Legacy All Around
I was in America last month to speak at the Duke University’s ‘Business in Africa’ conference and the theme was ‘Innovation For Africa’. It was a great event with very interesting speakers.
There were speakers from all over Africa and it was a great opportunity to interact with them. We also had the co-founder of PayStack presenting at the event and he spoke about the opportunities in Nigeria and Africa. In the financial space, when it comes to innovation beyond mobile money there is a lot that is happening in West Africa.
Talking about innovation in payments: Throughout my trip in the US I hardly ever had to take out my wallet. It was just ‘Tap and Go’ everywhere. Everything was so easy and convenient. A yellow cab in New York was tap and go. Arriving at the airport and having Starbucks was tap and go. The only thing where I could not tap and go was the tip I gave to concierge service as I was checking out. I am sure next time I visit the US, there will be an a tap and go option for person to person tipping.
Two things that struck me - with all this technology available in America why haven’t the new payment options scaled up enough? And why with all this technology also available in Africa we haven’t scaled up? Two very different problems.
In my opinion, this could be one of the many reasons. In America, they have legacy issues. Though there is technology to uproot and create a new payment infrastructure, it is very costly. However, In Africa, we have legacy of governance and leadership. If the leadership can see this opportunity, we would have adopted this technology that people can’t in the western world can’t because of the costs associated.
In Africa, the legacy is not physical…it is more in the mind.
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6 年We'll get there when we let technology drive us not corrupt politicians. Don't give up the fight for innovation.
Customer Experience and Operations management.
6 年The change we desire has to start with us. How many of us have faith in the level of technology we have achieved?
I'm a tech artist, product designer. BLCO Seller
6 年I think when the right product that is designed with Africans on mind is made, our people would wake. What we have is just copy and paste products. What worked in USA, likely won't work in Nigeria because of our heterogeneous market. My point is, when the right products for Africans are made, Africa would start the tapping.
Territory Sales Executive at Seven Up Bottling Company
6 年For me I think why Africans are laggards is because the level of exposure, education and information is very low. As wide as internet service in Nigeria today how many percentage of our citizens has access to it?
Executive Director
6 年For me, I think Insurance companies have a lot to do if e-payment is to be scaled up in Nigeria. Nigerians want assurances and security of their money throughout any e-payment transaction flow. Once insurance covers tge "percieved" risk, the acceptance of e-payment will accelerate.