Nigeria’s fintech industry faces new development in collaboration with The Department for International Development, DFID, Financial Conduct Authority, FAC and the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, and has agreed to develop the Fintech space in Nigeria.
Acting Director-General of SEC, Ms. Mary Uduk said that:
The SEC was enthusiastic about the collaboration as it would encourage responsible use of new technologies and digital finance in the capital market, influence increased international participation & cooperation, and also provide investors with more choices in the Nigerian Capital Market.
She also said that;
The SEC is looking to adopt regulatory and supervisory practices for orderly development and stability of Fintech, as the Commission will pay close attention to sustaining confidence and safeguarding the integrity of the market. In this way, our policies will facilitate the safe entry of new products, activities and intermediaries. Besides, we will ensure that regulation does not stand in the way of innovation. While it is clear that FinTech has already made huge inroads into many aspects of the financial industry, what is perhaps even clearer is that the surface has barely been scratched in relation to what FinTech can do for us in the future.
According to her,
The awareness of customers that their data might be prone to cyber-attacks could make them lose trust in digital channels until strong consumer protection frameworks are in place. These frameworks for digital financial services will be critical in building confidence for consumers. We have come up with ways to monitor the risks that may come up. It’s like a sandbox, but not an enclave. We are building the capacity to train young people that would be able to drive the process. We hope that this year will be a turning point. We are trying to gather as much information as we can to be able to contextualize and synthesize regulation in Nigeria. Young people are beginning to get interested in investment and they are doing this via Fintech, and that is why we are doing all that we can to develop rules around it so that the risk will be mitigated and it will further develop the market.
Senior Adviser, UK DFID, Mr. Richard Sandall, in his remarks said The Department for International Development (DFID) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have a partnership to support FCA to step into new jurisdictions to deliver DFID objectives in certain areas.
He said:
We are in Nigeria to look at the FinTech environment, regulatory environment and see if there are ways the Fintech environment can be built. We are very interested in the impacts that Fintech in Nigeria would have in the UK. We know that Nigeria has FinTech, and the FCA has already established international networks.
He also said that:
The agreement with FCA is for up to two years and during that time modalities would be put in place to work with regulators, and that is why they have come to the SEC.We know the SEC has the enthusiasm for Fintech and we want to help develop it as much as we can,
Also speaking, Nigeria Lead, FCA, Mr. Parma Bains, said they have done some work with the SEC in the past and are very comfortable working with the Commission.
Brains expressed appreciation to the SEC for the opportunity to collaborate and expressed the belief that it is the beginning of many collaborative relationships that will span for the next two years of the project.
“We are available to provide collaboration and assistance in the area of Fintech, and we are also open to learn how you regulate the market and some other roles you perform,” Bains added.
The main reason for this collaboration as Nigeria’s fintech industry faces new development is to connect African entrepreneurs with British fintech investors and business mentors to plunge into the finance and advice needed to start and grow their companies and to provide funds that will support Nigerian start-ups.
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