African technology experts report the financial technology sector attracted over $5.2 billion in investment last year, marking it the fastest growing sector on the continent, with a quarter of the amassed investment accredited to Nigerian startups.
Crowd Force, a Nigerian tech company focused on ensuring easy access to financial services, reported over $3,6 million in investments last year, which was used to uplift underserved communities by creating employment and opportunities to make extra income.
“What we were doing was impact related because we created jobs and avenues for people to make extra income in their communities,” said Tomi Ayorinde, Crowd Force CEO.
Experts report over 60 percent of Africa’s 1,2 billion population lacks access to banks or financial services, a notion which Ayorinde says his company is looking to address.
“When we collected data on 4,5 million triggers, what we saw was a lot of them did not have bank accounts and then the one’s that had bank accounts had a very tough time accessing the cash that was sent to them,” said Ayorinde, adding, “That is when we realized there is a bigger problem to solve here.”
Alexia Alexandroupoulou, a representative of the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association, says Africa’s fintech industry is growing because companies are looking to cash in on the continents huge youthful population.
“Africa has the most youthful population in the world and as a proportion of skilled labor increases, we expect to see an increase in human capital,” said Alexandroupoulou.
Louis Dike, a Digital marketing expert acknowledges the growth in Africa’s financial technology sector, however, warns that if African governments do not address obstacles such as weak currencies and policies the growth of the industry may be stunted.
“Africa is still made up of virgin markets and the standard of living is quite low,” said Dike, adding, “our regulations have not been consistent in recent times.”
African technology experts report the financial technology sector attracted over $5.2 billion in investment last year, marking it the fastest growing sector on the continent, with a quarter of the amassed investment accredited to Nigerian startups.
