People, not Fintech, drives economy, says CBN

Deputy Governor, Operations, Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN), Mr. Adebisi Shonubi, has said Fintech does not drive economy anywhere in the world, but people do with fintech’s support.

This came as President, Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria(ICAN), Alhaji Razak Jaiyeola, said while automation might take some part of jobs done manually in all professions, there were numerous opportunities waiting to be tapped in the current digital dispensation.

They spoke at the ongoing two days maiden edition of Accounting Technology Summit, ACCOUNTEKS, with the theme: “Disruptive Technologies –The Game Changer for Businesses.”

Shonubi said: “Fintechs are here to stay but they are not very important because they will give you a platform that you can use but the problem is how to use it. It is important but not as important as how we will put it to use. I don’t believe we are going through an age of disruptive technology, it is an age of creative technology.

“Fintech does not drive economy, people are the ones that drive economy all over the world, and Fintech only supports them. I insist that it is people because for Fintech to thrive, there has to be an environment, they can’t operate in isolation; in developed countries, the environment exist.

“With the difficult environment we are in, I think Fintech’s are doing a good job, but they can’t do it alone, if we don’t put infrastructure in place, it would always be limiting for them and for the users as well.”