Buhari/Osinbajo Helped Produce Billion-Dollar Fintech Giants – Flutterwave Founder Aboyeji on Inside Sources

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Culled from Dailytrust.com

The emergence in Nigeria of at least five Fintech giants, each worth at least one billion dollars, is the result of a deliberate policy of the Buhari presidency and the personal inspiration of former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

This was disclosed on INSIDE SOURCES WITH LAOLU AKANDE by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji who co-founded both Flutterwave and Andela, two of the FINTECH unicorns.

Aboyeji recalled that he was a member of the Industrial Competitiveness Council which Osinbajo chaired as VP and which developed ideas including a visit to US Silicon Valley from where the funding that birthed the Unicorns emerged.

According to him, the Former CBN Governor “Emefiele is often scorned. Let’s talk the truth, he managed to build a policy environment where Fintech could thrive. With the support of the [Buhari/Osinbajo] administration. They took a nationalistic and patriotic world view.

“And thankfully, we had allies in the administration like Prof [Yemi Osinbajo, the then vice president] who could help us. So, that is what enabled us to grow.

“I remember the time when Prof on a whim took a bunch of ministers to Silcon Valley in 2017. That was a game changer. The money flowed in after that trip. He, in many ways inspired this wave of funding that made us UNICORNS.

“When I was on the Industrial Competitiveness Council, I engaged Prof. Let’s go to Silicon Valley and show the world that Nigerian government will support the digital economy.”

Indeed in July 2018, former Vice President Osinbajo led a delegation of Nigerian government officials, technology entrepreneurs and also private sector players in the entertainment & Creative Economy sectors to the United States.

Speaking on the outcome of the trip which had stops at Silicon Valley and also Hollywood both in California, the then VP was quoted as saying there have been active partnerships between Nigerian start-ups and some US tech firms, referring to the Silicon Valley visit which he said, alongside the stop at Hollywood “were extremely successful.”

He said specifically “at the Silicon Valley, Nigerian start-ups got a chance to pitch their products to tech sector investors, that was very good, in fact before we left Silicon Valley, one of our venture platforms was able to sign a deal of about $10m with the Nigerian/US Council, even before we left.”

Reflecting on his success journey in the Digital Economy sector, Aboyeji also said, “In 2014 when I first started, if you had told me that I would have helped co-found two UNICORNS, I would have told you that you don’t know what you are talking about.

“But I think there are a few key things that we’ve learned along the journey that made it possible. The first is an enduring belief in Nigerian talents. Andela is a product of the Nigerian talent. With Flutterwave, having a genuine interest in your customers, and making a market by doing things the right way.”

Commenting on the future of Nigeria, he observed that “I have a rather unpopular view compared to most people. A lot of young people will tell you they are not optimistic or happy. While I acknowledge that there are a lot of challenges, I have never been more optimistic about the future of this country than I am now. Perhaps it’s because I’m an avid reader of history,”