Payment infrastructure firm, CardForté Limited, last week in Lagos, gathered stakeholders in the Nigerian payments industry to address challenges posed by lack of physical infrastructure as impediments to scaling in the industry.
The event, which also marked the company’s 5th anniversary, underscored a critical shift in the ecosystem – local card manufacturing is no longer just a patriotic alternative, but the strategic backbone of Nigeria’s digital economy.
The exclusive Leadership Breakfast, hosted by Gbenga Aborowa, convened executives from tier-1 banks, leading fintechs, and domestic and regional card schemes. The gathering moved beyond celebratory remarks to tackle the hard questions facing the industry through three high-impact panel sessions, a football tournament among industry teams, and an evening anniversary dinner.
A panel session moderated by the Managing Partner at Assurdly, Unyime Tommy discussed “Local vs. Global: The Battle for the Nigerian Wallet”.
The discussion tackled the tension between domestic schemes and international giants. Divisional Head of Governance and Regional Operations at Verve International, Grace Adeniyi, and E.D/Chief Commercial Officer of AfriGOPay, Ugo Obasi, articulated the strategic necessity of local schemes in mitigating foreign exchange exposure for issuing banks.
They were joined by Head of Card Business and Solutions at Zenith Bank, Celestina Appeal, who provided the issuer’s perspective on balancing the national mandate for domestic cards with the consumer demand for global acceptance. A key consensus emerged, stating that with over 95% of transactions occurring domestically, the economic argument for local card issuance is undeniable.
The conversation then pivoted to the last mile of financial access in the “Financial Inclusion and Agency Banking” session, moderated by CEO of Zest Payments and Chairman of FinTechNGR, Dr. Stanley Jacob. Senior Vice President of Cards at Moniepoint, Femi Davies and General Manager of Payments and Ecosystems at MTN Group, Bode Oyegoke, debated the unit economics of agency banking and the evolution of the agent network from basic cash-in/cash-out services to comprehensive financial touchpoints.
The panelists, joined by Temitope AkinFadeyi, further explored how agency banking has brought millions of Nigerians into the financial system, while acknowledging the challenges of fraud prevention, agent liquidity, and consumer protection that come with rapid scale.
The final panel, moderated by Head of Acquiring and Channels Management at GTBank, Jimmy Banjoko, dwelt on “Beyond the Card,” and explored the future form factors of payments. Group Head of Card Business at Sterling Bank, Nnamdi Azodo; Head of Card Business and Solutions at Providus Bank, Lanre Ogundare; and Head of Payment Processing and Acquiring at Wema Bank, Wale Sogeyinbo, dissected the slow adoption of tokenization and TapToPay in Nigeria. The panelists acknowledged that while digital and contactless payments are the future, the physical card remains an absolute imperative for the present, primarily driven by issuer costs and infrastructure readiness.
The celebration extended well beyond the panel sessions. Teams from Sterling Bank, Providus Bank, Verve International, PalmPay, and Card Centre Nigeria Limited (CCNL) participated in a competitive football tournament. PalmPay took home the trophy, reinforcing the spirit of partnership and camaraderie that has defined CardForté’s relationships across the industry.
Beyond the high-level discourse, the event highlighted CardForté’s quiet but massive impact on the sector. Executive Director at CardForté, Tunde Aka-Bashorun, revealed that since its inception in April 2021, the company has manufactured over 27 million cards for more than 150 clients, serving as the critical launch partner for numerous fintechs and first-time issuers.
“Our graduate trainee programme has seen us absorb approximately 45% of our personnel from the NYSC level to full staff. CardForté maintains 100 percent local staff. Rather than hire foreign talent, we send our people to acquire knowledge, return, and transmit it internally,” Aka-Bashorun stated.
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of CardForté, Seun Lawal, closed the event by framing the company’s mission within the broader context of national sovereignty. “One of the biggest values we have created is local capability,” Lawal noted. “For a long time, there was a mindset that if something is high-value, technical, or security-sensitive, it must come from outside Nigeria.
“We have challenged that thinking by showing that local manufacturing, when done to the right standard, can deliver quality, reliability, and innovation. It means shorter turnaround times, less dependence on imports, and greater data sovereignty because critical parts of the card ecosystem are handled locally.”
As Nigeria’s payment landscape continues to mature, CardForte’s five-year trajectory offers a powerful blueprint that sustainable scale requires indigenous infrastructure. By replacing imported plastic with locally manufactured smart cards, CardForte is not just supplying the fintech boom. It is securing it.
