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In a bold move to reshape Nigeria’s financial compliance landscape, Pastel, Africa’s leading AI-powered enterprise solutions company, has rallied top fintech innovators, and banking executives, to explore how artificial intelligence can redefine trust and regulatory adherence in the digital age.
At the second edition of its breakfast meeting in Lagos, held in partnership with FintechNGR, the company convened stakeholders under the theme “Technology for Trust: Reinventing Compliance in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.” The high-level forum examined how AI and automation are transforming fraud detection, regulatory reporting, and institutional resilience.
The event came on the heels of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s draft directive introducing baseline standards for Automated Anti-Money Laundering (AML) solutions, underscoring the urgency for financial institutions to upgrade their compliance systems.
Nigeria’s financial sector is grappling with rising fraud cases. According to the 2024 Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) Fraud Report, Nigerian banks lost N52.26 billion to fraud, a 196 percent increase from the previous year, highlighting the critical need for real-time, intelligent systems capable of matching the speed and complexity of today’s digital transactions.
Africa loses $50 billion annually to illicit financial flows, and among the 24 countries on the FATF greylist, 12 are in Africa. This situation risks increased scrutiny of cross‑border transactions, tighter due diligence requirements, and potential impacts on investment and trade opportunities. Beyond financial losses, such reputational effects underline the urgency for strengthened, tech‑enabled compliance systems that promote transparency and build confidence in Africa’s financial ecosystem.
At the heart of the event was Sigma, Pastel’s flagship AI-powered solution, already being deployed by a growing number of Nigerian institutions. Built using local regulatory models and datasets, Sigma offers real-time fraud detection, anti-money laundering, automated reporting, comprehensive customer risk assessment, and more features that position it as the standard for compliance infrastructure in African banking.
In his welcome address, Abuzar Royesh, CEO of Pastel, emphasised the company’s commitment to designing technology that reflects Africa’s unique operational and regulatory challenges. “Sigma is not a Western system retrofitted for Africa. It is purpose-built using African data, CBN standards, and risk models from across the continent,” he said. “We’re not just offering tools, we’re helping banks and regulators scale trust and performance in an increasingly complex financial ecosystem.”
Anthony Amodu, chief revenue officer at Pastel, addressed the inefficiencies of traditional compliance systems. “Manual reporting and fragmented monitoring can no longer keep pace with today’s threats,” he said. “Sigma offers the speed, clarity, and accountability that C-suite leaders now require, not just to stay compliant, but to stay competitive.”
The event featured a live demonstration of Sigma’s capabilities, showing how the platform helps banks and other institutions detect suspicious activity instantly, generate regulator-ready reports, and integrate seamlessly with existing risk frameworks. Participants included executives from the Fintech Association of Nigeria, Tier 1 and 2 banks, digital lenders, fintech, and infrastructure providers, making the event one of the most influential compliance gatherings in the country to date.
In a keynote address, Seun Folorunsho, representing Stanley Jacob, president of FintechNGR and CEO of Zest Payment Limited, emphasised the global momentum around AI for compliance. “Non-compliance is extremely costly. Financial institutions around the world are spending over $200 billion annually on AI tools for regulatory assurance. Nigeria must move in step with that reality.”
Wede Thompson, chief compliance officer at Optimus Bank, led a fireside chat on regulation and user experience. “Regulation is ultimately about trust. If we want to build that trust using artificial intelligence, banks, fintechs, and regulators must work in lockstep and with the end customer in mind,” he said.
The first panel discussion featured Babafemi Ogungbamila, EVP, Operations & Technology, Interswitch; Arini Awotunde, CFO, Coronation Merchant Bank, Bola Fatai, CCO of Katsu Network, and Pastel’s CEO, Abuzar Royesh. Each stressed the need for explainability, accountability, and regulatory alignment in AI-powered systems. “Artificial intelligence should enhance not just automate compliance,” said Ogungbamila. “We must ensure innovation and ethics move together,” added Awotunde.
A second panel featured Ifeoluwa Adekunle Yusuf, VP, Products & Engineering at Zest Payments; Olumide Okubadejo, head of Product, Data and AI at Sabi; and Olurunleke White, senior data scientist at Pastel. The session focused on human-centered design in compliance technology. “Compliance should make life easier, not harder,” Yusuf noted. “Trust is built when users can understand and interact with the system,” White added.
In her closing remarks, Yeyetunde Caxton-Martins, head of People and Operations at Pastel, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to industry collaboration. “This event reaffirms what we believe, which is the fact that building intelligent compliance infrastructure isn’t optional; it’s foundational. Sigma is how we help institutions move from burden to advantage.”
