CNN’s Connecting Africa highlights how fintech and blockchain are connecting the continent

CNN’s Connecting Africa highlights how fintech and blockchain are connecting the continent

OPay is among Africa’s seven unicorns – firms valued at a billion dollars or more. With five of these unicorns based in Nigeria, the technology sector is now a large part of the country’s economy. Akanmu discusses the size of the tech industry, “We used to say that oil is perhaps the most impactful sector in terms of the Nigerian economy. But a big narrative about Nigeria today that we don't talk about, that we need to echo more is that the tech sector today is bigger than oil, double the size of the oil sector.”

With the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) greater financial, mobile, and internet access across the continent will boost business opportunities. Akanmu says that the free trade area should also benefit small business, “To ensure that no one is left behind, that the small merchant, the micro merchants don't get left behind. That AfCFTA, does not just serve the large corporations or the large traders in Africa. And to achieve that, it means last mile players like OPay are going to be very critical. When we do that, we can only end up with an Africa that is more prosperous.”

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