Rinchi
TechInAfrica – In the 21st century as we are living now, technology has been playing a dominant role in our daily lives. In fact, technology such as the internet has increased our capacity to find solutions to our everyday’s problems, including in the economy.
According to a global statistics organization, Statista, in Nigeria, around 76.2 million people have access to the internet as in 2017. Compared from 2013, the number has increased significantly, about 50%.
Due to the booming of internet access, causing an explosion of emerging enterprise on the continent. So many young entrepreneurs are creating new startups to follow their dreams or as a means of survival. They have stopped thinking of looking for jobs, but instead, they start their own businesses that lead to the SME boom.
According to CBN, the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) are business with a turnover of less than N100 million per year and with less than 300 employees. In order to make it successful and survive in the Nigerian business ecosystem, SMEs need to take the benefits from the leverage that’s provided by fintech.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) found that around 96% of Nigerian businesses are dominated by SMEs. And around 90% of them are in the industrial or manufacturing sectors. They have created job opportunities and supported the economy in Nigeria, together with Micro-Enterprises.
Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) has the potential to grow and is a solution to the employment problem in Nigeria. However, there are other problems facing the country, such as the lack of infrastructure, poor financial support and credit ecosystem, as well as lack of adequate skills at the higher levels.
These problems are what financial technology (fintech) trying to solve. A technology expert and CEO of SystemSpecs, John Obaro said that technology provides a better alternative to the lack of infrastructure in Nigeria, making the processes much easier for entrepreneurs.
