In recent times, Nigeria has established itself because the undisputed chief in Africa’s fintech revolution.
Between 2018 and 2022 alone, fintech startups within the nation attracted greater than $1.3 billion in funding, making Nigeria the primary vacation spot for fintech funding throughout Africa.
In 2024, Nigeria’s fintech trade skilled a powerful 70% progress from the earlier yr. This increase is pushed by an rising variety of Nigerians adopting digital funds and monetary providers, mixed with a younger, tech-savvy inhabitants desperate to embrace new know-how.
Nigeria was residence to greater than 430 fintech firms as of February 2025, marking a outstanding enhance from the 255 firms mapped in January 2024.
The report categorizes these firms into 12 verticals, with the most important being enterprise funds and cross-border transactions; credit score infrastructure and digital lending; and spend administration, purchase now, pay later (BNPL) and service provider options; with 56, 54, and 53 firms, respectively.
Business leaders spotlight the position the businesses play in rising Nigeria’s financial system. Olugbenga Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave, says, “We allow companies to scale, and once they scale, that permits us as properly to develop our enterprise.”
Equally, Paystack’s co-founder, Shola Akinlade, notes their major objective as “simplifying funds for companies,” reflecting fintech’s mission to streamline on a regular basis monetary transactions.
As we glance ahead, projections for Nigeria’s fintech sector stay robust. Specialists imagine fintech can be crucial for Nigeria in reaching its bold objective of reaching a $1 trillion GDP by 2026.
The collaboration between conventional banks and fintech firms is predicted to be essential for hitting this milestone.
Furthermore, the rising intersection between fintech and synthetic intelligence (AI) additionally alerts promising progress. Nigeria’s AI market alone is predicted to succeed in $434.4 million by 2026, rising quickly at a charge of over 44% yearly.
This exhibits that technology-driven monetary options will proceed to be important in shaping the nation’s financial future.