E-Financial
How Fintechs are Winning among Unbanked Rural Population

by Ayomide Oriade
Nigeria, according to the World Population Review, is estimated to have over 99 million adult population. On the flip side of this, the country, according to the Central Bank, has 43.6 million Bank Verification Numbers as at November 2020.
From the foregoing, it can safely be deduced that over 56% of Nigerian adults are unbanked. Huge chunk of this population are believed to reside in rural areas of the country.
Despite this, the volume and value of online transactions in Nigeria has been increasing at an impressive rate in recent years.
In the third quarter of 2020, the volume of online transactions stood at 569 million, as transaction value peaked at N44.3 trillion. Of the total volume, mobile phones and tablets were responsible for 77% of instant payment between 2018 and 2019.
Interestingly, a notable amount of these transactions are carried out on mobile devices by unbanked and underbanked populations.
According to data from Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, (NIBSS), mobile phone transactions recorded the highest usage of all online transactions in 2018 with 132 million transactions, followed by USSD with 109 million transactions. In 2019, figures showed that mobile banking transactions surged to 220.8 million.
Making substantial contributions to this improvement is the payment solutions of e-commerce brands in Nigeria.
Fintech products such as JumaPay, Opay, KongaPay and the likes are solving transaction problems beyond just their in-platform payment. Noteworthy is the fact that they are giving the unbanked and underbanked rural residents added advantage by providing prompt solutions on airtime recharge, data subscription and payment of other utility bills.
A resident of Portharcourt in Rivers State, Matthew Ekejo, enjoys these benefits on his JumiaPay app. By login into the app on his mobile device, he shops for his needs and settles utility bills with convenience and ease. “I do most of my shopping on JumiaPay; data recharge cards and what -have-you.
“The shopping experience has been nice. The Jumia app makes life easy. It’s convenient and easy to load. It makes buying really easy.
“Like the NEPA bills we pay, going from one office to another to do these recharges – the stress and queue and all that. All these can be done from the comfort of your house. It ‘s easy and makes life better,” he said.
With the increasing rate of mobile phone users in both rural and urban areas, fintechs will no doubt contribute immensely to financial inclusion of rural and unbanked populations in Nigeria.
E-Financial
GTCO to Become First Nigerian Bank to List on London Stock Exchange

By 8 am on July 9, GTCO Holdings is set to commence trading on the London Stock Exchange.
As the group is set to list all its shares on the London Stock Exchange, becoming the first Nigerian banking entity to do so.
This is as the group launches a public offer of new ordinary shares to raise approximately $100 million on the London Stock Exchange.
The equity offering, which is an accelerated bookbuild and managed by Citigroup, began on July 2 and is to last until July 31.
On July 31, the group announced that it would cancel the listing of its Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) on the UK Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) Official List.
It will also cancel their admission to trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)’s main market.
In place of the GDRs, the group will list all its ordinary shares directly.
aims to admit all its shares to the equity shares category for international commercial companies under a secondary listing on the FCA’s Official List.
The shares will also begin trading on the LSE’s main market for listed securities.
According to a regulatory filing on the London Stock Exchange, the net proceeds from the offering will be used to recapitalize GTBank Nigeria.
Based on the prevailing exchange rate of N1,540 to the US dollar, the targeted $100 million equates to approximately N154 billion.
This capital raise is expected to position the Group to fully meet the N500 billion minimum paid-up share capital required by regulators for banks with international licenses.
As of now, both Zenith Bank and Access Holdings have already met—and exceeded—this threshold.
E-Financial
NAICOM Issues New Licenses to SanlamAllianz Life, General Insurance

The National Insurance Commission (NAICOM) has handed over new licenses to SanlamAllianz Life and General Insurance Nigeria Ltd at brief ceremony held in Abuja.
Olusegun Omosehin, commissioner for Insurance emphasized the Commission’s commitment to supporting the growth of insurance entities in the country, while ensuring strict compliance with regulatory requirements. He urged the companies to prioritize good corporate governance, stability, and timely claims settlement processes.
The Commissioner reiterated NAICOM’s dedication to removing unnecessary bottlenecks and improving the insurance industry’s overall performance. He expressed confidence that the merger would enhance the companies’ capabilities and contribute to the industry’s growth.
SanlamAllianz recently launched its operations in Nigeria, marking a significant step in the company’s Pan-African expansion.
The launch follows the merger of Sanlam and Allianz’s Nigerian operations, creating a new entity named SanlamAllianz Nigeria.
This joint venture aims to transform the Nigerian insurance landscape by offering enhanced customer experiences, innovative solutions, and improved financial inclusion.
E-Financial
World Bank Approves Extra $65m for Nigeria’s SPESSE

World Bank has approved an additional $65 million loan for Nigeria to support the Sustainable Procurement, Environmental, and Social Standards Enhancement (SPESSE) project, increasing the total financing for the initiative to $145 million.
The approval was granted on June 24, 2025, according to details posted on the World Bank’s website, which also indicates that the project’s status has moved to “active” following the approval.
The SPESSE project, initially launched with an $80 million loan approved in February 2020, aims to strengthen institutional capacity for managing procurement, environmental, and social standards in both the public and private sectors across Nigeria.
The World Bank described the project’s development objective as the establishment of sustainable capacity in these areas.
This latest approval is part of a broader wave of financing expected from the World Bank to Nigeria in 2025.
The bank is scheduled to approve loans totalling $1.61 billion over the coming months, supporting various development initiatives.
Among these is a $300 million loan for the ‘Solutions for the Internally Displaced and Host Communities Project,’ expected to be finalised by the end of July.
This project aims to improve access to basic services and economic opportunities for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and host communities in selected local government areas in northern Nigeria.
In September, the World Bank plans to approve four additional loans: a $10.5 million facility to support technical assistance for the Central Bank of Nigeria, a $300 million Health Security Program targeting Western and Central Africa (Nigeria – Phase IV), a $500 million project for building resilient digital infrastructure (BRIDGE), and a $500 million loan under the Nigeria Sustainable Agricultural Value-Chains for Growth project aimed at promoting sustainable growth and job creation within key agricultural sectors.
Earlier in March 2025, the bank approved three financing requests amounting to $1.13 billion.
These funds are directed towards projects focused on enhancing quality education, boosting household and community resilience, and improving nutrition.
Among the approved loans were $80 million for the Accelerating Nutrition Results in Nigeria 2.0 project, $552 million for the HOPE for Quality Basic Education for All programme, and $500 million for the Community Action for Resilience and Economic Stimulus Programme.
In February, the Nigerian government announced expectations of new World Bank loans totalling $2.2 billion for six different projects in 2025. This follows a $1.5 billion loan disbursed in 2024 aimed at strengthening Nigeria’s economic stability and resource mobilisation efforts.
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