Yele Okeremi Urges Government to Lead in Propelling Nigerian Fintech to Global Dominance

Mr. Yele Okeremi, Managing Director of Precise Financial Systems (PFS), has issued a compelling call to the Nigerian government, emphasizing that its active leadership is crucial for the nation’s burgeoning fintech ecosystem to achieve global prominence. Okeremi articulated his views during an appearance on C-Suite Café, a podcast hosted by veteran journalist and brand strategist, Ikem Okuhu.

According to Okeremi, the growth of Nigerian fintech will remain constrained unless the government pays close attention to the sector’s trends and developments. He asserted that only governmental leverage can enable the industry to become a global leader.

Drawing a parallel with China, Okeremi highlighted how the Chinese government’s deliberate strategy propelled its local payment platform, Union Pay, to become one of the world’s prime payment gateways. “If we are going to achieve the kind of goals that I have in mind, then, naturally the government must take certain positions. Take a look at Union Pay today. Union Pay started as China Union Pay. But today, Union Pay cards are accepted everywhere in the world. It was not magic. It happened as a result of the deliberate strategy of the Chinese government.

The card business was dominated by Mastercard and Visa. American Express was popular in the United States. But today, Union Pay have become global. So, why couldn’t Verve have become global?” he queried.

The fintech expert lamented that while the creators of Verve possessed a sellable technology, it was unable to withstand the headwinds of global competition. He expressed concern over Nigeria’s continued reliance on foreign-issued cards for local payments. “Who does the kinds of things we do here? For local payments, we are issuing Mastercard and Visa when we have Verve? I think these are issues that we need to take a look at,” he stated.

Okeremi firmly believes that Nigeria possesses all the necessary ingredients to take its fintech products global, urging the government to prioritize this ambition. “We have a huge market here, and we have the resources. The assets for creating wealth are the market and the natural resources. Nigeria has both. But the private sector can do so much, but until the government provides the needed support and policy leverage, there the private sector will achieve limited successes, and until you have the support of your sovereign, you will never be able to fly,” Okeremi canvassed.
He further expressed dismay at the prevalence of individuals with no prior involvement in wealth creation within the country’s political leadership. Okeremi advocated for a paradigm shift, proposing a system where certain critical political leadership positions are reserved for pre-qualified individuals with a proven track record of success in their respective fields.

Okeremi also challenged the notion that some highly valued fintech companies, often labeled as unicorns, are genuinely Nigerian. He argued that many have pivoted to foreign ownership in their pursuit of scale and funding. “For instance, I am one of the founding fathers of Interswitch, and ordinarily, had the environment done what was needed to have been done, Interswitch would have blossomed. But they recognized that the environment was not giving them what they wanted, so they took the easy way to get value – have alliances and sell to foreign interests. But that’s not what I have fought for, and I am not going to blame anybody that has done that? I doubt if I should, because I might be able to withstand the pressures, which they cannot withstand,” he explained.

He questioned the sustainability of the current trajectory, asserting, “But the question is, ‘should we continue on this trajectory as a people? It is a picture of a people that are going nowhere, and that trajectory must reverse. We must realise that we have the capacity to do anything that anybody anywhere in the world can do, and even if we do not have the capacity at this particular point in time, we have more than enough capacity to learn and understudy and replicate,” Okeremi submitted.

In his recommendations, Okeremi advocated for the government to identify outstanding Nigerian fintech players and actively promote them on the global stage through the deliberate creation of narratives designed to foster international acceptance.

Ultimately, he called for the entrenchment of a leadership that comprehends the true essence of wealth – not merely cash, but the inherent capacity to create from nothing.