Competition in Nigeria's digital financial services space is heating up, especially with MTN and Airtel receiving PSB licenses. If you are familiar with Newton's third law of motion, you would expect players in the space to react in some way, and this is what Opay has done with the appointment of Olu Akanmu- formal FCMB director.
Why is this important?
Opay's appointment suggests that the company is big on dominating Nigeria's financial services space. According to Opay CEO, Yahui Zhou "We want to be the power that helps emerging markets achieve faster economic development,"
Olu Akanmu is the kind of profile that will help Opay achieve its goal of becoming a powerhouse in Nigeria's financial service space, given his experience in Nigeria's retail banking and telecommunications space.
Olu Aremu's career in focus
Executive director of Retail Banking at FCMB. A position he held for eight years.
Chief marketing officer for Airtel Nigeria.
Managing Director for Retail and Consumer Banking at the now-defunct Bank PHB.
General Manager for consumer marketing at MTN.
What next
Opay recently acquired unicorn status thanks to a $400 million seed round which took the company's valuation to $2 billion.
It will be interesting to see how things play out for Opay in a space where two matured players (MTN and Airtel) in the financial services have received a PSB license.
With both players boasting of a wealth of experience in the financial services space across Africa and a sound capital base, Nigeria's financial services sector has never been this interesting.
Nigeria in focus
GDP: $432.294 billion in 2020 compared to $448.12 billion in 2019
Population: 206,139,587 in 2020 compared to 200,963,03 in 2019
GDP per capita: $2,097 in 2020 compared to $2,229 in 2019
