In an era where digital innovation is fundamentally reshaping financial systems and access to capital, the importance of robust fintech frameworks and effective risk management has reached unprecedented levels. Decisions in this sphere now have profound implications for financial inclusion, consumer safety, regulatory stability, and overall economic resilience, impacting businesses, governments, and millions of everyday users.
Governance as a Foundation, Not an Afterthought
At the forefront of these critical discussions is Opeyemi Kayode, a seasoned expert in fintech and risk management. In a recent conversation, Kayode, whose insights are shaped by years of advising organisations on innovation, compliance, and enterprise risk, unpacked the opportunities and dangers defining today's financial technology landscape.
Addressing a core theme from his published work, including analysis for Euromoney’s Sustainable Finance Report, Kayode argued that a major weakness in fast-growing ecosystems is the fragmentation between governance and innovation. He noted that frameworks for data discipline, risk ownership, and controls are often treated as secondary to priorities like speed and scale.
"This misalignment has contributed to instability by allowing growth to outpace control structures," he explained. For 2026, Kayode insists the mindset must change: fintechs need to treat governance as part of product architecture from the start. From a regulatory standpoint, the shift needed is toward greater consistency and predictability, not necessarily more intervention. "Strong regulation is defined less by the frequency of intervention and more by the clarity of expectations," he stated.
Nigeria's Regulatory Landscape: Decisiveness vs. Coordination
Drawing on his comparative analysis of global jurisdictions, Kayode highlighted a dual reality in Nigeria's approach to managing financial risk. He acknowledged that Nigerian regulators get one crucial thing right: when risks become systemic, they act decisively. This, he said, signals that scale brings responsibility, a vital principle in a market where fintechs can amass millions of users rapidly.
However, the persistent challenge lies in coordination and coherence. "Fintech cuts across payments regulation, consumer protection, data privacy, and digital assets," Kayode noted. "When expectations differ across agencies or change abruptly, firms focus on compliance survival rather than long-term risk prevention." The opportunity for Nigeria, he argues, is to harmonize supervision across these domains and communicate expectations clearly, enabling firms to plan and build responsibly.
Building Trust Through Systems, Not Just Growth
A recurring theme in Kayode's commentary is the practical construction of trust in financial systems. He frames his work's purpose around building this trust through durable systems. "Financial systems only work when people believe they are fair, safe, and reliable," he emphasized. Governance and risk management form the invisible infrastructure that sustains that belief.
Looking ahead, Kayode expressed his primary concern: Nigeria risks building a high-growth fintech ecosystem without a resilient one. Growth alone is insufficient; repeated failures in fraud prevention, service outages, or weak dispute resolution erode consumer confidence, particularly among the populations fintech aims to serve.
Yet, he remains optimistic. The ecosystem is maturing, with growing attention to data governance, fraud controls, and board-level accountability. "If 2026 becomes the year Nigeria standardizes its trust infrastructure—like identity systems, dispute mechanisms, and data protection practices—then fintech growth can become durable," Kayode concluded. His vision is clear: the goal is not more or less regulation, but better systems that people can rely on as technology and markets evolve.
