By 
Matters eRising with Olusegun Oruame
A Comment That Touched a Nerve
When Tosin Eniolorunda, CEO of Moniepoint, stated that his company was struggling to fill over 500 local job openings due to a shortage of world-class technical talent, he likely did not anticipate the scale of backlash that would follow.
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Speaking at a Workers’ Day event at The Platform Nigeria in Lagos, Eniolorunda attributed the challenge to gaps in Nigeria’s education system, the ongoing brain drain (popularly called japa), and the corrosive impact of cybercrime. His core argument was simple: Moniepoint competes globally and therefore requires senior-level technical expertise that meets international standards.
What followed, however, was a far more complex national conversation.
From Skills Shortage to Systemic Failure
Many Nigerians rejected the framing of the issue as a simple “talent scarcity.” Instead, they pointed to deeper, systemic problems: weak corporate training cultures, poor remuneration, limited career progression, and an overreliance on hiring “ready-made” experts without investing in young professionals.
Industry voices argued that while advanced skills in areas such as AI, cybersecurity, and software architecture are indeed scarce, the responsibility for closing that gap cannot rest solely on universities or young graduates. Businesses, especially highly capitalised ones, must play an active role in talent development.
As one technology executive put it, “You cannot build a sustainable digital economy by only poaching talent. At some point, you must grow your own.”
Capacity Building Is Not Charity — It’s Strategy
Moniepoint is no small player. With a valuation exceeding $1 billion, processing an estimated ₦412 trillion in transactions, and ranking high on Nigeria’s Fintech Trust Index alongside peers like FairMoney and OPay, it has become one of the defining companies of Nigeria’s fintech era.
That status comes with responsibility. Not as philanthropy, but as enlightened self-interest.
When companies grow large enough to shape an entire sector, their long-term sustainability becomes inseparable from the health of the talent pipeline that feeds them. Opening offices, scaling products, and raising capital are not substitutes for structured investment in people.
The uncomfortable question, therefore, is this: how much of fintech’s enormous financial value is deliberately committed to training, mentoring, and retaining Nigerian talent?
Lessons from Oil, Gas, and Banking
The challenge Moniepoint describes is not new. According to Chikezie Nwosu, Nigerian universities have never produced fully industry-ready graduates at scale. What distinguished older sectors was how they responded.
International oil companies like Shell and TotalEnergies identified this gap decades ago and invested directly in solutions — from the Shell Intensive Training Programme to structured graduate pipelines that produced today’s industry leaders.
Similarly, banks such as FirstBank and Union Bank institutionalised training schools that transformed raw graduates into mid- and senior-level executives.
They did not complain their way into competence. They built it.
The Fintech Paradox
Ironically, many new-age fintechs enjoy global acclaim yet resist the “rough work” of long-term workforce development. They love the shine of rapid growth but hesitate at the cost of investing deeply in people.
There is also a lingering trust issue. Talented Nigerians working abroad often cite one recurring reason for leaving: global expectations paired with local compensation. When companies seek world-class output but offer sub-global rewards, the outcome is predictable: attrition, disengagement, or migration.
As one observer bluntly noted: “List the roles and the pay you’re offering, and the talent will speak for itself.”
What Global Economies Do Differently
In more advanced economies, workforce development is not optional. Companies are often required, or strongly incentivised, to fund academic research, curriculum development, certifications, and continuous professional education. Academia and industry work as partners, not adversaries.
Students graduate with exposure to real-world problems, while companies gain a steady stream of adaptable, industry-aware talent. Complaints about “unemployable graduates” are rare because training is seen as a shared responsibility.
Workforce Capital as an Investment Asset
This perspective was strongly reinforced at the West Africa Convergence Conference (WACC) 2026 by Aisha Saaka of Arise Funds. In her address on Workforce Capital, she challenged policymakers and operators to move beyond ambition into measurable productivity.
Her argument was clear: when workforce development becomes investable, talent becomes scalable — and when talent scales, economies compete.
Nigeria’s digital future, she argued, will not be determined by apps or platforms alone, but by how deliberately businesses invest in people.
A Balanced Truth Nigerians Must Also Face
This conversation, however, must be honest. There are attitude gaps among some Nigerian youths: entitlement, weak work ethics, and a mismatch between certificates and actual skills. In a productivity-driven private sector, sentiment does not replace output.
But this reality does not absolve companies of responsibility. The most successful global firms correct attitude gaps through mentorship, culture, and exposure. Not by abandoning local talent altogether.
The Real Bottom Line
Ask any fast-growing company what its annual training budget looks like, and you will quickly understand the problem.
World-class performance cannot come from organisations that underinvest in:
- technical training
- leadership development
- certifications
- innovation programmes
- modern tools and global exposure
Human capital is not a line item to minimise. It is the engine of sustainable growth.
In the end, companies like Moniepoint — and Nigeria’s broader fintech ecosystem — must recognise a simple truth: investing in workforce capacity is not nation-building charity; it is business survival strategy.
The future will belong to organisations that stop using skill deficits for clout and start building the talent that will carry them forward.
