GITEX NIGERIA has announced the launch of MINT AFRICA by GITEX, a new future finance platform designed to bring together governments, regulators, financial institutions, investors, fintechs and technology companies to accelerate the transformation of Africa’s financial economy.
The platform is scheduled to debut in Lagos during GITEX NIGERIA Week 2027, against the backdrop of rapid developments in artificial intelligence (AI), digital assets, tokenisation, digital identity and next-generation payment infrastructure.
According to the organisers, MINT AFRICA will provide a dedicated platform for stakeholders to examine how emerging technologies, regulatory frameworks, infrastructure and investment could reshape financial services and expand access to capital across the continent.
The initiative is being launched in partnership with the Lagos State Government, with GITEX’s global network of technology companies, investors and governments expected to connect African financial innovators with international capital and markets.
The organisers said the initiative comes at a time when financial systems globally are undergoing significant transformation, with programmable money, tokenised real-world assets, stablecoins, agentic AI and interoperable payment systems increasingly influencing the future of financial services.
For Africa, the developments present an opportunity to move beyond adopting new financial technologies to actively participate in shaping the next generation of financial infrastructure.
Nigeria, particularly Lagos, is expected to play a central role in the development of the ecosystem, given the country’s large fintech market, entrepreneurial base and growing digital economy.
Speaking on the initiative, Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said the decision to host the platform in Lagos reflected the city’s growing importance as a commercial and technology hub.
“When GITEX came to Nigeria, Lagos became a commercial anchor. That was not a courtesy extended to us; it was a commercial judgement. Exhibitions follow markets, and markets follow scale, capital and momentum – all of which converge here,” he said.
Hamzat added that Lagos had become a critical destination for Africa’s digital transformation, noting that the next phase of the continent’s financial development would require collaboration among governments, investors, technology companies and other stakeholders.
Also speaking, Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Tunbosun Alake, said the platform would seek to address the gap between financial innovation and commercial execution.
“Africa doesn’t have a shortage of financial innovation. It has a shortage of the conversations that turn innovation into signed deals. The future of finance week is built to close that gap — not to celebrate it,” Alake said.
From Financial Inclusion to Reinvention
The scale of Africa’s financial technology opportunity remains significant. Africa’s digital payments economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, while the African Development Bank has estimated that reforms covering capital markets, domestic resource mobilisation and public-private partnerships could unlock up to $1.43 trillion in financing annually.
Despite the growth of digital financial services, substantial gaps remain across the continent.
In Nigeria, adult account ownership rose from 45.3 per cent in 2021 to 63.3 per cent in 2024. However, only 9.1 per cent of adults borrowed through formal financial channels, highlighting continued gaps in access to formal credit and financing.
MINT AFRICA is expected to focus on how emerging technologies and regulatory frameworks can help bridge these gaps by expanding access to capital, modernising financial infrastructure and increasing participation in the digital economy.
Its agenda will cover tokenisation and real-world assets, agentic AI and intelligent banking, stablecoins and digital currencies, next-generation payments, digital identity, cybersecurity, financial infrastructure, cross-border interoperability, regulatory innovation, capital markets and investment in Africa’s fintech sector.
Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, said deepening the financial sector would be critical to achieving Nigeria’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
“The target of achieving a US$1 trillion economy means investment, financial sector deepening, formalisation of the informal sector and enhancing economic inclusion so that the benefits can reach the last mile,” he said.
Zauro added that the process would also require bringing more people into the formal financial sector and ensuring that micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) had access to the financing required to expand.
Infrastructure, Regulation, Investment
Beyond technology, stakeholders at the platform are expected to focus on the infrastructure and regulatory conditions necessary to support the growth of Africa’s emerging financial economy.
Special Adviser on Technology, Broadband and Innovation to the Governor of Lagos State, Engr. Ganiyu Oseni, said infrastructure remained fundamental to the development of a digital economy.
“Infrastructure is policy. You cannot simply regulate an economy into existence. For a digital economy, the roads are connectivity, power, identity and talent. Lagos has spent seven years building all four,” he said.
He urged international investors to look beyond Nigeria’s potential and establish operational footprints in the market.
Oseni said Africa’s financial future would increasingly involve tokenised assets, programmable money and cross-border transactions, arguing that Lagos was well positioned to serve as one of the continent’s financial technology hubs.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Dr Armstrong Ume Takang, also highlighted the need for Nigerians to become active participants 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.
Meanwhile, Head of Oversight and Compliance, Virtual Assets Department, Bank of Ghana, Tahiru Al Hassan, called for greater regulatory cooperation among African countries as digital assets increasingly operate across national borders.
He said stronger coordination would help prevent regulatory fragmentation while supporting the development of trusted and interoperable digital-asset ecosystems across the continent.
Why Lagos, Why Now
The organisers said the decision to hold MINT AFRICA alongside GITEX NIGERIA reflected the growing convergence between technology and finance.
According to them, artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming part of financial infrastructure, while tokenisation is creating new links between technology and capital markets. Digital identity is also expanding access to financial and public services, even as regulation becomes increasingly intertwined with technological innovation.
Chief Executive Officer of GITEX, Trixie LohMirmand , said Lagos was a natural location for the initiative given Nigeria’s position in Africa’s fintech ecosystem.
“Nigeria leads Africa’s fintech revolution. Its scale, talent and ambition make Lagos the deserving metropolis for MINT AFRICA by GITEX,” she said.
LohMirmand, however, stressed that the platform’s focus would extend beyond fintech to the wider transformation of global finance.
“AI is becoming agentic, assets are becoming tokenised, money programmable and financial markets increasingly borderless. Africa has an opportunity not merely to participate in this transition, but to shape it,” she said.
She added that MINT AFRICA would seek to bring together the technology, regulation, infrastructure and international capital required to translate Africa’s financial innovation into sustainable economic growth.
MINT AFRICA by GITEX is expected to form part of the broader programme of GITEX NIGERIA Week 2027, positioning Lagos as a meeting point for policymakers, financial institutions, investors and technology innovators shaping the future of finance on the continent.
