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Lagos Hosts Fintech Week to Celebrate Fintech Achievements

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To celebrate Fintech achievements and opportunities with focus on funds and payments, capital markets, insurance innovations, block chain and cyber security, the world’s attention will be on the city of Lagos as it hosts the Lagos Fintech Week in October.

In a statement signed by the chairman of organizing committee, Dr. Yele Okeremi said “Each day we will focus on a different topic. We shall ensure that there is plenty of time for networking and meeting other innovators”.

He added that there will be ‘Investor Summit’ that aims to enhance access to “funding for startups and improve the quality and quantity of Fintech investment deals in Nigeria”.

Lagos Fintech Week is a series of conferences, exhibitions, workshops, hackathons, meetups and awards. It would attract Fintech start-ups, technology companies, investors, financial institutions, research institutes and innovation professionals to engage the ecosystem in a stimulating discussions, demos and insightful debates.

Since Lagos is now innovations hub where diverse financial technology solutions and opportunities are being created daily, he informed, it is imperative that the city host Lagos Fintech Week, which has as its theme, Fintech: Exploring the Huge Opportunities. The event would hold from October 2 to 5, 2018 at Oriental Hotel, Lagos.

Citing reason for the hosting of the event in Lagos, Okeremi said Lagos boast a huge network of customers with an abundance of local and international talents in finance and entrepreneurship.

“Lagos has the ideal ecosystem for Fintech enterprises to succeed. Lagos has seen a vast increase in number of incubator and accelerator programmes over the past 6 years. Lagos offers many advantages for Fintech business.

This regional financial hub features a dynamic business culture, a growing technological infrastructure, a huge network of customers, regulatory support and a world-class talent pool.

“Alongside this, an increasing number of Fintech events have turned the industry into a bustling community, opening the door to greater expertise and increased support for enterprises, and providing countless opportunities for innovators to showcase ideas, meet industry experts, and access training and funding opportunities.

Okeremi added that different impactful activities that will showcase diverse opportunities for all participants at different categories are lined up at the summit.

These are opportunities the startups community to participate in the Hackceleration, learn from industry leaders and experts at the conferences, submit implemented solutions for the Fintech awards and network with the Fintech ecosystem.

Other opportunities include a window for investors and financial institutions to source for deals at the Investor Summit, Demo & Deal Day, listen to pitches at the Hackceleration demo day, share knowledge with fellow industry leaders and experts in the conferences, and listen to financial regulators at the conferences.

According to Dr. Okeremi, “the Lagos Fintech Hackceleration seeks the most innovative start-ups that can address problem statements contribute by the local and global Fintech community and the financial services industry.

“We are inviting start-ups to apply to the programme and demonstrate how they can innovate to address these problem statements. There will be five teams and we will match them with industry champions to customize their market-ready solutions into contextualized prototypes ready for adoption”.

The Chairman also mentioned that there will be workshop that will be organized by partners to gain insights and learn from industry experts that will hold in various venues across the city.

“There will be Open Banking Master class that will enable third party developers to build applications and services around financial institutions, as well as endows customers with greater financial empowerment and transparency. Underpinning open banking is open standards and technology to achieve these outcomes,” he said.

Explaining what the participants would benefits at the Master Class for Open Banking at the Lagos Fintech Week, which is a collaboration between Fintech 1000+ and Open Technology Foundation, Adedeji Olowe said through the Master class, “participants will get an in-depth understanding on open banking system, architecture and design, as well as firsthand experience that demonstrates the collaboration between Fintech to deliver real world applications swiftly to delight customers”.

Salami Abolore, MD/CEO of Riby Finance, the company that is hosting the Hackceleration at the Lagos Fintech Week, said that high-impact innovations are always the result of “motivated, multidisciplinary teams”, which is why among all applicants “we will carefully choose at most 60 participants for the Hackceleration.

“We are expecting active, knowledgeable and forward-thinking individuals and teams who realize that the only constant in business life are changes and improvements.

All innovative individuals and teams from Nigeria can participate at the event, as physical persons. The application is open until all available places are filled”, he said.

Other side attractions at the summit are Nigerian Fintech Awards, Demo and Deal Day. Demo and Deal Day will showcase promising Fintech startups and innovative technologies to local and global investors, with a view towards facilitating Fintech investment deals.


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NIA Questions Legality of Reps’ Financial Probe

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The Nigerian Insurers Association has urged the House Committee on Capital Market and Institutions to respect the constitutional separation of powers as it carries out a probe on over 20 insurance firms.

In a statement on Tuesday night, the Director General/Chief Executive Officer of NIA, Mrs Bola Odukale, said the decision of NIA and the affected firms to approach the court was to seek clarity on the constitutional limits of the House Committee’s probe.

It would be recalled that the House of Representatives on Monday is investigating no fewer than 25 insurance companies operating in the country for various financial infractions spanning financial reporting, claims settlement, premium remittance, and issuance of policies.

The Chairman, House Sub-Committee on Capital Market and Institutions, Kwamoti Laori, during a meeting with the management of the insurance companies at the National Assembly Complex in Abuja, said the meeting was convened following the receipt of a petition on infractions by the insurance companies.

In the statement, Odukale said, “The Association wishes to state unequivocally that all actions taken by the NIA and the affected member companies in response to the Committee’s invitations and pronouncements were based entirely on legal advice by its Solicitors. It was on the firm instruction of legal counsel that recourse was made to the courts.

“The objective of approaching the Court is to seek judicial guidance on the legality, propriety, and constitutional limits of the Committee’s intervention in order to safeguard institutional integrity, uphold regulatory independence, and ensure that legislative oversight remains within the bounds of law.

“The Court action seeks to determine whether the current posture of the Committee reflects an exercise of legislative judgment, which, by constitutional design, is the exclusive province of statutory regulators, such as the National Insurance Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigerian Exchange, Financial Reporting Council, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, and the National Information Technology Development Agency.

“This raises serious questions about legislative overreach and an erosion of the doctrine of separation of powers, a cornerstone of Nigeria’s constitutional democracy.”

Odukale maintained that the NIA was committed to lawful and constructive engagement with all arms of government, provided that such engagement respects the autonomy of statutory regulators and the boundaries established by the Constitution.

“The NIA will continue to provide its full support to all member companies while upholding the principles of legal compliance and sector-wide integrity,” Odukale concluded.

17 of the companies that went to court were represented by their lawyer, Mr Abimbola Kayode, at the meeting with the committee.


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Horn of Africa Leaders Seek Enhanced Digital Integration for Increased Regional Growth

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Finance ministers and development partners from the Horn of Africa have called for enhanced digital integration to boost trade, drive economic growth and promote regional stability during the 25th Ministerial Meeting of the Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI).

Held in Nairobi, on July 14, the meeting was co-chaired by the African Development Bank’s Vice President for Regional Development, Integration and Business Delivery, Nnenna Nwabufo and Somalia’s Minister of Finance, Bihi Iman Egeh. Discussions underscored the critical role of digital integration in reducing trade barriers, boosting government service delivery and creating employment — particularly for the region’s youth.

“Digital technologies are shaping today’s economy and tomorrow’s industries. By embedding these technologies into our programs, we can not only improve inclusion but also leapfrog outdated development models,” said Nwabufo.

She called for digital integration a “central enabler” in each of the Horn of Africa Initiative’s pillars – trade, infrastructure, resilience, and human capital,

Learning through experience

Drawing from global and regional success stories, speakers highlighted the transformative potential of technology-led development. The ministers pointed to the Philippines as a strong example, where ICT has generated millions of jobs in business process outsourcing. Similarly, Kenya’s fintech innovation—especially the success of M-PESA—was cited as a model for scaling digital financial services across the region.

Participants urged governments to proactively foster digital ecosystems by capitalizing on the demographic dividend, identifying infrastructure upgrades, tighter regulatory reforms, and digital skills trainings as priorities to enable broader participation in the digital economy.

Minister Egeh reiterated the need for more coordinated regional efforts to create the enabling environment required for accelerated digital integration and expansion. He referenced the HoAI Digital Policy Matrix, adopted in 2023 which provides a blueprint on how to address key obstacles to achieving effective digital integration across the region.

Barack Makokha, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for National Treasury, underscored the importance of regionally-aligned public private partnerships and advocated for blended financing to reduce investment risk and expand digital access in underserved areas.

World Bank Vice President for Eastern and Southern Africa, Ndiame Diop, called for a comprehensive multi-pronged approach, combining cross-border coordination, large-scale financing, robust policy support, and digital infrastructure investments. He pointed out that such measures could transform digital integration into, “a powerful engine of economic transformation” for the Horn of Africa—ensuring no one is left behind in the digital era.

The meeting concluded with a shared recognition that sustained political will and the determination to implement a multifaceted approach are essential to unlocking the region’s economic potential and driving long-term growth.

The event also welcomed observers from the East African Community, Agence française de développement, and Shelter Afrique, reflecting strong regional and international backing for the HoAI in the development community.


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CSCS Inaugurates Custodian Portal to Enhance Digital Access, Operational Efficiency

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Central Securities Clearing System Plc (CSCS), Nigeria’s capital market infrastructure provider, has launched its Custodian Portal, a user-centric digital solution designed to optimise custodian operations through intuitive, secure and efficient features.

Haruna Jalo-Waziri, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), CSCS, announced this in a statement on Monday.

The CSCS is a Public Limited Company with a diversified shareholder base, which serves as the Central Securities Depository for the Nigerian Capital Market.

It serves as the Central Depository for Equities, Commercial Papers, Corporate Bonds, Sub-National Bonds, certain Sovereign Bonds like the FGN Sukuk and the FGN Savings Bond, Equity-traded Funds, Real Estate Investment Trusts, Mutual funds and Commodities.

Jalo-Waziri said that the custodian portal offered a streamlined experience for market participants with powerful tools that facilitate comprehensive portfolio and trade management, document tracking, share transfer operations, client symbol search, and real-time access to vital data.

He explained that the portal, designed to operate through a flexible subscription-based model, empowered users to manage their records effortlessly and securely through convenient payment channels such as GTPay and Paystack.

According to him, “Digital transformation remains at the core of our strategy to enhance the efficiency, transparency and accessibility of Nigeria’s capital market services.

“The custodian portal is a significant leap in that direction, offering custodians a centralised platform to manage critical processes in real-time.

“We are excited about the value this innovation brings to our stakeholders, and we will continue to evolve the platform in line with users’ needs and industry trends.”

The CEO also explained that the portal was designed with user experience in mind with feature tools like portfolio viewing and downloads in PDF or Excel format.

He further said that it also featured tracking of stock movements across date ranges, inbox messaging and request tracking, as well as robust user management capabilities including role assignment and status tracking.

Similarly, the Divisional Head, Business Technology and Digital Innovation, CSCS Plc, Tobe Nnadozie, said that the portal aligned with CSCS’s drive to automate the market.

“In addition to the normal features, the platform is a part of an omnichannel platform for custodians, and includes API services.

“It also connects to the market-wide workflow, which CSCS has built to ensure secured communication and approvals across all major stakeholders in the market.

“The platform is well secured with best-of-breed cybersecurity solutions and our SOC,” he said.

The Custodian Portal reinforces CSCS’s commitment to leveraging technology to streamline back-office functions and support a more agile, data-driven capital market ecosystem.

All custodians in the Nigerian capital market have now been successfully on-boarded on the Custodian Portal, marking a significant milestone in CSCS’s ongoing drive to enhance collaboration, standardise operational processes, and promote digital adoption across the market.


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