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Stakeholders Task CBN, NCC to Conduct Fintech Talent Needs Survey
The Fintech specialists and other stakeholders have tasked the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and Nigeria Security Commission to conduct a talent needs survey.
According to the professionals the survey will help the regulators to understand the type of manpower challenges the industry is facing and to assist the education and training institutes to develop relevant curricular.
The keynote speaker and President of the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON), Chinenye Mba-Uzoukwu said the specific competencies identified by the survey would be a starting point for Fintech professionals, HR, educators and policy makers to understand what skills are needed in the industry.
The Fintech and Human Resources (HR) experts spoke during the Fintech Talent Summit – a co-located but focused event – within the annual Lagos Fintech Week 2020 which was held virtually last week.
Unanimous in their submissions, the specialists expressed the views that such a talent survey would empower the education and training centres to develop relevant programmes that will enable students to gain access to the Fintech and HR industry with maximum preparedness.
“The Nigeria Fintech ecosystem has become a leading network in Africa’s financial service industry through innovative solutions in lendtech, insurtech and wealthtech among others.
“The industry is regarded as a dominant force in Africa. However, despite the huge potential of Fintech, access to and retention of best-in-class talents is a growing concern within the industry”, the mavens agreed.
According to a PwC report in 2017, 77 per cent of the Chief Executive Officers surveyed view skills shortages as business threats.
In his presentation, Mba-Uzoukwu explained that the skill shortages in the industry cut across hard and soft skills. “Not only technical skills, but also specific communication and response behaviours that are highly valued in the Fintech industry”, he emphasized.
The PwC report highlighted the hard skills that are in shortfall to include communication, creativity, high emotional quotient (EQ), block chain, programming languages such as Python, C++, C#, GoLang, SQL, JavaScript and Java ML, AI, Deep Learning and cyber security.
Speaking on the Community-as-a-Service (CaaS): Connecting with the right Talent for Current and Future Opportunities, Professor Abiodun Aibinu, Head of Department, Mechanical Engineering, Federal University of Technology, Minna, identified 10 skills that are relevant to the future of work.
He listed EQ, critical thinking, active learning with growth mindset and judgment as well as decision making. Others include interpersonal communication, leadership, diversity and cultural intelligence, technological and embracing skills.
Also, the Executive Director at Innovectives Group, Ayo Oladimeji said “for us as Fintech experts, our talent pool is our greatest asset. And this goes a long way to determine growth and success of the venture.
“To grow and achieve the mission of the business, we must help our team members to thrive by providing an inclusive and progressive work atmosphere,” he added.
The Fintech and HR professionals that also spoke at the summit include the Director General, Ekiti State Directorate of ICT, Dr. Hakeem Bakare; founder, Programmos Limited, Amos Emmanuel; CEO, Spacepointe, Sayu Abend; and CEO, Computic Limited, Moses Braimah.
Others include the founder and CEO of Riby Finance, Salami Abolore; Team Lead, Innfact Concepts, Akinbowale Alabi; the CTO, Inits Limited, Femi Taiwo and Head of Engineering at SystemSpecs, Mujib Ishola.
The faculty also had the CTO and Executive Director at Precise Financial Systems, Osifalujo Adedotun; Head, HR and admin, United Securities, Omobolanle Imafidon as well as the Chief Operating Officer, Automarket, Timi Tope Olagunoye.
Founder of Technology Times, Shina Badaru; Co-Founder/CEO, Ebanqo, Inc, Charles Ifedi; Group Head, Ringer One Africa Media (Roam), Tunde Adeniran; and Co-Founder, Social Lender, Bade Adesemowo were the others.
Xora Finance has announced it will no longer consider job applicants from Nigeria.
Xora Finance is a digital bank founded by Joren Lundgren, in February 2026 and allows users to deposit and earn interest on their XRP cryptocurrency.
Lundgren, founder, in an announcement on X (formerly Twitter), cited an ongoing pattern of misconduct, such as dishonesty and theft, from previous Nigerian hires as the reason for the decision.
This sudden blanket ban came just days after the company’s official career page was aggressively recruiting remote workers for marketing and content roles.
The announcement generated heavy backlash online, with many people upset that a blanket rule punishes honest job seekers.
Some lawyers have said that victims of Ponzi schemes have legal remedies, although recovering lost funds and prosecuting perpetrators remain major challenges.
A Ponzi scheme is an investment fraud that pays existing investors with funds collected from new participants rather than from actual profits.
Operators lure victims by promising high returns with little to no risk.
The scheme inevitably collapses when the flow of new investors slows down.
Some lawyers who spoke to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) separate interviews with on Sunday, said that victims could pursue civil actions to recover their money.
Mr Chibuikem Opara, a lawyer at Justification Chambers, Ikeja,said many Nigerians continued to fall victim to Ponzi schemes in spite of repeated warnings.
Opara said it was wrong to attribute participation in Ponzi schemes to a lack of investment opportunities, noting that promoters often exploit investors’ greed through promises of unrealistic returns.
“What you cannot take away is the fact that many Nigerians have fallen and continue to fall victim to these schemes every time,” he said.
According to him, victims may individually or collectively institute civil actions against the beneficiary company for breach of contract or refund arising from failure of consideration.
Opara said victims could also unite to seek an order from the Federal High Court to wind up the beneficiary company.
He, however, noted that such efforts might yield little benefit if perpetrators had already siphoned the funds and left behind an empty shell.
The lawyer said available remedies largely depended on the actions of relevant authorities, adding that recipient accounts could be frozen to facilitate fund recovery and support winding-up proceedings.
Opara said regulators and law enforcement agencies often became aware of Ponzi schemes only after substantial losses had occurred.
According to him, victims frequently failed to report suspicious schemes early enough to enable timely intervention.
He added that funds are sometimes moved outside the country before authorities become aware of the fraud.
Opara also cited inadequate information and the deceptive nature of the schemes as major obstacles to investigation and prosecution.
“Most times, everything about the schemes is made to appear elusive, just like the profits promised to victims,” he said.
Also speaking, Mr Vincent Aminu of A.F. Aminu and Co. advised that victims of investment scams should report such cases to appropriate law enforcement agencies on time.
Aminu said victims could petition the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or file reports with the police.
He said that after investigation, prosecutors could bring charges against suspects under relevant fraud-related laws, including provisions of the Criminal Code and the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act.
Beyond criminal prosecution, Aminu said .victims could pursue civil actions to recover their money
According to him, such actions may be based on breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or fraudulent misrepresentation, depending on the circumstances.
He added that victims could petition the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which could investigate illegal operators, shut down unauthorised platforms, and freeze assets.
He identified the anonymity of online fraudsters as one of the biggest challenges confronting investigators.
According to him, many operators concealed their identities through fake digital profiles and technologies that made tracking them difficult.
Aminu also noted that victims who delayed taking legal action risked losing opportunities for redress.
He added that prolonged court proceedings often delayed justice for victims.
“Many fraud-related cases take years before the court reaches a verdict, thereby delaying justice for victims,” he said.
Also, Mr Chris Ayiyi of Ayiyi Chambers, Apapa, described Ponzi schemes as a gamble that benefited early participants at the expense of later investors.
Ayiyi said some early entrants received returns on their investments, thereby encouraging others to join the schemes.
He said the schemes eventually collapsed, leaving late investors to bear the losses
The lawyer called for a complete ban on Ponzi schemes or sustained public enlightenment campaigns against them.
He urged the National Assembly to enact laws that would strengthen regulation and provide greater protection for investors.
According to him, stronger legal safeguards are necessary in a country operating a capital-based economy.
PalmPay Group (“PalmPay”), a multinational fintech company providing digital financial services across high-growth emerging markets, is pleased to appoint Samuel Oluyemi as Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) of its Nigeria practice, effective immediately.
The appointment comes at a pivotal moment for PalmPay as it looks to reach more underserved communities and continuously strengthen the reliability and security of its services. It also comes as Nigeria’s broader financial services sector continues to modernize, bring millions more Nigerians into the formal financial system, and strengthen the cybersecurity and fraud-prevention standards that underpin public confidence in digital payments.
As COO of PalmPay Nigeria, Mr. Oluyemi will oversee PalmPay’s Nigerian operations — where the company provides a full suite of digital financial services to individuals and businesses — and communicate with regulators to ensure the company’s growth happens harmoniously with the country’s financial, digital, and social inclusion goals.
Mr. Oluyemi brings more than two decades of experience at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (“NIBSS”). During his tenure as the Business Development Lead, he championed the development of key national payment services — including the Digital Validation of Nigerian International Passport (e-Passport Validation), Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System (“e-DMMS”), and the Electronic Pensions Contribution Collection System (“EPCCOS”) — and played a pivotal role in introducing and driving early adoption of NIBSS Instant Payment (“NIP”), Nigeria’s first online, real-time, inter-bank transfer system in 2011 and its subsequent extension to the Other Financial Institutions (“OFI”) segment of the Nigeria Payments System.
He holds an MSc in Monetary Economics from the University of Ibadan with extensive local and international professional training.
“Samuel joins PalmPay at an important stage in our journey to strengthen the foundations that will support our long-term goal of driving financial inclusion,” said Chika Nwosu, Managing Director of PalmPay Nigeria. “His extensive experience makes him well positioned to help us scale sustainably while maintaining the operational discipline, governance and customer-first culture that define PalmPay.”
“PalmPay has established itself as one of the most impactful fintech companies in emerging markets by making financial services more accessible and affordable for millions of people,” said Mr. Oluyemi.
“I am excited to join the company and look forward to working alongside an exceptional team to strengthen operational excellence and support PalmPay’s vision of building a leading digital financial services platform. Together, we will continue delivering secure, reliable, and customer-focused financial solutions while contributing to the continued evolution of Nigeria’s digital financial ecosystem.”
As Nigeria’s digital financial services sector continues to mature, this appointment reflects a broader commitment guiding PalmPay across all markets it serves: building financial services that are secure, reliable, and effective enough to earn a permanent place in people’s everyday lives.
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