Lagos is set to become the centre of a new push to shape Africa’s financial future as GITEX Nigeria unveils MINT AFRICA by GITEX, a dedicated platform designed to bring together finance, technology, investment, regulation and transparency to accelerate the transformation of the continent’s financial economy.
The platform will debut in Lagos during GITEX Nigeria Week 2027, bringing together governments, regulators, banks, institutional investors, fintech companies, technology firms and digital-asset innovators at a time of rapid change in the global financial system.
The initiative comes as emerging technologies begin to fundamentally alter how money moves, assets are owned and financial services are delivered.
Money is increasingly becoming programmable, while real-world assets are being tokenised and artificial intelligence is beginning to take on more autonomous roles in financial decision-making and service delivery.
Stablecoins and other digital assets are also challenging traditional financial rails, while digital identity, cybersecurity and interoperable payment infrastructure are increasingly being viewed as essential components of modern economic infrastructure.
For Africa, the organisers believe these developments offer more than an opportunity to catch up with advanced financial markets. They present a chance for the continent to help shape the next generation of global finance.
Lagos, with its large consumer market, entrepreneurial ecosystem and growing technology sector, is being positioned at the centre of that ambition.
Nigeria is currently Africa’s largest fintech ecosystem, with Lagos producing several of the continent’s most prominent financial technology companies. The city also sits at the intersection of market scale, entrepreneurial talent, capital and an increasingly ambitious digital economy.
Following the sell-out GITEX Nigeria, the 2027 edition of MINT AFRICA is expected to expand the technology event's financial mandate by creating a dedicated platform connecting capital, policy, regulation, infrastructure and frontier financial technologies across Africa.
The initiative is being developed in partnership with the Lagos State Government and will leverage GITEX’s international network of technology companies, investors and governments to connect Africa’s financial opportunities with international capital and innovation.
Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, said the arrival of GITEX had strengthened Lagos’ position as a commercial and technology destination.
“When GITEX came to Nigeria, Lagos became a commercial anchor. That was not a courtesy extended to us; it was a commercial judgement. Exhibitions follow markets, and markets follow scale, capital and momentum, all of which converge here,” Hamzat said.
He added: “Lagos is a consequential destination and what happens here helps shape Africa’s digital transformation trajectory. The next chapter of African finance will not simply arrive; it will be built here, together.”
For the Lagos State Government, the new platform is expected to help bridge the gap between financial innovation and actual investment.
Commissioner for the Ministry of Innovation, Science, and Technology, Lagos State, Tunbosun Alake, said: “Africa doesn’t have a shortage of financial innovation. It has a shortage of the conversations that turn innovation into signed deals. The future of finance week is built to close that gap, not to celebrate it.”
The scale of the opportunity is significant. Africa’s digital payments economy is projected to reach $1.5 trillion by 2030, while the African Development Bank estimates that reforms involving deeper capital markets, stronger domestic resource mobilisation and public-private partnerships could unlock as much as $1.43 trillion in financing annually.
However, the continent continues to face major financial inclusion and access-to-capital challenges.
In Nigeria, adult account ownership rose from 45.3 per cent in 2021 to 63.3 per cent in 2024. Despite that progress, only 9.1 per cent of adults borrowed through formal financial channels, highlighting the gap between access to financial accounts and access to formal credit.
MINT AFRICA by GITEX is expected to examine how emerging technologies and new regulatory models can turn that gap into an economic opportunity.
Its discussions will focus on ways to widen access to capital, modernise financial infrastructure and enable consumers and businesses across Africa to participate more effectively in the digital economy.
The platform's agenda will cover a broad range of issues, including tokenisation and real-world assets, agentic AI and intelligent banking, stablecoins and digital currencies, next-generation payments, digital identity, cybersecurity and trust, financial infrastructure, cross-border interoperability, regulatory innovation, capital markets and investment in Africa’s fintech ecosystem.
Technical Adviser to the President on Economic and Financial Inclusion, Nigeria, Dr Nurudeen Abubakar Zauro, said financial inclusion would be central to Nigeria’s ambition of building a $1 trillion economy.
“The target of achieving a $1 trillion economy means investment, financial sector deepening, formalisation of the informal sector and enhancing economic inclusion so that the benefits can reach the last mile. It also means bringing more people into the formal financial sector and supporting our ambitious MSMEs with the financing they need to scale,” Zauro said.
But participants are expected to argue that technology alone will not determine which countries and companies emerge as leaders in the next phase of financial development.
Infrastructure, regulation, investor confidence and institutional capacity will also be critical.
Special Adviser on Technology, Broadband and Innovation to the Governor of Lagos State, Ganiyu Oseni, said the foundations of a digital economy extended well beyond regulation.
“Infrastructure is policy. You cannot simply regulate an economy into existence. For a digital economy, the roads are connectivity, power, identity and talent. Lagos has spent seven years building all four,” Oseni said.
He also issued a direct invitation to international investors, saying Lagos wanted investment and operational participation rather than symbolic interest.
“Lagos is asking you to price us correctly. We would rather have your capital than your admiration, and we would rather have your operational presence than your capital. Africa’s financial future will be tokenised, programmable and cross-border. It will settle somewhere. It should settle in Lagos,” he said.
The emergence of tokenised assets also raises questions about ownership and whether African investors will be positioned to benefit from the value created by new digital financial markets.
CEO of Ministry of Finance Incorporated (MOFI), Nigeria, Dr Armstrong Ume Takang, said the country needed to ensure that Nigerians were active participants rather than passive observers.
“As we create digital tools that allow us to tokenise assets and make those assets widely available to investors, are Nigerians going to continue taking a back seat while others see the value, invest and benefit from the upside? Or are we going to become active participants in the evolving digital asset ecosystem?” Takang asked.
Regulatory coordination will also be a major issue as digital assets increasingly operate across national borders.
Head of Oversight and Compliance, Virtual Assets Department, Bank of Ghana, Tahiru Al Hassan, said African regulators would need to work more closely to prevent fragmented approaches to digital assets.
“Greater regulatory coordination across Africa will be essential to addressing the inherently cross-border nature of digital assets, avoiding unnecessary fragmentation and building trusted, interoperable ecosystems across the continent,” Al Hassan said.
The organisers said embedding MINT AFRICA within GITEX Nigeria Week reflects the growing convergence between finance and technology.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming part of financial infrastructure, while tokenisation is creating new connections between technology and capital markets. Digital identity is expanding access to financial and public services, and regulation is evolving alongside emerging technologies.
Investment, meanwhile, will determine which African markets move beyond experimentation and achieve meaningful scale.
Through GITEX’s global network of technology companies, investors, governments and innovators, MINT AFRICA by GITEX will seek to bring these forces together on a single platform, with Lagos serving as the marketplace and Africa as the broader mandate.
CEO of GITEX, Trixie LohMirmand, said Nigeria’s position in Africa’s fintech ecosystem made Lagos a natural location for the initiative.
“Nigeria leads Africa’s fintech revolution. Its scale, talent and ambition make Lagos the deserving metropolis for MINT AFRICA by GITEX,” 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.”
The organisers said the launch of MINT AFRICA would therefore mark an expansion of GITEX Nigeria’s role from a technology-focused platform into a broader forum for examining how technology, capital, regulation and innovation can jointly shape Africa’s economic future.