MONIEPOINT CEO ENIOLORUNDA URGES CREDIT INTEGRATION AS CBN UNVEILS PSV 2028 ROADMAP

MONIEPOINT CEO ENIOLORUNDA URGES CREDIT INTEGRATION AS CBN UNVEILS PSV 2028 ROADMAP
By Prince Benson Davies

The Central Bank of Nigeria set the tone for the next phase of digital finance in Abuja with the formal rollout of the Nigeria Payments System Vision 2028, shifting focus from infrastructure to impact. At the launch, industry leaders debated how payment rails built over the last decade can now be used to solve one of the most persistent challenges for small businesses, access to credit.

Speaking on a high-level panel, Founder and Group Chief Executive Officer of Moniepoint Inc, Tosin Eniolorunda, argued that the next frontier for Nigeria’s payments ecosystem is not just moving money faster, but converting the data generated by those transactions into usable credit for millions of underserved merchants and MSMEs. He said the foundation of trust and visibility already exists in payment flows, and the task now is to build financial products on top of it.

Eniolorunda described the PSV 2028 event as a moment to reflect on Nigeria’s progress and to chart a deliberate path forward. He noted that the country’s payments system has matured through instant transfers, mobile money, and agent banking, but the real growth will come when those systems are layered with services that directly address the survival needs of small businesses.

According to him, payment data, when handled responsibly, provides a clearer picture of business activity than traditional credit assessments. This visibility, he said, can reduce risk for lenders and shorten the time it takes for a trader or agent to access working capital. For many small business owners, the barrier has never been the will to grow, but the inability to access financing without collateral or formal credit history.

The PSV 2028 framework, championed by the CBN, outlines priorities around inclusion, infrastructure resilience, and innovation over the next three years. CBN Governor Olayemi Cardoso, in his keynote, emphasized that the vision builds on Nigeria’s reputation as one of Africa’s most dynamic payments markets. He said the goal is to move the economy toward deeper digital adoption while ensuring that excluded populations are brought into the formal system.

Cardoso set an ambitious target of 95 percent financial inclusion by 2028, which he said would mean about 50 million additional market women, farmers, and young people with bank accounts or wallets linked to their BVN. He stressed that inclusion must be the guiding principle, not exclusion, and warned against policy inconsistency that has slowed progress in the past.

The panel session was moderated by Sterling Bank Chief Executive Abubakar Suleiman and included NIBSS Managing Director Premier Oiwoh, Remita CEO Deremi Atanda, and SANEF Managing Director Uche Uzoebo. Discussions centered on how regulators, banks, and fintechs can align to deliver a resilient payments ecosystem that supports growth.

Eniolorunda echoed the Governor’s call for collaboration, saying achieving the PSV 2028 targets will require long-term coordination between regulators and private sector players. He added that Moniepoint’s experience disbursing over 1 trillion naira in credit to Nigerian MSMEs in 2025 shows the potential of using payment infrastructure as a base for lending. The company, which began with agency banking and payment services, has expanded into business banking with the aim of turning everyday transactions into pathways for capital.

As Nigeria continues to lead Africa’s fintech expansion, the push to embed credit within payment flows aligns with the core pillars of the PSV 2028 roadmap, particularly open banking and deeper economic integration. The consensus at the launch was that the next decade of payments will be defined less by rails and more by the financial services built on them.