The Managing Editor & Publisher, The Ojo-Yoshida Report, Mr Bolaji Ojo at the Technology Times Digital Transformation Thought Leadership Series advises the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to implement adequate national technology backbone and other fundamental measures to alleviate the adverse impact of the Naira redesign policy on Nigerians, and expedite the transition towards a cashless society.
Mr Ojo is a member of Swiss Fintech, a leading industry organisation that supports and promotes the growth of the fintech sector in Switzerland, he is also the former Managing Director, EMEA, and Global Editor-in-Chief, AspenCore and he says that compared to the Swiss and other developed economies including the U.K. and U.S., Nigeria has leapfrogged the old technology of banking.
He explains that infrastructure is essential to a successful transition to a cash-free economy and that digitalization of the global economy is accelerating, and semiconductors are in everything nowadays. He reiterates that a reliable telecommunication network and stable electricity are fundamental to everything, including the financial technology industry and advocates that public-private partnership is essential to the transition to a cash-free economy that will involve all levels of government working together to achieve the goal.
Mr Ojo advises CBN not to only focus on the political objectives, it should also focus on the longer-term objectives that Nigerians are ready for, as financial tools are already in place. He explains that if the cashless policy is really desired, the country should go back to the fundamentals, strengthen the institutions, and the systems that can help achieve those goals, as the societies that did, didn’t come up and say they wanted a cashless society.
