By BONIFACE AKARAH

GITEX Nigeria has announced the launch of MINT AFRICA by GITEX, a new platform focused on the future of finance and designed to bring together governments, regulators, financial institutions, investors, fintech companies and emerging technology players.

The platform was announced in Lagos on Thursday as part of preparations for GITEX NIGERIA Week 2027, with organisers positioning the initiative as a meeting point for finance, technology, regulation, infrastructure and investment across Africa.

Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said the choice of Lagos reflected the city’s growing role in Africa’s digital economy.

“When GITEX came to Nigeria, Lagos became a commercial anchor. That was not a courtesy extended to us; it was a commercial judgement,” Hamzat said.

He added that Lagos had the scale, capital and entrepreneurial activity needed to play a major role in Africa’s digital transformation.

The Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Lagos State, Tunbosun Alake, said the new platform would focus on converting financial innovation into actual investment and commercial opportunities.

“Africa doesn’t have a shortage of financial innovation. It has a shortage of the conversations that turn innovation into signed deals,” Alake said.

The organisers said the financial sector was undergoing major changes driven by artificial intelligence, tokenisation, stablecoins, digital identity, cybersecurity, digital assets and next-generation payment infrastructure.

They said Africa had an opportunity not only to adopt emerging financial technologies but also to play a role in shaping their development.

According to GITEX Nigeria, the continent’s digital payments economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, while the African Development Bank has estimated that reforms in areas including capital markets, domestic resource mobilisation and public-private partnerships could unlock significant additional financing.

The platform will examine areas including tokenisation and real-world assets, agentic AI and intelligent banking, stablecoins and digital currencies, next-generation payments, digital identity, cybersecurity, cross-border interoperability, regulatory innovation and capital-market development.

Dr Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, said deeper financial inclusion would be important to Nigeria’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.

He said this would require increased investment, deeper financial markets, greater formalisation of the informal sector and improved access to financing for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Ganiyu Oseni, Special Adviser on Technology, Broadband and Innovation to the Lagos State Governor, also stressed the importance of infrastructure to the growth of the digital economy.

“Infrastructure is policy. You cannot simply regulate an economy into existence,” Oseni said, identifying connectivity, power, digital identity and talent as key requirements.

Dr Armstrong Ume Takang, Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, raised questions about the participation of Nigerians in the emerging digital asset economy.

“As we create digital tools that allow us to tokenise assets and make those assets widely available to investors, are Nigerians going to continue taking a back seat while others see the value, invest and benefit from the upside?” he asked.

Tahiru Al Hassan, Head of Oversight and Compliance, Virtual Assets Department, Bank of Ghana, called for stronger regulatory cooperation among African countries, particularly because digital assets operate across national borders.

“Greater regulatory coordination across Africa will be essential,” Al Hassan said, stressing the need to avoid regulatory fragmentation and build trusted, interoperable ecosystems.

Trixie LohMirmand, CEO of GITEX, said Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem and Lagos’ scale made the city a suitable location for the new platform.

“Nigeria leads Africa’s fintech revolution. Its scale, talent and ambition make Lagos the deserving metropolis for MINT AFRICA by GITEX,” she said.

LohMirmand said the initiative would go beyond fintech to examine how artificial intelligence, tokenisation, programmable money, regulation and international investment could shape the continent’s next financial economy.

MINT AFRICA by GITEX is expected to debut during GITEX NIGERIA Week 2027, bringing together African and international stakeholders around the intersection of finance and emerging technology.

The organisers said the platform would use GITEX’s international network of technology companies, governments, investors and innovators to connect Africa’s financial ambitions with global capital and technological expertise.