eTranzact boss calls for urgent collaboration in digital payment

The Chief Executive Officer of eTranzact International, a payment services provider in Africa, Niyi Toluwalope, has stressed the urgent need for collaboration to increase the inefficiency of the payment system.

Speaking at the 2024 yearly conference of the Committee of e-Business Industry Heads (CeBIH), the theme, ‘Payment system 2030: Navigating contemporary issues in driving future growth’ in Lagos.

Toluwalope underscored that collaboration can drive innovation and growth, especially as the consumer landscape evolves toward a younger demographic.

He said, “So what we see in the future is the situation where things are no longer a silo, we have a lot of efficiencies based on interconnected systems people leverage on.

“Nobody is duplicating the roles; we are not reinventing the wheels. You can leverage what has been established already and build on that. I think that is the future; that is what we need to adopt, and that is how to grow.”

Toluwalope further stressed that Nigeria leads in population but ranks lower in bank and payment penetration than South Africa and Kenya.

He emphasised that key factors driving growth include active regulatory engagement and innovative FinTech solutions, citing that inadequate infrastructure and compliance issues remain critical hurdles.

“So digitising onboarding is one of the things we believe that’s helped payment and payment systems adoption over the last couple of years and we are expecting things to even be further simplified to make this better,” he said.

Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Lagos State, Akinyemi Ajigbotafe, speaking on the theme said: “The collaborative approach to wealth creation and financial inclusion is a subject which touches the very heart of our government’s commitment to reducing poverty and fostering economic growth.”