Nigeria to host 2025 State of Inclusive Instant Payment event

Nigeria's NIP has also been recognised as Africa's most inclusive instant payment system and is projected to become the continent's most "mature" instant payment system.

Nigeria has been selected to host the 2025 State of Inclusive Instant Payment Systems in Africa (SIIPS).

This decision was announced in Accra, Ghana, during Wednesday’s launch of the 2024 SIIPS report.

The annual event, organised by AfricaNenda in partnership with the World Bank and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), examines the inclusiveness of instant payment systems across Africa.

During a panel session at the main event, Sabine Mensah, deputy CEO of AfricaNenda, revealed Nigeria as the host for the fourth edition.

Ms Mensah commended Nigeria’s NIP for promoting inclusivity and added that hosting the 2025 event is a significant milestone.

Earlier, Nigeria’s NIP was recognised as Africa’s most inclusive instant payment system and projected to become the continent’s most “mature” instant payment system.

Speaking about Nigeria’s progress towards inclusivity, the CEO and Managing Director of NIBSS, Premier Oiwoh, shared data showing NIP’s remarkable growth, with 10 billion transactions recorded in 2023.

“In 2010, total transactions were 9,000. By 2013, we had 17 million per annum. In 2023, this rose to 10 billion; in 2024, we expect 12–13 billion. It is growing daily.

“Of course, there are many barriers—acceptance and trust. People like to see and hold cash. But this is digital. How do you trust it? How do you know the money has reached your account?

“As soon as people began trusting it, we saw an uptick. The Central Bank also played a very active role,” he said.

Mr Oiwoh further announced that Nigeria will launch a more robust instant payment system called the National Payment Stack by the second quarter of 2025. This system will feature enhanced capabilities and greater scalability.