The Chief Executive Officer of AfricaNenda Foundation, Dr. Robert Ochola, has said that over 400 million Africans remain financially excluded despite growing mobile usage, fintech investment, and digital public infrastructure.
Ochola stated this during the opening of a high-level peer learning event co-hosted by AfricaNenda and the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) in Lagos. The event brought together central banks, regulators, and payment operators from across the continent to explore ways to deepen financial inclusion through instant payment systems.
According to him, Africa must move beyond building digital infrastructure that only serves a privileged few and instead prioritize scalable, inclusive systems for the financially excluded.
Describing the current state of digital progress in Africa and the number of financially excluded people as a paradox, Ochola said:
“This contradiction is not only unsustainable but unacceptable. The real question is: can we build inclusive, scalable systems that serve every citizen, not just the privileged few?”
NIBSS as a continental model
Ochola praised Nigeria’s NIBSS platform as a continental model for real-time, trusted, and inclusive payments infrastructure.
“NIBSS processes nearly a billion transactions monthly. It’s interoperable, secure, and available 24/7. This is the kind of system Africa needs, one that connects banks, fintechs, and switches with inclusive design at its core,” he said.
- He emphasized AfricaNenda’s commitment to supporting inclusive payment systems by strengthening regulatory capacity and fostering peer learning.
- Speaking at the event, NIBSS Managing Director and CEO, Premier Oiwoh, called on African countries to move past colonial-era frameworks and embrace locally built digital payment solutions.
“Africa must build payment systems by Africans, for Africans. Free trade requires free movement and that includes seamless financial transactions,” Oiwoh said.
He highlighted NIBSS’s close relationship with the Central Bank of Nigeria as a model of successful collaboration and proposed the formation of an Africa Regulators Forum on Digital Payments.
This body, he said, would help harmonize standards, encourage knowledge sharing, and co-develop inclusive, secure systems across the continent.
CBN calls for regulatory collaboration
Representing the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Phillip Ikeazor, the Director of Payments System Management at the CBN, Musa Jimoh, emphasized that the real competitor in Africa’s financial ecosystem is not other institutions but cash.
- Jimoh noted that Nigeria’s instant payments system, developed through NIBSS, was designed to tackle local challenges with scalable innovation.
- He urged African regulators to adopt a similar mindset, emphasizing the importance of regional collaboration.
- According to him, regulators across Africa must talk to one another, collaborate and maintain ongoing dialogue.
“Let’s rise above jurisdictional silos and work together as Africans,” he said.
More insights
- The five-day event brought together delegates from over 10 African countries — including central banks, payment system operators, and regulators for technical briefings, policy dialogues, site visits, and hands-on workshops.
- Nigeria’s NIP system served as a living case study in building interoperable, real-time payments that drive inclusion.
- Participants left with a shared ambition: to replicate Nigeria’s success while tailoring solutions to their own national and regional contexts, all with the goal of making inclusive instant payments a reality for all Africans.
