy: The government of Nigeria has created an enabling business environment that welcomes and allows investors to thrive. Administrative and bureaucratic procedures have been streamlined, and policies and programs that guarantee a free-market economy exist in Nigeria, making it favourable for industries and businesses.

4. Attractive Incentives: To enhance the free-market economy space in Nigeria, the government has also included attractive incentive packages for private sector investors within and outside the country and access to government funds through the Nigeria Investment Promotion Commission (NIPC). https://www.nipc.gov.ng/government-funds/

5. Fast Growing Economy: In reference to the GDP growth graph above, it is quite notable to see a USD $432.9 billion at the end of Q4 2020 to an increase of USD $440.8 billion at the end of Q4 2021. As of the third quarter of 2022, the GDP remained strong, placing it ahead of two other emerging markets, Brazil and Russia, and just behind India and China. Furthermore, due to its matured industries that are ready for investment, it can also be considered a frontier market.

We have recorded a massive breakthrough in seed funding, and Nollywood is now the third-largest in the movie industry. As a result, the entertainment, music, and media industries, as well as the fintech and telecommunications markets, have grown significantly. Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa, has commenced the establishment of the largest oil refinery and seaport in Africa within the Lekki Free Trade Zone in Lagos, which is technically a foreseen home for multiple returns on investment (ROI).

6. Strong Banking & Financial Sector: In Nigeria, there are no issues with your banking and financial needs. It is a huge industry that has enough capabilities and is duly regulated to allow room to exercise all required banking duties from within and outside the country.

7. Strategic Access to ECOWAS and the Rest of Africa: Through programs like the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and ECOWAS, a business located in Nigeria has access to other regional and global markets. Equally, the land borders with Benin, Cameroon, and Chad as well as the 168,000km road network have made accessibility guaranteed for investors in Nigeria.

8. Infrastructure Transformation: Nigeria’s economy has seen a shift from a mono-product economy to an industrialised economy. This is because there have been a lot of structural-developmental changes within the transportation, telecommunication, energy, electricity, and water supply sectors. These are economic drivers that propel Nigeria as an investment-ready country.

9. Commitment to Improving the Business Environment: According to the World Bank in 2020, Nigeria is ranked as one of the 100 countries that have improved the ease of doing business.

The removal of bottlenecks and bureaucratic constraints and the creation of new initiatives and reforms have improved the business environment for doing business in Nigeria. The typical reforms include 48 hours to 5 days for business or company registration; an 80% tariff reduction in the NAFDAC registration fee; and more, making Nigeria one of the best countries in the sub-Saharan.

LGCA, AGRC & RegTech Africa Partner Up to Train Local Professionals in GRC Issues

Via this partnership, professionals in Nigeria and the rest of Africa will have greater access to AGRC’s Level 3 Certificates in AML, KYC/CDD, Compliance, ESG and more.

In an effort to continue its expansion in Africa, the Association of Governance, Risk and Compliance (AGRC), alongside its training partners the London Governance and Compliance Academy (LGCA) and BeyondComply, has penned an agreement with RegTech Africa, an emergent global digital tech media platform with a niche focus on regulatory technology innovations in Africa and around the world, to deliver its Level 3 Certificates in AML, KYC/CDD, ESG Principles & Standards, Compliance, Corporate Governance and Sanctions Compliance to professionals in the region.

As part of this partnership, RegTech Africa will become one of AGRC and LGCA’s official training partners, offering greater accessibility to the association’s professional qualifications and shorter courses to interested professionals in these sectors of growing interest and relevance.

AGRC’s Level 3 Certificates consist of a 15-to-20-hour self-paced, online training programme offered by LGCA, two (2) opportunities to pass AGRC’s certification exam, one (1) year of free membership to the association, and use of the PAGRC acronym as a professional AGRC member upon successful completion of the programme.

Mateo Jarrin Cuvi, who serves as AGRC’s Global Manager for Partners and Media, said: “We are excited about this opportunity to expand our association’s presence in Africa and particularly its largest market. Our goals of offering professionals with affordable and inclusive professional qualifications line up nicely with the needs of the African market, and we believe Regtech Africa will contribute to disseminating these training programmes and help us bolster compliance in the region.”

To further publicize these efforts, AGRC and Regtech Africa will organise a series of promotional and informational events targeting financial institutions, universities, and other organisations that might be looking to train their team members in some of these specific areas. This will include offering the programmes’ extra visibility during Regtech Africa’s annual flagship conference to be held at the end of May in Lagos, Nigeria.

Regtech Africa’s CEO and Publisher, Cyril Okoroigwe, said: “Technology and innovation are essential drivers to tackle poverty, boost growth and achieve sustainable development across Africa. Prioritizing capacity building efforts in Governance, Risk and Compliance is necessary for the continent to benefit from the digital era. We’re therefore thrilled about this partnership and look forward to working with one of the world’s most dynamic and innovative, digital first industry Level 3 Certification brands.”

Nadine Ghosn Eid, Founder of BeyondComply and Member of AGRC’s Advisory Council, concluded: “The RegTech industry has been expanding rapidly in the recent years in view of the constant introduction of rules and regulations that require more involvement of human resources and the workforce in every organisation.  New technologies are now reshaping the whole compliance sector, and it is becoming more and more difficult for organisations to reshape their futures as a result of the rapid change, technological disruption, and unexpected competition. We are very enthusiastic about this collaboration and look forward to supporting compliance professionals in responding to the increasing complexity of their role and building an effective regulatory compliance ecosystem within the whole African continent.”

Regtech Africa’s training academy can be found here: RegTech Africa (lgca.uk)

For more information, please contact:

Mateo Jarrin Cuvi
Global Manager for Partners & Media
The Association of Governance, Risk & Compliance
mateo@agrc.org
+44 7766 169767

Cyril Okoroigwe
CEO & Publisher
Regtech Africa
ocyril@regtechafrica.com

Nadine Ghosn Eid
Founder
BeyondComply
nadinegheid@beyondcomply.com

SMART AFRICA partners with RegTech Africa for the continent’s largest regulatory innovation conference

The partnership aims to amplify discussions on financial inclusion, consumer protection and cybersecurity for inclusive and sustainable digital growth

NAIROBI, Kenya: Smart Africa Media, a fast-growing pan-African online media outlet today announced its partnership with RegTech Africa for the RegTech Africa Conference, the largest forum on regulatory innovation to be held in Lagos, Nigeria in May next year. The partnership aims to amplify the conference’s theme touching on financial inclusion, consumer protection and cybersecurity for inclusive and sustainable digital growth to drive development.

RegTech Africa Conference is the premier platform with the power to influence change for regulators, regulated and key industry stakeholders to engage, collaborate and share knowledge around new technologies and practices that support better regulations.

The maiden edition of the conference held in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was hugely successful and boasts of high-level representation of businesses and regulators across key sectors such as financial services, technology, telecommunications and Venture capital companies.

The 2023 edition of the conference is scheduled to hold between 24th and 26th May, 2023 at Oriental Hotel, Lagos-Nigeria in a hybrid format, with the theme: Elevating national policy on financial inclusion, consumer protection and cybersecurity.

When commenting on the partnership Founder and Managing Editor of Smart Africa Media, Elvis Mboya said, “It’s yet another exciting opportunity and great privilege to join Cyril Okoroigwe’s led RegTech Africa, the continent’s foremost leader in regulatory innovation, to capture and highlight the invaluable insights from some of the industry’s foremost thought leaders and disseminate content for the benefit of the audience and to remain optimistic that generated knowledge can be actualised to spur the industry’s growth.”

When discussing the impact of the event and working with Smart Africa Media, Cyril Okoroigwe CEO and Publisher, RegTech Africa said, “The RegTech Africa Conference is on a unique mission to harness the transformative power of innovative regulation as a force for common good.  An initiative that truly deserves every partnership to create such a thriving ecosystem that empowers indigenous innovation and talents. We are excited to have found such a partner in Smart Africa Media.

According to Okoroigwe, the conference boasts of an expansive line-up of over 75 inspiring speakers and target participants of over 1,000 across over 80 countries, with a unified agenda on mind-stirring breakout sessions, focused on live case studies, information exchange, focused pitch decks and cutting-edge insights; all curated after an intensive market research and feedback from key industry stakeholders.

The conference which promises to be exciting, educative and informative, providing a lot of opportunities for knowledge sharing, networking and partnership at the highest level, Okoroigwe said, is driven by a stellar advisory committee with a shared purpose and proven track record in the advancement of innovative regulation across Africa.

For registration and partnership opportunities, please visit www.regtechafricaconference.com

AFRICA REGTECH HORIZON DEBUTS: A DEDICATED RESOURCE TO SHAPE AFRICA FINANCIAL SERVICES ECOSYSTEM

As RegTech Africa Conference 2023 is set to explore the nexus between financial inclusion, consumer protection and cybersecurity

 

LAGOS – NIGERIA: Harnessing the power of big data, artificial intelligence and even blockchain, the regtech sector works to reduce financial risk, increase regulatory compliance and stamp out laundering and fraud — all of which contribute to an estimated $2 trillion yearly loss for the global economy.

 

Recognizing the power of regtech in creating transformative solutions that support and scale quality financial services, the Alliance for Digital Innovation in Africa (AADi) is developing Africa RegTech Horizon (www.regtechhorizon.com), a first of it’s kind data-driven repository for regtech companies and solutions providers in Africa to showcase the solutions, services and technologies they are offering.

 

The directory is a dedicated resource aimed at illustrating the factual value that regtech solutions can deliver to businesses and designed to help financial institutions, regulators and governments in need of solutions to local pain-points, to easily identify Africa focused regtech companies with proven solutions transforming the financial services landscape.

The regtech (regulatory technology) industry has experienced rapid growth over the last two years as financial institutions dealt with rising tide of regulatory changes and rules updates brought by remote working and increased use of digital channels post Covid-19 pandemic.

The repository further seeks to provide an invaluable source of information for investors, a buyer’s guide for financial institutions and the definite reference for regulators interested in collaborating with credible regtech companies.

 

To take full advantages of these benefits, target organizations in the following two categories will be required to register on www.regtechhorizon.com:

 Indigenous startup/scaleup regtech solution providers with innovative homegrown solutions to the real challenges facing financial institutions, regulators and consumers in emerging countries of Africa.

 Glolal regtech startup/scaleup with focus in Africa and a proven solution to the real challenges facing financial institutions, regulators and consumers in emerging countries of Africa.

This epic initiative is coming ahead of the next edition of the RegTech Africa Conference billed  to hold between 24th – 26th May 2023, in a Hybrid format in Lagos, Nigeria . The hugely successful premier edition attracted over 1,000 delegates across 75 countries with a line-up of 60 inspiring speakers from diverse backgrounds.

The leading African regtech ecosystem event will provide unrivalled insight, networking and business opportunities for anyone interested in and connected to the African regtech ecosystem. For registration, sponsorship and partnership opportunities, contact: info@regtechafrica.com.

“The regtech supply channel is changing at a faster pace than ever before, but you don’t need to navigate these changes alone. The directory would help filter through curated list of quality solutions in the market by highlighting the leading companies in sectors such as identity verification, risk management, communications monitoring, information security and financial crime prevention”, said Cyril Okoroigwe, CEO, RegTech Media.

According to Cyril Okoroigwe, helping startups grow their profile and attract more customers through the directory, is a clear demonstration of Alliance for Digital Innovation in Africa’s support for homegrown innovation, leveraging tools and technologies to solve business challenges for African ventures.

“The Africa RegTech Horizon was therefore conceived to address the need for a trusted source of information to stimulate a thriving ecosystem”, he concluded.

 

About: Africa Regtech Horizon
Africa Regtech Horizon (www.regtechhorizon.com) aims to provide data driven insights on Africa focused RegTech companies who are providing solutions to real regulatory and compliance challenges for informed decision making.

 

About: RegTech Africa Conference

The RegTech Africa Conference (www.regtechafricaconference.com) provides the definitive platform for regulators, innovators, ecosystem builders, investors, businesses and other key stakeholders with the power to influence change; to engage, collaborate and share knowledge around new technologies and practices that support better regulations.

About:

Alliance for Digital Innovation in Africa (AADi) is a Limited by Guarantee, not for profit organization on a unique mission to accelerate Africa’s digital transformation through regulatory technology.

End+++

 

Source:

RegTech Africa

Contact Email: info@regtechafrica.com

REGTECH AFRICA CONFERENCE SET TO ELEVATE NATIONAL POLICY ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION, CONSUMER PROTECTION AND CYBERSECURITY

Launches Regtech Rockster Awards to celebrate excellence in regulatory innovation.

LAGOS – NIGERIA:

Digital financial services hold great promise as a means to enable financial inclusion and thus help improve people’s lives. However, cybercrime has become a key concern in developing and emerging markets and is threatening to hinder global advances in building more inclusive digital society. Whilst governments in emerging markets are starting to implement cyber security strategies with the aim of setting standards for risk management and providing clarity regarding liabilities, effective monitoring require new expertise and resources for sustainability.

Against this background, The RegTech Africa Conference 2023 is set to harness the nexus between financial inclusion, consumer protection and cybersecurity for inclusive and sustainable digital growth.

RegTech Africa Conference is the premier platform with the power to influence change for regulators, regulated and key industry stakeholders to engage, collaborate and share knowledge around new technologies and practices that support better regulations.

The maiden edition of the conference held in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, was hugely successful and boasts of high-level representation of businesses and regulators across key sectors such as financial services, technology, telecommunications and Venture capital companies.

The 2023 edition of the conference is scheduled to hold between 24th and 26th May, 2023 at Oriental Hotel, Lagos – Nigeria in a hybrid format, with the theme: ELEVATING NATIONAL POLICY ON FINANCIAL INCLUSION, CONSUMER PROTECTION AND CYBERSECURITY.

As the fintech capital of Africa, the choice of Lagos as the venue could not have been more appropriate. As one of the fastest growing cities in the world, Lagos is the most populous city on the African continent. With close to 25 million people the megacity has the highest GDP and houses the largest and busiest seaports on the continent; with Oriental Hotel at the heart of Victoria Island and shielded from the hustle and bustle of the city.

The conference boasts of an expansive line-up of over 75 inspiring speakers and target participants of over 1,000 across over 80 countries, with a unified agenda on mind-stirring breakout sessions, focused on live case studies, information exchange, focused pitch decks and cutting-edge insights; all curated after intensive market research and feedback from key industry stakeholders.

The Conference which promises to be exciting, educative and informative, providing lot of opportunities for knowledge sharing, networking and partnership at the highest level, is driven by stellar advisory committee with shared purpose and proven track record in the advancement of innovative regulation across Africa.

Speaking on the event, the CEO, Regtech Media Group, Cyril Okoroigwe, disclosed that

the 2021 Nigerian National Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy (NCPS) identifies the banking, finance, and insurance sector as one of its thirteen critical information infrastructure sectors.

He stated that the conference theme provides an opportunity to explore how emerging countries of Africa are elevating national policies on cybersecurity to enable digital protection and financial inclusion in the quest to build a more inclusive and sustainable society.

According to him, the event will seek to drive inclusive growth through investment and strengthen inclusive and sustainable digital growth for global competitiveness through knowledge sharing, technology transfer and research innovation.

He further hinted on the launch of the maiden RegTech Rockstar Awards, a global data-driven awards in celebration of excellence in regulatory innovation across Africa and beyond.

For registration and partnership opportunities, please visit www.regtechafricaconference.com  or email info@regtechafrica.com.

 

About

Regtech Africa Conference is a social enterprise initiative of RegTech Africa focused on promoting innovative regulatory technology as a force for common good.

End++

 

Source: RegTech Africa

Contact:

Email: info@regtechafrica.com

RegTech Africa Wins Leading RegTech Ecosystem Builder Award 2022

RegTech Africa (www.regtechafrica.com) has emerged as the Leading RegTech Ecosystem Builder in Africa at this year’s World Business Outlook Awards.

The world Business Outlook Awards is a global awards with eye for industry mastery, leadership talents, industry value or net worth, impeccable strategies for success and potential on an international forum.

The annual awards which commenced in September, 2020 had nominations from reputable organizations across different countries of the world.

Through a competitive data driven evaluation process and careful review of nominations, the highly qualified panel of judges announce winners based on the integrity of their application and current accomplishments. The winners are then recognized with the prestigious awards with a certificate of authenticity for the achievement.

 

The accolade recognises RegTech Africa’s agility and nimbleness towards accelerating digital transformation and adoption of innovative technology, as well as supporting entrepreneurship through promotion of indigenous startup across the continent.

Highlights of key initiatives that earned the brand this recognition include:

  • RegTech4Good Challenge which is a focused hackathon for elevating awareness and collaboration for development of innovative homegrown solutions to real-life challenges to enhance the protection of vulnerable financial consumers.
  • Africa Regtech Horizon (www.regtechhorizon.com) which aims to provide data driven insights on Africa focused RegTech companies who are providing solutions to real regulatory and compliance challenges for informed decision making. 
  • The RegTech Africa Conference which provides the definitive platform for regulators, innovators, ecosystem builders, investors, businesses and other key stakeholders with the power to influence change; to engage, collaborate and share knowledge around new technologies and practices that support better regulations.

Commenting on the award, Cyril Okoroigwe (CEO, RegTech Media) said, “This award solidifies our efforts and inspires us to build a long-lasting legacy as an enabler for growth. It’s an acknowledgment of our role and contribution to Africa’s growing RegTech Ecosystem and the wider economy”.

About RegTech Africa:

Regtech Africa, is an emergent digital tech media platform (www.regtechafrica.com) with a niche focus on regulatory innovation as a force for common good.

RegTech Africa and NayaOne Organize RegTech4Good Challenge To Boost Homegrown Innovations For Consumer Protection in Africa.

Participants worldwide came together to showcase their passion and talent for solving next-generation real-life problems.

The RegTech Media Group, Africa’s leading regulatory innovation hub in partnership with NayaOne, a global digital innovative sandbox provider, launched the inaugural RegTech4Good Challenge. This RegTech Africa hackathon enables innovators to collaborate intensively in solving real-life challenges. Teams used creativity, technology, and mentoring, resulting in prototypes, fresh new concepts, and innovative solutions.

The hackathon was at the 2-Day RegTech Africa Conference 2022 (https://www.regtech.africa/), which witnessed the massive participation of over 5,000 attendees. The event brought together thousands of next-generation innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and regulators worldwide with the shared vision of transforming the financial world by building solutions and bringing together innovative technologies.

With the growing demand for digital services across Africa, where financial inclusion is badly lacking, weak consumer protection and data privacy frustrate socio-economic development. Therefore, this widespread uptake of digital services has heightened consumer risks and raised new policy concerns for the regulators.

The hackathon aims to develop viable outcomes for inclusive innovation and boost homegrown solutions that would disrupt and tackle the industry’s fundamental challenges. The challenge is mainly to protect vulnerable financial service consumers in Africa.

Open to teams globally, the RegTech4Good challenge saw over 300 registered participants above 18 years from 32 locations across four continents of Africa, Europe, Asia, and North America.

The participants split into teams and were required to work together ahead of a 3-day intensive booth camp, brainstorming and ideating new concepts leveraging the NayaOne integrated Digital Sandbox platform.

Each team pitched its ideas to a Jury of experts who are some of the industry’s best with decades of experience in technology, business management, marketing, media, and others. The carefully selected panel of judges comprised Kevin Mutiso, Chairman of the Board Digital Lenders Association of Kenya, Osioke Ojior, Co-Founder & Chief Risk Officer, Covenda (UK), Sujata Rastogi, Director, Financial Services at NayaOne, and Tunde Ogungbade, Group Managing Director, Accelerex Holdings.

Using the platform, the participants were able to leverage technology and bespoke datasets in a secure sandbox environment to explore multiple solutions to best address the challenge. Having all participants in a collaborative platform enabled participants to communicate and collaborate when building solutions and get in touch with mentors on the platform as needed.

The top three shortlisted teams participated in a 5-minute pitch on the first day of the conference, with the team of Faidat Abdullahi and Nonhlanhla Nkosi (Finofrica) taking the top spot on the finale of the hugely successful conference.

The Finofrica team, whose ‘Play to Earn’ financial literacy solutions targets vulnerable youths in Africa, displayed exceptional creativity in their idea and use cases for implementation.

RegTech Africa will promote the winning solution and concept through a global network of ecosystem accelerators to boost visibility and attract equity investment and funding opportunities.

At the event, Cyril Okoroigwe, CEO RegTech Media, said, “we are delighted to host the maiden edition of the RegTech4Good hackathon. It has brought together hundreds of talents dedicated to protecting vulnerable financial service consumers. We look forward to discovering more talents in the years ahead to drive the next growth phase for Africa’s homegrown innovative solutions”.

On his part, Karan Jain, CEO, NayaOne, stated, “The impressive performances of the teams who were painstakingly selected provide an excellent example of what is possible when people with the right mix of skills are enabled with technology. The technical hackathon demonstrated the passion and hard work of participants who worked together towards a common goal and shared purpose”

About: RegTech Africa

RegTech Africa (www.regtechafrica.com) is an emergent global digital tech media platform with a niche focus on regulatory technology innovations across Africa and beyond. RegTech Africa provides insights into enterprise innovative regulatory efforts and trends to the most discerning professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, and decision-makers.

About: NayaOne

NayaOne revolutionises innovation in financial services. We provide banks with a single point of access to hundreds of fintechs and datasets, through our Digital Sandbox and Fintech-as-a Service offering. Regulated firms are able to discover, build, evaluate and scale with fintechs in a matter of weeks instead of months.

RegTech Conference 2022: Panelists Call for Rapid Adaptation and Collaboration between FinTech Companies and Global Regulators

Africa’s foremost fintech regulatory platform, RegTech Africa has held the maiden edition of its virtual conference themed ‘REGULATORY INNOVATION: BOLSTERING AFRICA’S ROLE IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY’. The event had an impressive turnout as over 1,000 global thought leaders, policymakers, C-Level executives, financial regulators, and policymakers were present, while 5,000 virtual streamers joined and were active throughout the conference.

Matteo Rizzi on the opening day of the conference spoke extensively in the breakout session entitled “Regulatory Innovation for Financial Inclusion and Consumer Protection”. In his words, “ We are on the verge of another huge wave of innovation and investments, and regulators have a huge role to play.” This acknowledges the fast-rising number of startups in Africa, hence the regulators need to align all players to achieve the goal of achieving financial inclusion in Africa. There are lots of iterations happening in the fintech space that banks globally can collectively learn from.

Dr. Ritesh Jain while addressing the need for the global financial sector to unify faster recommended that financial institutions open up their services through API. According to him, there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Instead, financial organizations need to adapt to the emerging market. Trends like crypto trading, digital banks, NFTs, and other iterations in the financial space, must be speedily incorporated where necessary to ensure that these long-standing banks are still competitive and relevant to meet their consumers’ needs.

Reiterating the essence of RegTech Africa, during his panel session, Pattison Boleigha, GCCCO Access bank stated, “In today’s world, there is hardly anything you can do without technology so the regulatory arena cannot be left out.” During the Roundtable entitled, “Regtech and its impact in empowering Public and Corporate Governance, Risk & Compliance”, Gary Lyons also corroborated this statement by highlighting the powerful role that RegTech Africa can play in ensuring good governance. In his words, “I passionately believe that Regtech can empower good governance by increasing transparency, harmonizing standards, and empowering better timely compliance and collaboration.”

To address the problem of identity in the financial sector, Legal Identity Identifier (LEI), a software that helps small and enormous businesses to create a globally recognized identity was introduced. LEI helps financial organizations gain insight into the global marketplace, finetune their processes and improve data integrity. With its introduction, small fintech companies can also play on a global scale.

All the breakout panel sessions adequately addressed seminal themes on Financial Technology like Consumer Protection, Financial Inclusion, Digitization, Privacy, and Data Protection among others. Professor Olayinka David-West, Associate Dean, Lagos Business School, during one of such breakout sessions stressed the importance of creating Fintech Associations. According to her, these associations are essential bridges that engender conversations between regulators and new fintech companies on risks and compliance. She opines that associations can also serve as self-regulatory tools and mechanisms that allay the fears of regulators concerning breaching market regulations and structures.

Expressing optimism about RegTech Africa’s global impact, Conference Convener, Mr. Cyril Okoroigwe, said the media platform remained resolute in its drive to engage upcoming fintech companies, and create a stronger platform for dialogue and collaboration between financial organizations and regulators so that like a well-oiled machine, effective systems will be established in the African financial space, and organic growth will rapid enough to meet up with global standards.

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RegTech Africa
RegTech Africa (www.RegTechAfrica.com) is an emergent global digital tech media platform with a niche focus on regulatory technology innovations in Africa and around the world. We leverage our strong local knowledge of the African regulatory technology environment and access to the closely-knit community of top-level decision-makers, Chief executives, strategic stakeholders, and other industry subject matter experts to provide valuable and insightful content on news updates, statistics, case studies, analysis, reviews, polls, and events.

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The Regtech Africa Conference is a social enterprise initiative focused on promoting innovative regulatory technology as a force for common good. The annual conference and exhibition connect thousands of executives, regulators, decision makers and thought leaders from across the globe.

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