At a strategic forum in Lagos, Pastel convenes bankers and fintech leaders to champion homegrown AI infrastructure for compliance and fraud prevention.
As Nigerian banks grapple with a sharp surge in fraud, the urgency to modernize compliance architecture through intelligent automation has never been greater.
At the second edition of its exclusive Breakfast Meeting, Africa’s leading AI-powered Enterprise solutions company, Pastel, in partnership with FintechNGR, brought together top financial institutions and fintech executives on Thursday, July 24, at The Civic Centre in Lagos, to address the growing risks and opportunities in the compliance landscape.
Themed “Technology for Trust: Reinventing Compliance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” the event came after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) released a draft directive introducing Baseline Standards for Automated Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Solutions.
The framework emphasizes the need for real-time, data-powered systems that not only detect suspicious activity but also ensure transparency and traceability in how institutions report and respond to risk.
According to the 2024 Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Fraud Report, financial institutions lost N52.26 billion to fraud, a 196% increase compared to N17.67 billion in 2023. As digital finance scales, the infrastructure to monitor transactions and enforce compliance has fallen behind.
Adding to the complexity, Africa loses over $50 billion annually to illicit financial flows, and 12 out of the 24 countries currently on the FATF grey list are African. This status invites stricter oversight, slower transaction timelines, and investor hesitancy. “This is not just a compliance issue; it’s an economic risk,” said Abuzar Royesh, CEO of Pastel. “Sigma is not a Western system retrofitted for Africa. It is purpose-built using African data, CBN standards, and regulatory models from the continent. We are enabling institutions to scale trust and efficiency simultaneously.”
Sigma, Pastel’s flagship AI-powered platform, was central to the event’s discussions and live demonstration. Designed for African institutions, Sigma delivers real-time AI-powered transaction monitoring, AML detection, automated reporting, risk profiling, and more, helping reduce human error, manual effort, and audit gaps.
Anthony Amodu, Chief Revenue Officer at Pastel, emphasized that legacy compliance methods are no longer sustainable. “We’ve passed the point where spreadsheets and siloed data can protect institutions. Sigma brings the clarity, speed, and control needed by today’s compliance leaders,” he said.
In attendance were decision-makers from top-tier banks, digital lenders, the Fintech Association of Nigeria (FintechNGR), payment platforms, and infrastructure companies. Discussions centered on AI governance, regulatory alignment, ethical design, and cost-efficiency for local implementation.
In his keynote, Seun Folorunsho, representing Stanley Jacob, President of FintechNGR and CEO of Zest Payment Limited, highlighted the global urgency: “Non-compliance is extremely costly. Financial institutions around the world are spending over $200 billion annually on AI tools for regulatory assurance. Nigeria must move in step with that reality.”
A fireside chat led by Wede Thompson, Chief Compliance Officer at Optimus Bank, underlined the centrality of user experience and customer trust in any compliance journey. “Regulation is ultimately about trust. If we want to build that trust using artificial intelligence, banks, fintechs, and regulators must work in lockstep and with the end customer in mind,” he said.
The first panel discussion featured Babafemi Ogungbamila, EVP, Operations & Technology, Interswitch; Arini Awotunde, CFO, Coronation Merchant Bank; Bola Fatai, CCO of Katsu Network, and Pastel’s CEO, Abuzar Royesh. Each stressed the need for explainability, accountability, and regulatory alignment in AI-powered systems. “Artificial intelligence should enhance, not just automate compliance,” said Ogungbamila. “We must ensure innovation and ethics move together,” added Awotunde.
A second panel featured Ifeoluwa Adekunle Yusuf, VP, Products & Engineering at Zest Payments, Olumide Okubadejo, Head of Product, Data and AI at Sabi, and Olurunleke White, Senior Data Scientist at Pastel. The session focused on human-centered design in compliance technology. “Compliance should make life easier, not harder,” Yusuf noted. “Trust is built when users can understand and interact with the system,” White added.
Closing the session, Yeyetunde Caxton-Martins, Head of People and Operations at Pastel, remarked, “This gathering reaffirms a simple truth: building intelligent, African-designed compliance infrastructure is not optional—it’s foundational. Sigma is not just a product. It’s a response to an urgent need for systemic clarity, accountability, and performance.”
With the success of its second edition, Pastel’s Breakfast Meeting is now a defining platform shaping what the future of compliance in Africa should look like in an AI-powered world.
Visit www.pastel.africa to learn more.
About Pastel
Pastel is a technology company building intelligent systems that power financial efficiency and operational resilience across the continent. Pastel helps institutions improve decision-making through AI and data-driven solutions tailored to Africa’s regulatory and operational landscape.
Its flagship platform, Sigma, enables financial institutions to monitor risk, detect fraud, meet regulatory obligations in real time, and more. Pastel Africa combines advanced machine learning with local expertise to deliver infrastructure that supports smarter, faster, and safer decisions, driving inclusive growth across finance, commerce, and development sectors in Africa.
