The director general, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Mr. Lamido Yuguda, has said the financial technology (fintech) is a game changer in deepening the capital market and enhancing financial inclusion.
Yuguda stated this at the maiden edition of the SuperNews Nigeria conference held in Lagos yesterday under the theme ‘Imperative of fintech in promoting financial inclusion.’
Yuguda who was represented by the director of registration, exchanges, market infrastructure and innovation, Mr. Mr. Abdulkadir Abbas remarked that the theme of the event was very important to the capital market because transformation in the sector is incomplete without fintech.
“We can see a kind of game changer and rapid transformation in the financial sector due to fintech. It is a building block for enhancing financial inclusion.
“Traditional means can no longer work, the average age of investors in the capital market is 45-50 years and we are currently trying to attract the millennial to the market and this can be achieved with the aid of fintech.
“We are exploring ways to leverage on fintech to bring on the young people to the market. The capital market sees fintech as an opportunity and that is one of the ways we intend to change the dynamics of the capital market.
In view of the importance of fintech, Abbas said the capital market initiated the fintech a roadmap which enables the SEC to come up with innovations and rules to support the initiative.
“We need innovation to deepen and broaden the market and we had to come up with rules to support it like the rules on crowd funding among others.
“We all saw the success achieved with the electronic offering by MTN; a lot of Nigerians were able to subscribe with their phones and other gadgets conveniently.
“We realised that one of the ways to unlock investment opportunities is through fintech and we are stepping up such strategies to deepen the market,” he added.
He however expressed the need to strike a balance between investor protection and innovation.
The director general said the commission was ready to collaborate with other regulators and stakeholders in the quest to attract more investors to the capital market and grow the economy.
In her remarks, the Publisher/CEO of SuperNews Nigeria, Mrs. Ngozi Onyeakusi said the conference centred on fintech and financial inclusion which, according to her, hold a great potential for the Nigerian economy and for the financial stability of the country.
She said the emergence of Covid-19 no doubt projected the need for adoption of fintech in daily activities and businesses but not without its attendant challenges.
Onyeakusi said the choice of the theme was aimed at contributing its quota to the financial inclusion target of the federal government.
She explained that the conference was designed to enhance awareness, deepen understanding of participants in the role of fintech in rendering banking, capital market, insurance and pension services cheaper, faster and conveniently.
