Naija Fintech Sector Don Get Wahala as Foreign Investment De Drop

Naija fintech sector dey face serious gbege as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) don drop report wey show say, we dey too depend on foreign investment. E no too sweet when you check am, because dem talk say funding don drop from $747 million for 2019 to just $520 million in 2024. Na wetin dem call wahala for our homegrown startups.

According to di Central Bank for di 2025 Fintech Policy Insight Report, although dis sector don show resilience, wetin come dey cause serious concern be say e too rely on outside money. E mean say anytime global market shake, our fintech go feel am sharply.

CBN Governor, Olayemi Cardoso, talk say as we dey enter 2026, na so e clear say we need to develop our local funding options. Di man yarn say if we no fit find local funds to secure di biz, we go dey put our economy for serious risk.

Meanwhile, dem don show say na true, wetin sabi as NIBSS NIP dey ground gidi gidi, merit wey dey most mature for instant payments globally. E show say more than 25% of electronic transactions wey happen for Naija, na through dis system, and e don dey increase from 5 billion transactions wen we reach 11 billion transactions in 2024. dem dey lead for di payments game, no be small.

But na wetin good go bad sometimes, because stakeholders for di fintech sector don dey complain say compliance cost dey wahala for dem too. About 87.5% of dem talk say di money dem dey spend to meet regulatory requirements dey affect their capacity to innovate. Na wah! If you wan run proper business for Naija, una go need plenty to spend just to follow di rules.

For de report, nearly 62.5% of fintech firms don swallow their pride and prepare dem minds to think about regional expansion, but na wetin we go need to do e be say, we need stable funding before we fit expand into other African markets. CBN don advise say if we wan carry our fintech go abroad, we go first settle our local issues.

Na so di koko be my people, Nigeria’s fintech dey show wetin e fit do but if we no fit play our cards right for local investments, we go dey subject am to foreign shocks. Wetin be di solution? Na time to band together, follow di right path for funding, and make sure our innovation infrastructure dey intact.