FirstBank has reinforced its commitment to cross-border innovation and financial inclusion as a proud sponsor of the Canada-Africa Fintech Summit (CAFS 2025), held from August 5 to 8 at the Sheraton Centre in Downtown Toronto.
CAFS 2025, convened by the President of the African Fintech Network, Dr Segun Aina, was a platform to unite fintech leaders, regulators, startups, and investors from Africa and Canada to explore scalable digital solutions, encourage investment, and promote inclusive economic development across both continents.
During a panel discussion with MPP for Mississauga, Lakeshore, Rudy Cuzzeto, and Country Director for the United Nations World Food Programme (Nigeria), David Stevenson, the Group Executive for E-Business & Retail Products at FirstBank, Chuma Ezirim, stressed the significance of digital collaboration in Africa’s financial ecosystem.
He said, “We’re building APIs that understand regulatory bifurcation, who has access to what, and why. The technology is the easy part. The real challenge lies in maintaining security, consent, and performance.
On a separate panel, FirstBank Chief Technology Officer Rachel Adeshina shared how the bank is using artificial intelligence to extend credit access to underbanked communities. She explained that by analysing alternative data, the bank has disbursed over N1 trillion in digital loans with a repayment rate exceeding 99 percent. This success, she said, has been supported by API banking regulations, data privacy laws, and the shift from account-based to wallet-based banking.
Adeshina also stressed that Africa’s digital scale will depend on interoperability, noting that connecting the continent’s 54 markets remains a major challenge that fintechs are well-positioned to address.
The summit forms part of Canada’s broader Africa Strategy, aimed at fostering economic partnerships and digital cooperation. With Africa’s digital finance ecosystem expanding and Canada moving toward open banking, CAFS 2025 provided a platform to align strategies and spark new collaborations that could reshape financial services across both regions.
Acting. Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Communications at FirstBank, Olayinka Ijabiyi, said, “Our support of CAFS 2025 reflects our belief that collaboration between African and Canadian fintech ecosystems can lead to transformative innovations.
FirstBank is proud to help shape that future.”
With a legacy spanning over 131 years in financial services, FirstBank’s sponsorship underscored its role in shaping the future of global fintech. During the summit, bank representatives highlighted the importance of regulatory clarity, security, consent, and performance in enabling cross-border digital finance. They noted that Nigeria’s fintech landscape has evolved from disruption to convergence, integrating banks, fintechs, and regulators into a collaborative and accountable ecosystem.
