In a statement by the Chief Technology Officer (CTO)/Co-founder of Kuda Technologies Limited, Musty Mustafa, he has restated that fintechs are pivotal to Nigeria’s quest to harness the full potential of the digital economy as a strategic non-oil contributor to socio-economic growth, he was quoted in his recent interview.
The vibrant CTO who shared industry leaders’ perspective on the Nigerian economy and the role of startups in an interview in Lagos, commended the Federal Government’s digital economy policy as a right step in the right direction.
In furtherance, he noted that cashless payment systems would impact more on the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with fintechs and digital solutions providers like Kuda and others playing bigger roles as critical drivers of the policy. According to him, “the key thing that we cannot shy away from is the impact of the cashless policy on the overall economy. If we can enhance it, we can harness the positives that it brings to the table for the Nigerian economy, he explained.
Additionally, speaking on digital platforms and e-payment systems, Mustafa stated that they are rapidly transforming Nigeria’s financial ecosystem by facilitating convenient and fast access to funds for businesses, lowering operational costs, as well as making transactions more seamless for customers.
He added that these are already having a positive ripple effect on the Nigerian economy as a whole, including job creation. The Kuda boss said: “What i see happening is more businesses and more innovative solutions are evolving; small businesses can now collect payments effectively in the easiest way and in a very cheap, affordable manner.
“Also, consumers can make payments with ease and also in a cheaper and affordable manner because these two things are very important–accessibility and affordability. If we can achieve these things in our payments industry, I think they will have positive ripple effects on the economy as a whole.” The Kuda CTO noted that Nigeria’s fintech industry had grown significantly in recent years with numerous startups providing cutting edge financial solutions to businesses and consumers, and pointed out that technology had a lot more to offer in enhancing the nation’s traditional banking and financial ecosystem.
He advised the government to formulate and implement laws and programmes that can further support the growth of the industry. He also called for continuous collaboration between the traditional banks and fintechs, a strong credit system, strengthening of the cyber security space and financial literacy.
Conclusively, the Kuda Co-Founder/CTO stated: “There are three key things we expect to see in terms of policy change and intentionality from the government and to foster growth that we are seeing in this sector. One of the key things is the policy that would entrench continuous relationships between the traditional players and the new players; that is, the traditional banks and the fintech. “On credit administration in Nigeria, we still have a lot of work that we need to do. The players in this sector alone cannot achieve it; we need government backing to ensure that we have a strong and credible credit administration system in the country,” he stressed.
