RegTech sector will dominate Nigerian start-ups by 2026, study shows

By Puja Sharma

According to the report, the RegTech sector is also on course to rise by 40% among the start-ups in Nigeria at the end of 2026.

It covers the current state of digital innovations and regulatory activities up to the first half of 2023. RegTech Africa & Agpaytech has released a report on the State of Fintech and Regtech activities in Nigeria. The report indicated that in the first half of 2023, African FinTech deals reached 60 transactions and raised a combined $189m in Q2 2023, a 64% reduction from the same period in 2022.

Businesses use RegTech (Regulatory Technology) to manage regulatory compliance more effectively. There are several benefits to RegTech solutions, including boosting a company’s efficiency and productivity, ensuring adequate accountability for operations, reforming risk management, detecting market abuse and non-compliant trades, managing employee trading programs, managing third-party cyber risk, streamlining marketing review workflows, and providing a centralised system for submitting regulatory documents.

Fraudulent activities have been a vital cause for this industry to flourish in recent times, the increasing need to automate regulatory compliance processes, and the rising need for faster transactions. In addition, the growing popularity of automated regulatory compliance and identity verification solutions by the online gaming industry and the increasing demand for risk & regulatory compliance solutions by the pharmaceutical industry provide significant growth opportunities for vendors operating in the global RegTech market. However, the complexities associated with the implementation of RegTech solutions pose a major challenge to the adoption of RegTech solutions.

Nigeria remains the country with several FinTech deals and activities mostly in the city of Lagos, saw 25 deals, a 42% share of the total deals in Africa as of H1 2023. Most FinTech products and services in Nigeria were found in the payment-related sector. However, the FinTech space in Nigeria goes beyond payment services to full business integration, which is expected to increase by more than 60% among all startups in Nigeria by 2026.

According to the report, the RegTech sector is also on course to rise by 40% among the start-ups in Nigeria at the end of 2026. Besides, the report found an increase in RegTech solutions mostly in regulatory reporting and compliance, anti-money laundering (AML), and know-your-customer (KYC) processes.

“There are several untapped RegTech opportunities not only in the financial sector but other areas like healthcare facilities, pharmaceutical business, environmental agencies, aviation and transportation, real estate and property, energy and utility compliance, automotive compliance, etc. This data-driven report will therefore serve as a valuable resource for businesses looking to take advantage of the huge potentials in the Fintech and Regtech sectors of Africa’s largest economy” said Cyril Okoroigwe CEO, RegTech Africa.

The research attributed the growth in the Nigerian FinTech and potential returns on investment in H1 2023 largely to spearheading policy initiatives such as the Cashless Policy, Startup Bill, CBN and SEC’s regulatory sandbox, Bank Verification Numbering (BVN) system, Business Facilitation Act 2023, Banking, and other favorable business conditions.

Key highlights:

• A state of the industry report on the Nigerian Fintech and RegTech activities. It covers the current state of digital innovations and regulatory activities up to the first half of 2023.
• Nigeria’s Fintech sector is expected to reach 60% whilst the RegTech sector is on course to rise by 40% among all start-ups by 2026