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Nigeria's fintech industry must expand its focus from just digital payments, according to Lagos State Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat. Addressing the Nigeria Fintech Week 2026, Hamzat called for the fintech ecosystem to build upon the infrastructure it has already created to support a wider range of economic activities, including credit, insurance, and savings.

He emphasized that Nigeria has reached a point where the question is no longer whether digital finance works, but what can be built on the existing digital infrastructure.

Hamzat pointed to the growth of real-time payments, citing the CBN's 2026 Fintech Report, which shows that Nigeria's real-time payment infrastructure has increased, with over 11 billion transactions processed through the NIBSS Instant Payment platform in 2024, compared to about 5 billion in 2022. He suggested potential applications for this infrastructure, such as using transaction histories to provide small businesses with real-time credit, making financial services more accessible through trusted digital identity, and improving accessibility and affordability of insurance and savings.

The governor also asked about the potential for Nigerian commerce to more effectively participate in African commerce, highlighting this as part of the next chapter for fintech. He noted that digitalization is creating financial records that can make business activity more visible and support better decision-making.

Hamzat highlighted the broader opportunity to use fintech infrastructure to boost productivity across the economy. He also pointed to Lagos' role in this transition, given the state's concentration of financial institutions, technology companies, and government institutions. The Lagos State Digital Services Portal, which offers access to over 300 public services, is part of the state's digital transformation efforts.