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Fintech empowers migrant workers, says Innovate 1 Pay

Dubai - The Mena region saw a 13 per cent increase in venture funding in 2020 compared to 2019 in 496 deals.

Fintech played a crucial role during the pandemic and continues its trajectory as contactless and cashless payment becomes a new normal, says Mahmood Ahmadu, founder and chairman of Nigerian Fintech firm Innovate 1 Pay.

Widely acknowledged as one of the leading entrepreneurs in Africa, and a recipient of the Forbes Africa Award and Euro-knowledge Award in 2020, for his philanthropy, Mahmood Ahmadu – founder and chairman of Nigerian Fintech firm Innovate 1 Pay, has emphasised the importance of people-centric leadership and enabling technologies, as key elements for an optimal economic recovery in 2021.

The Mena region saw a 13 per cent increase in venture funding in 2020 compared to 2019 in 496 deals. “Fintech solutions solve for infrastructure pain points in the financial service space. Africa experiences many similar challenges, specifically in payments and remittance. We anticipate this positive trend of funding in fintech to continue in 2021 and beyond,” said Magnitt.

Ahmadu believes that people-centric strategies, empowered through technology, hold the key to rapid and transformative change. Innovate1Pay played a crucial role in ensuring financial inclusion, during the pandemic. “In Africa, where formal infrastructure can often be inadequate, fintech played a prominent role in empowering migrant workers to send money to their loved ones under lockdown. Civil society, especially the significant African diaspora, was able to come together and extend support to the needy, despite limitations on physical movement.”

2020 was a challenging year, for businesses around the world. Organisations of all sizes were forced to navigate issues ranging from taking hard calls on business continuity, retaining employees, ensuring they had adequate liquidity, adhering to unusually strict operating guidelines, the disruption of their supply chains, and much more. With the reopening of the economy currently underway, business leaders are implementing the lessons of 2020, to crisis-proof their organisations, and extract more from their resources.

“As the global economy reopens, the insight we can draw from 2020 is the impact of a people-centric approach and technology, in getting us through an unprecedented crisis. Leveraging these strategies effectively will continue to be our strength, if we are to thrive in the new normal,” Ahmadu concluded. — sandhya@khaleejtimes.com