RELATIONAL IMPACT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN THE REGIME OF FINANCIAL TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Artificial Intelligence is revolutionising the financial technology industry by enabling improved detection of fraud, predictive capabilities, and personalised financial interactions. In Africa, the International Finance Corporation projects that the strategic adoption of artificial intelligence could add up to $234 billion to Africa’s GDP by 2030. About 87.5% of Nigerian financial technology companies now deploy artificial intelligence in the process of detecting fraud, highlighting how risk-management concerns are shaping technology adoption in the country’s fast-growing digital finance ecosystem. The paper examined the use and evolving role of artificial intelligence in Nigeria's financial technology landscape. The author argued that artificial intelligence is driving growth in the financial technology industry through improved fraud detection, credit scoring, and automation. Notwithstanding the above, the author further argued that the increasing deployment of artificial intelligence in financial technology raises serious data privacy concerns, as these systems continuously collect and analyse users’ financial and personal data. The paper, therefore, maintained that while artificial intelligence has improved efficiency and financial inclusion, the subsisting framework remains inadequate and underscores the need to strengthen data protection laws, develop artificial intelligence-specific regulatory guidelines, and promote ethical standards in artificial intelligence deployment.