FirstBank Champions Inclusive Fintech Innovation at Canada-Africa Fintech Summit (CAFS 2025)

FirstBank championed inclusive Fintech Innovation at Canada-Africa Fintech Summit (CAFS 2025).

NewsOnline Nigeria reports that FirstBank has reaffirmed its leadership in driving inclusive financial technology by sponsoring the Canada-Africa Fintech Summit (CAFS 2025), held from August 5 to 8 at the Sheraton Centre, Downtown Toronto.

Organised by Dr. Segun Aina, President of the African Fintech Network, the landmark summit brought together 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.

ALSO: Zenith Bank Tops N4.5bn Trades as NGX All-Share Index Surges Past 145,000 Mark

As a 131-year-old financial services institution, FirstBank’s sponsorship underscores its commitment to fostering cross-border collaboration, financial inclusion, and innovation in the global fintech space. Speaking on the bank’s involvement, Olayinka Ijabiyi, Acting Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, 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.”

During a high-level panel alongside Rudy Cuzzeto, Member of Provincial Parliament for Mississauga–Lakeshore, and David Stevenson, Country Director of the United Nations World Food Programme (Nigeria), Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive for E-Business & Retail Products at FirstBank, emphasised the role of regulatory clarity in building trust and attracting private investment.

“We’re building APIs that understand regulatory bifurcation, who has access to what, and why. Technology is the easy part. The real challenge lies in maintaining security, consent, and performance,” Ezirim said. “In Nigeria, fintech has evolved beyond disruption to convergence, integrating banks, fintechs, and regulators into an agile and accountable ecosystem.”

In another session, Rachel Adeshina, Chief Technology Officer at FirstBank, discussed how the bank is leveraging artificial intelligence to expand credit access for the underbanked.

“We’re tackling data poverty by using AI to interpret alternative data, enabling us to lend to individuals who might otherwise be invisible to the traditional credit system,” Adeshina explained. She revealed that FirstBank has disbursed over ₦1 trillion in digital loans through this AI-driven model, achieving a repayment rate exceeding 99%.

She added that scalability in Africa’s fintech sector will depend on interoperability across its 54 markets, noting:

“Connecting the continent’s markets is the next big challenge, and fintechs are well-placed to drive that transformation.”

The summit also formed part of Canada’s broader Africa Strategy, which aims to deepen economic partnerships, digital cooperation, and innovation exchange. With Africa’s digital finance ecosystem rapidly expanding and Canada moving towards open banking, CAFS 2025 provided a timely platform for both regions to align strategies and ignite new collaborations.