By Francis Akinnodi

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Experts have stressed the need for collaboration among government, policy makers, the banks and Financial Technology (FinTech) players, in order to adopt the right technology that would enhance faster market development and growth of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The experts who spoke at the Techgrind Africa virtual event organised by Summitech Computing Limited in Lagos and monitored by The Hope, said such collaboration would help AfCFTA to contribute to the strengthening of African currencies, through the use of different technology solutions to navigate procurement, payment, logistics and communication, during trade transactions.
According to the experts, the success of AfCFTA would largely depend on technology to achieve its goals.
They were of the view that the involvement of major technology industry players would facilitate Pan-African competition, as industry players would incorporate the opportunities that the agreement brings, into immediate plans and also take advantage of them to expand trade.
A Computer expert, Adekunle Kunle-Hassan, said technology would be a major driver for AfCFTA.
According to him, “Business movements such as mergers and acquisitions and funding from venture capitalists, would drive expansion of the thriving tech brands into major participating markets. Therefore, there has to be a heightened interest of major players in the tech space as this agreement is pivotal to its success.
“If there is a better time to start thinking of positioning to reap its gains, it is now. However, policy makers and technology companies in major markets need to partner and create an understanding of policies and operations to enable and support cross-border trade.”
The African Union (AU) in collaboration with African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) is to develop an Africa-wide digital payment system and this platform would help to domesticate intra-regional payments, Kunle-Hassan, further said, while emphasising the role of independent FinTech players in servicing merchants.
Also, Timilehin Ogunyemi said, “The FinTechs would bring innovation to the Pan-African payments and settlement infrastructure. The current relationship between banks and FinTech would replicate itself in this case. Banks would still hold money, as settlements in itself is definitely not instant, but the numbers would move instantly among customers.