Aituaz Kola-Oladejo, a fintech specialist and executive director of Financial Services Innovators (FSI), says that Nigeria has turned into a hub for technological innovation and research.
She revealed this during a press conference in Lagos this past week to celebrate the organization’s third anniversary.
In its three years of operation, FSI, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting startups in the financial and technology sectors, has reportedly had both direct and indirect effects on the country’s technological ecosystem through empowerment, entrepreneurship, and mentorship.
In highlighting the business’s accomplishments since its founding in 2021, Kola-Oladejo said: “Our achievements include the promotion of open innovation amongst top players in the tech ecosystem and enhancement of access to Fintech APIs.”
“So far, 16 Fintech API partners including banks already have 321 API end-points on the innovations sandbox, while 125 Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) have been created from the sandbox. With 728 corporate members, 3,438 individual members, 2,535 student members and over 1,900 participants in nine innovation challenges, FSI has indeed come a long way.”
Nine hackathons addressing issues with financial inclusion in trade and commerce, energy, health, transportation, and agriculture have been organized by FSI in the last three years.
Furthermore, the Non Profit Organization, whose members are from Africa, Asia, Europe, Central America, and North America, played a key role in the promotion of an innovative culture in tertiary institutions throughout Nigeria.
“Right now, FSI has 2,535 student members, 712 campus ambassadors since its launch in 2021, while three universities have shown interest in adopting the FSI platform for tech innovation,” Kola-Oladejo explained, adding, “FSI has offered 141 free start-up clinics, had 114 participants in our Business Validation series, while $81,000 US Dollars was awarded winners of our innovation challenges to commence operations as start-ups. On both national and global scales, FSI has facilitated productivity through youth and startup empowerment, and enhancement of Nigerian tech products.”
