GITEX Launches MINT AFRICA, Positions Lagos as Hub of Future Finance

"MINT AFRICA by GITEX is expected to bring together governments, regulators, banks, institutional investors, fintech companies, technology firms and digital-asset innovators to examine the transformation of Africa’s financial economy."

Nigeria- Lagos is set to strengthen its claim as a major hub for Africa’s emerging financial economy following the launch of MINT AFRICA by GITEX, a new platform designed to connect finance, innovation, technology and global capital.

The platform, announced on Thursday as part of the GITEX NIGERIA programme, will debut in Lagos during the 2027 GITEX NIGERIA week in partnership with the Lagos State Government.

MINT AFRICA by GITEX is expected to bring together governments, regulators, banks, institutional investors, fintech companies, technology firms and digital-asset innovators to examine the transformation of Africa’s financial economy.

The initiative comes as global finance undergoes rapid changes driven by programmable money, tokenisation of real-world assets, artificial intelligence, digital currencies, cybersecurity, digital identity and interoperable payment systems.

Organisers said the platform would provide Africa with an opportunity not only to adopt emerging financial technologies but also to influence how the next generation of global finance evolves.

Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said the decision to expand GITEX’s presence in Lagos reflected the city’s commercial strength and growing importance in Africa’s digital transformation.

“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.

“Exhibitions follow markets, and markets follow scale, capital and momentum — all of which converge here.

“The next chapter of African finance will not simply arrive; it will be built here, together.”

The Lagos State Commissioner for Innovation, Science and Technology, Tunbosun Alake, said the continent needed platforms capable of converting financial innovation into concrete investment and commercial agreements.

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

The organisers said MINT AFRICA would focus on 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, capital markets and investment in Africa’s fintech economy.

The launch comes amid projections that Africa’s digital payments economy could reach $1.5tn by 2030.

The African Development Bank has also estimated that reforms involving deeper capital markets, stronger domestic resource mobilisation and public-private partnerships could unlock as much as $1.43tn in financing annually.

In Nigeria, adult account ownership rose from 45.3 per cent in 2021 to 63.3 per cent in 2024, although only 9.1 per cent of adults borrowed through formal financial channels.

Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Dr Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, said achieving Nigeria’s ambition of building a $1tn economy would require deeper financial inclusion and greater access to financing for businesses.

“The target of achieving a US$1 trillion economy means investment, financial sector deepening, formalisation of the informal sector and enhancing economic inclusion,” he said.

The Special Adviser on Technology, Broadband and Innovation to the Lagos State Governor, Engr. Ganiyu Oseni, argued that infrastructure would be central to determining which economies benefit from the next financial revolution.

“For a digital economy, the roads are connectivity, power, identity and talent,” Oseni said, adding that Lagos had invested heavily in building those foundations.

He urged global investors to move beyond admiration for the city and establish a stronger operational and investment presence.

Meanwhile, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Finance Incorporated, Dr Armstrong Ume Takang, called for greater Nigerian participation in the emerging digital asset economy.

He said Nigerians must position themselves to benefit from opportunities created by the tokenisation of assets rather than allowing others to capture the value.

Also speaking, the Head of Oversight and Compliance at the Virtual Assets Department of the Bank of Ghana, Tahiru Al Hassan, stressed the need for stronger regulatory coordination across Africa as digital assets increasingly operate across national borders.

GITEX Chief Executive Officer, Trixie LohMirmand, said Nigeria’s fintech strength, market scale and entrepreneurial talent made Lagos a natural home for MINT AFRICA.

“Nigeria leads Africa’s fintech revolution,” she said.

“But the next chapter goes far beyond fintech. 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.”

With MINT AFRICA by GITEX scheduled to debut in 2027, Lagos is now seeking to leverage its growing technology ecosystem to attract global capital and position itself at the centre of Africa’s rapidly evolving financial landscape.