Chijioke Dozie on financial inclusion
From Why Carbon CEO Chijioke Dozie Is Ditching Nigeria's Free Banking Playbook · · African Tech Roundup
“In Nigeria we started because there was no access to credit. In 2012 when we started, we were a country of like 180 million people, probably only 200,000 credit cards… credit as a percentage of GDP was like 6%, South Africa was 70%.”
On , Chijioke Dozie, CEO & Co-Founder at Carbon, spoke about financial inclusion during Why Carbon CEO Chijioke Dozie Is Ditching Nigeria's Free Banking Playbook on African Tech Roundup.
About Chijioke Dozie
Chijioke Dozie, co-founder and CEO of Carbon, has been speaking about the company's shift away from a "free banking" model toward a value-based approach. He stated that Carbon believes customers should pay for value, arguing that subsidizing services is unsustainable and requires constant investor capital. Dozie noted that the "VC winter" has increased the urgency for companies to focus on sustainability. He also discussed Carbon's history, including its decision to pull back on lending during COVID-19, which he said felt like abandoning customers, and his view that the company would have been in better shape if it had continued lending. Dozie has also addressed the need for standards in the Nigerian fintech industry, stating that "everyone who creates an app is a fintech" and that the lack of uniform standards, such as mandatory credit bureau reporting and consistent regulatory oversight, creates problems. He contrasted fintechs with traditional banks, which he said collaborate better because they share similar standards and are regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Dozie has emphasized Carbon's focus on credit, describing the company as a "credit-led digital bank" and noting that the company aims to change the culture of cash payments in Nigeria through products like its buy now, pay later offering, Carbon Zero.