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By Merit Ibe
The Federal Government has said the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) will create $3.4trillion opportunity and also deepen financial technology space for the industry.
President, Muhammadu Buhari said an expanding infrastructure and a growing financial technology were also new opportunities, which players in the Nigerian finance industry could leverage to boost revenue and multiply jobs.
“In repositioning itself, the finance sector would serve not just as an intermediary for lenders and borrowers but will create a new ecosystem consisting of platforms where ordinary Africans can buy and sell their locally- made products despite currency disparity as being practiced on the Pan- African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), a brainchild of Afrexim Bank,” Buhari, who was represented by the Finance Minister, Zainab Ahmed, said.
Buhari said the industry could deepen the market and expand product offering to finance Nigeria’s infrastructure and business investment needs while developing strategies to drive insurance penetration in Nigeria.
He further said the industry had an opportunity to deploy innovations in fintech for the extension of financial services to the under-served population while expanding the product space by leveraging the opportunities provided by other digital trading platforms such as warehousing, collateral management and crowd-funding.
