Before becoming a hub for foreign funders, Nigeria's cashless policy brought commercial banks and startups into the country's fintech industry. Now, there are over 200 Fintech companies in the Nigerian economy, thanks to the influence of the booming youth population, increased smartphone penetration, and CBN's focused regulatory drive to increase financial inclusion and cashless payments.

Nigeria’s fintech companies have raised over $600 million in funding from 2014 to 2019. About 25% of the $491.6 million raised by African tech startups in 2019 and 82.2% of $55.37 million funds raised by startups in Nigeria in Q1 2020 were for Fintech companies.

Fintech in Nigeria covers savings and investments, mobile payment and exchange, cryptocurrency, crowdfunding, agrotechnology, digital health, and online banking. The rise in the Fintech experience in Nigeria shows that the country is gradually embracing digital technology, which offers many advantages to SMEs. Here are some of the benefits in detail:

Access to a Large Market Size

Young Nigerians are internet and tech-savvy, which means 44% of the country’s population want swift business transactions such as seamless payment options. Hence, businesses that embrace fintech to provide seamless payment experiences for their customers will receive more attention from tech-savvy millennials.

Healthy Competition Among Businesses

Contrary to popular belief, fintech is not disrupting banking but is actually creating healthy competition. Fintech apps like Interswitch, Flutterwave, and PayStack are continuing to advance online payments, while mobile money services like Opay, Paga, and bank platforms have collapsed business transactions, making it easier for business owners conversant with these platforms to attract more clients and customers than ones using cash.

Fill in Business and Financial Solution Gaps

Entrepreneurs and SMEs can create business services that are fintech-oriented and solve challenges in the sector. For instance, there are many independent mobile money kiosks in Nigeria, especially in rural areas, rendering payment services to residents for Cable TV subscriptions, electricity bills, withdrawals, and deposits to sports betting. This reduces the burden on Nigerian banks while boosting employment.

Generate More Profit and Save Cost

The Nigerian business environment is moving in a direction where there will eventually be zero need for physical meetings and shops. This is extremely beneficial since the removal of physical shop locations from business plans will increase profit and save overhead costs for entrepreneurs and investors.

Expansion of Business Entities

Nigerian fintech startups have become international business entities, thanks to foreign investors. Other entrepreneurs and SMEs within the country can also attract investors like 54gene and Helium Health if they can offer unique services using tech solutions, which will help them stand out within the sector.

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What is Venture Capital?

Venture capital refers to funds provided to startup companies by either a venture capital firm or a venture capitalist. These funds may be required to start a new business from scratch, expand an existing business or buy out an existing company. The institutions charged with the task of handling the funds and issuing them out to support deserving entrepreneurs are known as Venture Capital Firms or Venture Capitalists (VCs), in return for their investment in a business, they hold a certain percentage of shares in the company which varies from one Vc to another.

You just need a good idea that you can make them money with because that's what Vc firms or venture capitalist needs. The lower the risk the more you can get this over the finish line, while you may need a good pitch deck to show them your metrics and your progress and how you can make more with an injection of cash.


You can always check the blog post How do I get funds for my startup in Nigeria? For other option of raising money for your business