For many, remittances from the African diaspora are essential and sometimes life-saving contributions from family members living and working abroad. In 2024, an estimated $100bn was remitted to Sub-Saharan Africa through formal channels, while informal flows are believed to account for an additional 30–50%. In Nigeria alone, about $21bn was sent back to the country from its diaspora in 2024, accounting for about 10% of its gross domestic product.
For policymakers, however, the challenge is to convert these largely consumption-driven inflows into savings and investment that can support sustainable development. Achieving this will require scaling Africa’s fast-growing fintech sector to formalise flows and create accessible financial products. This subject was addressed by a panel on “Fintech and the Future of Remittances” convened as part of the Africa Capital Forum, hosted by the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Temi Popoola, group chief executive officer of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) pointed to the tremendous impact that technology has had on the Nigerian market. This digital transformation, he suggested, should also enable capital markets to access investments from the diaspora. “Can you imagine a world where a Nigerian living abroad can go to any fintech platform to transfer $100 or a $1,000, and that money has a termination on the capital markets? That’s the kind of future that we’re trying to build and to scale into, and it’s something very exciting,” he said.
Ridwan Olalere, CEO, LemFi, one of the leading remittance platforms in the continent, argued that while Nigeria’s regulatory environment is improving, particularly with greater openness and easier licensing, further progress will depend on creating a tiered, scalable licensing framework for fintechs. Drawing on the UK model, he suggested introducing graduated licences that allow smaller players to enter the market with lower capital requirements and grow over time, thereby increasing competition, lowering costs, and expanding participation.
Such an approach, Olalere emphasised, would further open access to the sector, enabling innovation beyond established players and unlocking broader value across the remittance ecosystem. “Nigeria, being a significant country, should be a rule setter in the financial technology space and should also enable regulations to move in a similar direction,” he urged.
Neeraj Kapur, group CEO, Crown Agents Bank, suggested that Nigeria’s path to becoming a regional hub for remittances and trade payments will depend on the convergence of technology, regulatory agility, and regional collaboration. He pointed to the rapid pace of development already underway, noting that sustained investment in fintech, coupled with closer cooperation among African central banks, is helping to build an increasingly integrated financial ecosystem.
Kapur argued that regulators must remain adaptive to innovation, observing that “to keep up with fintech, regulators have to become more and more fleet of foot.” Noting the growing importance of regtech, adaptable banking institutions, and stronger intra-African financial markets, he said that Nigeria’s evolution will not only drive domestic prosperity but position it as a key financial centre for the wider sub-Saharan region.
For Odunayo Eweniyi, chief operating officer of PiggyVest, a digital savings platform, the core challenge is not a lack of savings in Nigeria, but the need to bridge the gap between savings and long-term investment, pointing out that products must align with user behaviour and trust dynamics. She said trust and access are the primary barriers and called for investment to be made intuitive and seamlessly integrated into existing financial habits. This will require enabling fintech platforms, which are already trusted by millions, to distribute investment products, alongside faster regulatory sandboxes and treating data as core infrastructure. “What we have learned is that it is not that Nigerians don’t save; it is that we require containers that match their habit,” she said of PiggyVest’s experience in the market.