Yemi Osinbajo, Vice President of Nigeria has commended the effort of Access Bank through its Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF) initiative to provide funding, mentorship and nurturing to financial technology (Fintech) startups.
Osinbajo who toured the AFF office in Victoria Island Lagos, alongside Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Ogbonnaya Onu, Minister of Science and Technology on Tuesday April 17, 2018 said he was impressed to know that Access Bank is at the fore-front of creativity and innovation.
“Technology is the way to go. There is no doubt that the future of our country will depend on the level of our innovation to solve our problems. I am extremely proud of what I have seen here today and the federal government will be working with you to build something similar to AFF in University of Lagos and six other universities across the country,” he said.
“A place like this where creative people can come and solve problems by creating disruptive technology is very impressive and there is no doubt that this will be the toast of our nation in the next few years,” Osinbajo added.
AFF is an initiative of Access Bank in collaboration with tech giants; Microsoft and IBM to provide a platform to foster innovation in the fintech ecosystem with the aim of nurturing young talent for the future of financial services in Africa.
Mosun Belo Olusoga, Chairman, Access Bank Plc said that “access bank is leveraging technology to drive financial inclusion, as the bank aims to gain 35million new customers in the next five years with the use of technology.”
Speaking about disruption, Ade Bajomo, Executive Director, IT & Operations, Access Bank Plc said that banking is being disrupted by technology in the same way that retail has already been disrupted beyond any imagination.
“For a bank to grow from 1milion customers to 35million or more, it means that they have to embrace the right technology in ways that they have not done before. At Access Bank, we have developed ways to achieve this; one of this is the Tamara App feature with artificial intelligence so that anybody, anywhere in the world with a phone can access our services,” he said.
Banjomo who gave a brief presentation on the technology outlook and growth plans of the bank said that managing digital risk is top priority and this has helped the bank build an impressive data base to aid loan payment.
“We understand the risks in the digital world and we have taken significant steps to secure our processes,” he said.
Africa Fintech Foundry, as a growth stage accelerator for fintech startups in Nigeria and Africa at large, is big on creating an enabling environment for SMEs which are a vital part of any economy.
Jumoke Akiyode-Lawanson
