The importance of the Tech ecosystem and the expectation of its activities to manifest positively on the economy of the country cannot be overemphasized. The Tech ecosystem, as it were, has evolved over the years, witnessing its dose of ups and downs. How has the Tech ecosystem fared in delivering on this expectation? What can be done to improve on this? I recently engaged Michael Simeon, CEO, VoguePay, a foremost payment gateway company that has been playing in the Fintech industry in Nigeria for a while now, on the Interview segment of Tech Trends on Channels Television and he shed light on this and many more.
CFA: Michael, glad to have you on the show today.
Michael: It’s good to be here. It’s been a long time since I was here.
CFA: It’s been 2 years since we last had this chat. How has it been since then?
Michael: Wow! Two years is still like yesterday. It’s been wonderful. I think, for us, myself and my team, it’s been a journey. It’s been a great journey.
CFA: Are you happy with the pace of the growth in the ecosystem today?
Michael: Without sounding too complacent, I’m ecstatic. I think that, we have grown more than our own projections by 233%, but having said that, we remain hungry. We are not just content with where we are. We still feel that, there is a lot to be done.
CFA: But as a stakeholder and analyzing the industry, do you think that the industry is making the right progress?
Michael: Generally, I think the industry is very interesting. The industry eats into the banks and the banks begins to realize that our Fintech is here to stay, so, you see a lot of collaborations. I think, from that side, I think that I am very happy with the way things are going.
Haven said that, I am unhappy, in the sense that, some of the collaborations, maybe some people might call me a cynical, I’m very skeptical about some of the collaborations, because they slow don things, especially, in Africa. In Europe, it will be a different ball game, but in Africa, I think that I am a little disappoint that people are not doing things at the potential pace at which things can be achieved.
You can watch the full interview here.