Speaking at the 2024 Annual Conference of the Committee of e-Business Industry Heads (CeBIH), Mr. ‘DeRemi Atanda, Managing Director of Remita Payment Services Limited, delivered a thought-provoking keynote address that spotlighted the transformative potential of Nigeria’s National Payment System Vision (NPSV). With deep industry insight, he highlighted the remarkable milestones of the two iterations of the vision (PSV 2020 and PSV 2025) and addressed critical challenges confronting its implementation. His address left an indelible impression, inspiring stakeholders to reimagine the future of payments in Africa.
During the keynote, Mr. Atanda called for a renewed focus on collaboration, legislative support, and the standardization of payment infrastructure to unlock economic opportunities. He stated Nigeria’s Payment System Vision, as articulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria: “To facilitate economic activities by providing safe and efficient mechanisms for making and receiving payments with minimum risks to the central bank, payment service providers and end users, extending the availability and usage to all sectors and geographies, banked and unbanked, and conforming to internationally accepted regulatory, technical and operational standards”. He also noted: “The National Payment System Vision is not just a document; it is a call to action, a shared goal for facilitating economic activities through safe and efficient payment mechanisms. If we cannot domesticate this vision within our businesses, we leave critical gaps.”
Highlighting the remarkable progress since the inception of the National Payment System Vision 2025 in 2020, Mr. Deremi Atanda emphasized key achievements in Nigeria’s digital payments ecosystem under NPSV 2025. These include the significant growth in active bank accounts from 114.8 million in 2020 to 231.1 million by 2024, representing a 101% growth, the 365% growth in real-time payment volumes from 2 billion in 2020 to 9.3 billion by 2023, and the expansion of POS transaction volumes by 110%, from 655 million in 2020 to 1.4 billion by 2023. Additionally, Mr. Atanda highlighted that the Nigerian fintech sector attracted over $2 billion in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and has birthed four fintech unicorns between 2020 and 2025. These achievements, he noted, signify not just progress but the immense potential of a strategically aligned payments ecosystem.
However, Mr. Atanda emphasized that sustaining and expanding this momentum requires a concerted focus on global standards. “Payments are a critical pillar of the global financial market infrastructure, governed by 24 principles spanning nine dimensions. Without a deep understanding and alignment with these principles, we risk isolation from the global payment ecosystem. Building locally with a global outlook isn’t just a strategy; it’s a necessity for relevance and resilience,” he asserted.
Mr. Atanda also urged for greater cooperation within the payment ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of foundational infrastructure. “We are often trapped in competition when we should be cooperating to build the foundational infrastructure. The opportunities at the top are immense, but the real work lies beneath, in building the standards, technology, and systems that enable growth,” he said.
Reflecting on the legislative challenges, Mr. Atanda noted the prolonged delay in passing the Payment System Management Bill, which he identified as critical to realizing the full potential of the NPSV. He observed: “The Payment System Management Bill has been in the National Assembly for over a decade. Without its passage, much of what we aspire to achieve will remain suboptimal. This calls for urgent, collaborative advocacy among stakeholders.”
Speaking on the future of Nigeria’s payment ecosystem, Mr. Atanda laid out some goals all stakeholders should explore for the actualization of NPSV 2030, emphasizing ambitious financial inclusion targets and transformative policies to enhance cross-border payment systems. He stated, “By 2030, we must achieve 90% financial inclusion. Economic inclusion fuels financial inclusion and vice versa. Establishing clear standards and driving cross-border payments will position Nigeria as a global leader in the payment ecosystem.”
Mr. Atanda underscored the critical role of stakeholder awareness in realizing this vision, highlighting the importance of aligning all players in the industry with a shared understanding of their roles. Reflecting on the early days of Nigeria’s payments industry, he noted the significant strides made in building awareness and traction but cautioned against repeating past missteps where insufficient advocacy, awareness and limited policy and legislative reforms hindered progress.
He called for a renewed focus on revisiting outdated laws and strengthening legislative advocacy to create an enabling environment for sustainable growth. “To shape the future of payments in Nigeria, we must champion robust legislative reforms and advocacy to address emerging challenges and position the industry as a model for innovation and inclusion,” he said.
He concluded with a rallying call for active stakeholder participation: “Everyone in this room is a stakeholder in the National Payment System Vision. From policy formulation to infrastructure development, collaboration is the big factor that will drive progress. There is no room for idle spectators.”
Following Mr. Atanda’s presentation, a panel session comprising industry experts, including Paul MosiMabale, Director, Upperlink Technologies; Ashley Immanuel, Chief Executive Officer, Semicolon; Adedeji Olowe, Founder, Lendsqr Inc.; Solape Hammond, Co-Founder, Impact Hub Lagos; and Destiny Agbanimu, Head of Growth, Autogon AI, convened to examine the topic: Digital Payment and the National Digital Economy Framework. The session was moderated by Tunde Kuponiyi, Chief Executive Officer, SmartCash Payment Service Bank, and provided deeper insights into the interplay between digital payments and the evolving digital economy framework in Nigeria.
The CeBIH 2024 Annual Conference provided a vital platform to discuss the evolving dynamics of payment systems and their role in fostering economic growth. Mr. Atanda’s address reinforced the critical need for collective action to actualize the vision of a robust, inclusive, and globally integrated payment system for Nigeria.
