Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says
there is a need to reform Nigerian banks for them to meet up with the
inevitability of the Fintech revolution.
Speaking at the ongoing first
ever Africa Investment Forum in Johannesburg on Thursday, the Osinbajo said
there are no plans to take the banks’ lunch, but the banks have to reform to
survive.
He said the “Fintech companies,
as you know, are challenging some of the old laws on banking and all of that”.
“The major issue is that
technology is clearly going to disrupt the financial space, and is doing so
already, so banks have to reform,” Osinbajo said.
“They have to invest in some of
the Fintech companies themselves, and they have to see this revolution as
inevitable.
“I think that what we are seeing
today is the reform around that space, and many of the banks are looking up and
understanding that this is going to happen, and it’s already happening”.
OSINBAJO: BANKS NEED NOT FEAR BUT
REFORM, INVEST
He, however, allayed the fears of
the banks by saying the government is, and will, work with them, the
regulators, and the Fintech companies to ensure development in the sector.
“I think the first thing is to
allay the fears of the bank that lunch isn’t being taken away. Banks, of
course, are jittery about some of what is happening in the Fintech space,”
Osinbajo added.
“They need to be assured that
this isn’t about taking their lunch but that we cannot avoid what is coming to
us now.
“What we are saying is that
payment system, lending, all sort of financial systems, even insurance are
happening much faster.
“So we have to change regulation
and we must ensure that we give space to these tech companies because what is
happening is that there is a quick convergence between technology and financial
products.
“So much faster than many of the
banks are able to cope with, so what we are trying to do is work with the
banking system, the Central Bank of Nigeria for example, we are sitting with
the Fintech companies, banks, and the telcos.
“The telcos are in this space now
and many of them are challenging some of what used to be traditional banking
businesses.”
Osinbajo, who spoke alongside the
presidents of Ghana, Guinea, and South Africa, on the presidential panel in
Johannesburg, acknowledged that there is a regulatory challenge in the
financial space.
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