Nigeria: African Development Bank and Africa Fintech Network sign $525,000 grant to bolster fintech development in Africa | African Development Bank

The African Development Bank has signed a $525,000 grant agreement with Africa Fintech Network (AFN) to set up the Africa Fintech Hub, an online portal that will serve as a one-stop-shop for all fintech activities in Africa.

The agreement was signed on April 4, 2023.

The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) will provide funding and technical assistance to the Africa Fintech Network to host and manage the African Fintech Hub. The Hub is a digital platform that will enable fintech associations across Africa to pool resources and knowledge, strengthen relationships and partnerships, and showcase the work of fintech across the continent, including those led by women or be owned.

The African Fintech Hub will be delivered through a strategic partnership between AFN and the Center for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (Cenfri), which will provide technical support for the development of the hub, as well as promote research, knowledge creation and other innovative initiatives.

Lamin Barrow, Director General of the African Development Bank’s Nigeria Country Department, stressed the importance of the bank’s support for the project, saying it would help strengthen the fintech ecosystem in Africa, boost competitiveness in the digital world while benefiting from partnerships.

“At the African Development Bank, we recognize that we have an important role to play in helping to create a robust, efficient and sustainable fintech ecosystem across the continent. We are accelerating the execution of our High 5 strategic priorities through our various innovative interventions. These have helped improve access to digital infrastructure, including information and communications technology links with landlocked countries and broadband internet services. The need to overcome barriers and scale inclusive digital finance solutions to enhance economic resilience across Africa has become even more urgent.”

The African Development Bank, together with its partners, has launched the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility to provide catalytic investments to support innovative ideas, such as the Africa Fintech Hub Project aimed at expanding access to and use of digital finance solutions to meet meet the needs of all Africans.

Dr. Segun Aina, president of Africa Fintech Network, praised the bank for supporting the initiative.

“We are very excited about this partnership with the African Development Bank and the opportunities to work with Cenfri on multiple fintech initiatives across Africa to advance our mission to drive African-led fintech solutions, information sharing, ideation and encourage support. and to promote innovative technologies within the financial services industry across Africa and beyond. “

ADFI Coordinator, Sheila Okiro, said the bank, through the partnership of the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility, is pleased to “support this project to strengthen the fintech sector, continue our work to leverage technology to assist contribute to closing the financial inclusion gap and creating job opportunities across Africa.”

Currently, ADFI-supported projects improve digital financial infrastructure and regional interoperability through the development of payment systems and infrastructure in Ethiopia and the ECOWAS region. Other projects equip financial sector regulators with innovative technology to strengthen consumer protection in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia.

The Facility also supports projects to improve the deployment of digital micro-insurance for smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Zambia and Kenya, and to build cyber resilience capacity and remove barriers to accessing fintech services across the continent.

While fintechs have great potential to contribute to digital financial inclusion across the continent, the African fintech sector lags significantly behind that in other regions, such as Latin America and Southeast Asia.

In 2019, AFN and Cenfri conducted a study showing the need to establish and coordinate local fintech chapters, recruit new members, profile member performance, link them to market access and investment opportunities, and advocate on behalf of members for local and regional regulators.

The research also shows that less than 15% of fintechs are owned by women. Based on the outcome of the survey, AFN will develop and apply gender indicators and lens as a core part of the project implementation.

About Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI)

ADFI is a pan-African initiative designed to catalyze digital financial inclusion across Africa with the goal of ensuring that 332 million more Africans, 60% of whom are women, gain access to the formal economy by 2030. Launched in 2019, ADFI works for the African Development Bank’s High 5 to improve the quality of life of the people of Africa, catalyzing inclusive digital financial services through the gender-sensitive development of infrastructure, policy and regulation and product innovation. Current ADFI partners are the French Development Agency (AFD); the Ministry of Economy and Finance, France; the Ministry of Finance, Luxembourg; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative and the African Development Bank, which host and manage the facility.

For more information: www.adfi.org

About Africa Fintech Network (AFN)

AFN was founded and inaugurated in December 2018, as a continent-wide institution that unites African fintech leaders, organizations and stakeholders through their national country associations to exchange information and ideas, promote the creation of innovative financial technologies and deployment in and beyond Africa and support. AFN does this through advocacy, information dissemination, organizing industry events and capacity building. The member countries in turn support national fintech initiatives. Since its inception, AFN has been able to increase the number of membership associations from 11 countries in 2019 to the current 34 countries. It has formed strategic cross-sectoral and cross-continental partnerships with major institutions, and has successfully launched and run three editions of its annual flagship event – the Africa Fintech Festival (AFF). For more information about AFN, visit https://www.africafintechnetwork.com/