The founders of Kuda, Moniepoint and FairMoney offered rare insights into competition, currency volatility and the future of Nigeria’s fintech industry during a candid panel discussion at the Fintech Africa Summit in New York.
Speaking at the event, Kuda founder and Chief Executive Officer, Babs Ogundeyi, acknowledged that while the three companies compete in the same market, their collective success is essential for the credibility and long-term growth of Nigeria’s digital banking ecosystem.
“Even though I see them as competition, I actually also need them not to fail, because it kind of brings the whole house down,” Ogundeyi said, referring to Moniepoint and FairMoney.
“We haven’t even really launched properly, and they would already be failing? So the smaller guys too, just be alive, be alive, be alive. I didn’t say I need them to succeed, I said I need them not to fail.”
ALSO: OPay Reportedly Overtakes FirstBank in Nigeria’s Banking Sector Shake-Up
The discussion brought together Ogundeyi, Moniepoint founder and CEO Tosin Eniolorunda, and FairMoney co-founder Laurin Hainy, who reflected on the realities of building fintech businesses in one of Africa’s largest but most challenging financial markets.
Eniolorunda argued that the distinction between traditional banks and fintech companies will continue to narrow as the industry evolves.
“I think, given enough time, we will all probably end up in similar places. Banks will be like fintechs, fintechs will be like banks, fintechs will be like each other,” he said.
According to him, the real differentiator will not be the type of institution but the quality of leadership and an organisation’s ability to embrace technology, product development, engineering and data-driven decision-making.
Hainy echoed that view by drawing parallels with Nigeria’s banking transformation decades ago when new-generation banks introduced Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), a technology many established banks were initially reluctant to adopt.
He said similar technological shifts are unfolding today with fintech and artificial intelligence, noting that only institutions willing to embrace innovation are likely to remain relevant over the long term.
Ogundeyi also argued that healthy competition strengthens confidence in digital banking, saying Nigeria does not necessarily need dozens of fintech players but rather a few strong and credible institutions capable of driving industry adoption.
“I’m happy that there are strong players in the digital banking space because it makes it acceptable, it makes it mainstream, it brings credibility to it. There shouldn’t be too many, but just three at the top, that’s enough,” he said.
The conversation also focused heavily on the challenges created by Nigeria’s volatile currency.
Hainy described exchange rate instability as one of the biggest obstacles facing startups seeking to expand, noting that even when businesses execute successfully, sharp currency depreciation can significantly erode returns for investors.
“If your currency is heavily unstable, it’s hard to predict that output, because you could spend a lot of time and the product is proceeding exactly as you projected, but because the currency is shrinking by 300%, your real dollar ROI is actually negative,” he said.
Eniolorunda added that Nigeria’s macroeconomic volatility, combined with limited international understanding of African markets, increases perceived investment risks.
“You are generally risk-averse to something that you don’t know, and the markets that are actually the most liquid, the US markets, don’t have a lot of knowledge about Nigeria or Africa. This increases your perceived risk in addition to the macros,” he explained.
He noted that investors who continue backing African fintech companies are typically those that understand the region’s long-term potential and are comfortable pricing those risks.
Ogundeyi adopted a longer-term perspective, recalling that Nigeria has experienced multiple currency cycles while its largest financial institutions have continued to grow in value.
“I remember when the dollar was 120, I remember when it went to 150, it was crazy. But we still had big banks back then, and they were still worth a lot of money. Today it’s gone up to 450, 700, 1,500, and the big banks are still big banks, still extremely valuable,” he said.
According to him, currency depreciation may delay business success but does not necessarily prevent companies with strong fundamentals from creating lasting value.
The panelists also discussed how they measure success as venture-backed founders.
Eniolorunda said the primary responsibility of any startup founder is to generate returns for investors while building a sustainable business that no longer depends on constant intervention from its founders.
“Fundamentally, investors are interested in returns. There’s nothing less sentimental than finance,” he said.
Hainy said his focus extends beyond investors to employees who joined the company in its early years despite the uncertainties of building a fintech startup in Nigeria.
“My first and foremost responsibility is the people who trusted me six years ago to build a business in Nigeria, when everyone told us we were crazy. I want to make sure they are very wealthy based on that decision. And I also want to make my employees wealthy,” he said.
Closing the discussion, Ogundeyi described employees as investors in their own right because they commit their time and careers to building a company’s vision.
“Sometimes it feels like you’re swimming against the tide. But even when you’re swimming against the tide, if you don’t give up, if you keep swimming, you will get to the other end. We just need not to drown in the middle, and we will get to the other side. I’m confident with that,” he said.
The discussion highlighted the growing maturity of Nigeria’s fintech ecosystem, with industry leaders emphasizing collaboration, innovation and long-term resilience over short-term rivalry as they navigate competition, economic uncertainty and the evolving future of digital finance.
Watch the full conversation below:
