For many Nigerians who moved to Canada or the United Kingdom in the late 1990s, the process of sending money home was an exercise in extreme patience. It was the era of the ‘passenger,’ where cash was often entrusted to a traveler at the airport.
By the mid-2010s, this evolved into the ‘WhatsApp broker’ era, where transactions were managed through chat screens and manual bank receipts. While these methods were born out of necessity and community trust, they were often plagued by delays and the dreaded network issues.
Fast forward to today, that era is coming to a close. The digitalization of the Nigerian spirit is taking center stage, led by a new wave of fintech founders who understand that the modern diaspora professional values time above all else.
“There is a deep emotional connection when a Nigerian in the diaspora sends money home. It is not just a transaction; it is a gesture of love or a commitment to a dream,” Moradeyo Adeyemi, founder, 9jaSettlement said, disclosing that she has been at the forefront of diaspora transition, watching the industry move from manual ledgers to cloud-based automation.
She added that for a long time, the stress of manual confirmation took away the joy of diaspora remittances. “Our goal has been to remove the ‘middleman anxiety’ and replace it with the speed of light. When the notification hits the phone in Nigeria, it should be instant and accurate.”
According to Adeyemi, the shift toward the so-called soft life of finance was made possible by the quiet heroes of the Nigerian tech space. She disclosed that the launch of the Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) laid the foundation, but it was the fintech boom of 2018 to 2022 that truly changed the game.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
