As Nigeria’s tech talent continues to leave the country in what’s become known as the “japa” wave, banks are feeling the impact where it hurts most, their digital ambitions. From slowed infrastructure upgrades to disrupted innovation cycles, the exodus of skilled engineers, developers, and cybersecurity experts is reshaping how the nation’s financial institutions operate and compete.
To understand how the industry is adapting, Akeem Adesina, the Vice President, Technology and Digital Transformation at First City Monument Bank (FCMB), offers a candid look at the challenges and opportunities arising from this talent drain. In this interview, he discusses how banks are managing skill shortages, increasing reliance on outsourcing, and adopting automation and AI to fill critical gaps. He also explains what Nigerian financial institutions must do, from reforming workplace culture to improving regulation and investing in local talent pipelines, to remain competitive in an increasingly globalized digital economy.
How has the “japa” exodus of tech professionals impacted the pace and quality of digital transformation in Nigerian banks, particularly in customer-facing services and infrastructure upgrades?
The ongoing “japa” exodus of tech talent is both a problem and a strategic imperative for Nigerian banks seeking to accelerate their digital transformation. The movement of highly skilled engineers, data scientists, and cybersecurity experts has created a major talent gap from a business perspective. This can slow the rollout of new customer-facing features, the modernization of core banking, and infrastructure upgrades. Delays in implementing agile mobile banking platforms, integrated payment systems, and cloud-native architectures can hurt both revenue growth and market competitiveness. This makes talent strategy a business priority, not just a technical issue.
This lack of talent is especially bad for customer service and digital service delivery. To provide high-quality, consistent user experiences, you need experienced technical teams that can design and run platforms that can grow, are reliable, and are safe. Banks that don’t have this knowledge in-house could see slower adoption of digital channels, broken customer journeys, and less efficient operations. Infrastructure projects, such as API monetization, microservices adoption, and cloud migrations, also have execution risks when internal capacity is limited. This could mean relying more on outside consultants and raising costs.
From a strategic point of view, the talent gap has made banks change how they hire people and work with other businesses. We are putting more money into programs that help our employees learn new skills, digital academies, and partnerships with fintech or technology companies to improve our own skills. At the same time, we are using platform-based approaches that let us quickly deploy new features without sacrificing governance. A business-minded Group CIO knows exactly what to do: make sure that digital transformation is in line with scalable talent and ecosystem strategies. This will make sure that customer-facing innovation and infrastructure modernization continue to drive growth, competitiveness, and long-term shareholder value, even when the market is under pressure.
What specific challenges have Nigerian banks faced in maintaining system stability, innovation cycles, or reliance on third-party vendors since the departure of key tech talent?
Nigerian banks have had a lot of trouble keeping their systems stable, coming up with new ideas, and relying on vendors since key tech workers left the country as part of the “japa” phenomenon.
- Stability of the system and ability to keep working: Legacy systems are fragile because many banks use complex, monolithic core banking platforms that need experts to keep them running. Troubleshooting, patching, and system upgrades are taking longer now that experienced engineers are gone. This raises the risk of downtime or service interruptions.
- Incident response gaps: Banks have a harder time responding quickly to outages, cyberattacks, or spikes in high-volume transactions because they have fewer experts on staff. This puts customer trust and regulatory compliance at risk.
- Accumulation of technical debt: Putting off refactoring or modernizing old infrastructure adds to technical debt, making future updates more expensive and more likely to go wrong.
- Longer cycles of innovation
- Less ability to deliver quickly: Innovation projects like improving mobile apps, creating digital lending products, or making money from APIs need skilled developers, data scientists, and product engineers. Lack of talent has slowed down sprints, pushed back product launches, and made it harder to try out new ideas in small steps.
- Lower risk tolerance: Banks may put off big projects because they don’t have enough internal expertise, which makes it harder for them to compete with fintechs or use new technologies like AI, microservices, and real-time analytics. Lack of institutional memory makes it hard to understand past architectural decisions, slowing development and requiring more work.
- More Dependence on Outside Vendors
- Operational dependency: Banks have had to hire consultants, system integrators, or fintech partners to do important tasks for them, which has made costs and operational dependencies go up.
- Integration complexity: Relying on third parties makes it harder to keep core systems, customer channels, and regulatory reporting integrated smoothly because it requires more coordination and governance.
- Vendor risk exposure: Relying too much on outside providers can lead to problems with service level breaches, data security, and compliance accountability.
In essence, the departure of important tech workers has revealed weaknesses in the structure and operations of Nigerian banks. It is now harder to maintain system stability, keep up the pace of innovation, and manage third-party risk. Banks successfully addressing these problems are combining strategic talent development, platform modernization, and strong vendor governance. This keeps services running smoothly while enabling future growth and digital competitiveness.
From your management perspective, what strategies could Nigerian banks adopt to better retain top tech talent and reduce the tech workforce drain?
- To keep the best tech workers in Nigerian banks, management and strategy must take a multi-faceted approach that includes pay, culture, career growth, and purpose. The bank should also be seen as a technology-driven, innovative employer, not just a financial institution. This is how I would put it:
- Competitive pay and bonuses: Pay in line with the market and reflecting the lack of digital skills, with bonuses based on project delivery, performance, and innovation outcomes.
- Set up equity or profit-sharing programs for important digital jobs. This will tie personal success to the bank’s growth and give employees a stake in long-term results.
- Give employees flexible financial benefits, such as tech allowances, certification sponsorships, and learning budgets, that encourage them to continue learning new skills.
- Growth in your career and skills: Set up digital academies and structured upskilling programs so that workers can learn how to use cloud computing, AI, data analytics, cybersecurity, and API development.
- Make it clear how technology professionals can move up in their careers, with paths to leadership roles like Head of Digital, Chief Data Officer, or CTO-level tracks.
- Put tech teams in business units to work on high-impact, customer-facing projects to promote cross-functional exposure. This makes them more visible and powerful.
- A culture of freedom and new ideas: Encourage a startup-like, flexible culture in the bank’s tech department so that teams can try new things, fail quickly, and help design products.
- Promote intrapreneurship programs that let employees come up with and work on new digital projects. This will make them feel like they own the projects and will encourage them to get involved.
- Recognize and reward innovators and high achievers to show that technical contributions are just as important as traditional banking jobs.
- A flexible work environment and a good quality of life. Give employees the option to work from home or in a hybrid setting. This is becoming increasingly important for retaining top talent in Nigeria.
- Give tech workers more than just money by giving them wellness programs, mentors, and peer support networks.
- To make people happier at work, cut down on unnecessary red tape and give teams the power to make decisions about digital projects.
- Strategic Partnerships and Getting the Word Out : Give employees access to cutting-edge technologies and practices by making it easier for them to work with fintechs and global tech companies on secondments, exchange programs, or collaborations. Work on big digital transformation projects that show the bank as a leader in innovation. This will attract top talent who want to work on projects with real market impact.
It’s not just about pay; it’s also about purpose, growth, recognition, and freedom. Banks that pay their employees well and foster an environment that encourages new ideas, learning, flexible work hours, and meaningful project exposure can retain many tech workers. The Group CIO aims to make the bank a digital-first, career-first place to work, where top tech talent chooses to stay, grow, and drive change rather than seek jobs abroad.
How effective are current initiatives like remote work, skill development, and compensation adjustments in curbing the migration of tech professionals from the banking sector?
Current efforts by Nigerian banks to prevent tech professionals from leaving the country, such as offering remote work, skill-building programs, and pay raises, have not been very effective. Flexible work arrangements are beneficial, and training programs improve skills, but they don’t make much of an impact unless they are connected to real career growth, challenging projects, or opportunities to lead. Salary increases help retain employees temporarily but often do not meet global fintech and tech sector standards, making it attractive for mid- to senior-level employees to switch to new companies.
From an executive perspective, these steps are necessary but not enough. To truly keep talent, a comprehensive approach is needed—one that includes competitive pay, clear career paths, meaningful projects, and an innovative culture. People stay in a job not just for money but also for the chance to make a difference, learn new skills, and influence important decisions.
In summary, Nigerian banks need to move from reactive retention tactics to a strategic talent ecosystem that places technology teams at the heart of business growth, innovation, and market leadership. This approach ensures the bank remains an attractive, long-term place for top tech talent.
Are Nigerian banks increasingly relying on outsourcing or contract-based talent, and what are the associated risks and benefits of this approach?
Nigerian banks are increasingly using outsourced and contract-based workers to fill gaps in digital skills, gain specialized knowledge, and accelerate innovation in areas such as cloud computing, AI, and API integration. This method lets banks keep projects moving and systems stable even when they don’t have enough skilled workers. It does this by being flexible, cost-effective, and giving them quick access to important features.
But depending on external resources carries strategic risks, such as operational dependency, knowledge gaps, data security issues, and possible cultural misalignment. These risks can affect continuity, compliance, and long-term innovation if they aren’t carefully monitored.
From the point of view of a business executive, outsourcing should be planned and balanced with the development of the company’s own capabilities. To ensure that outside experts help the company grow and change without compromising its operational resilience or organizational knowledge, it needs strong vendor governance, knowledge transfer, and compliance frameworks.
How can banks collaborate more effectively with universities, tech hubs, or industry bodies to build a resilient pipeline of young, local tech talent?
Nigerian banks are increasingly relying on outsourced and contract talent to fill digital skill gaps and accelerate innovation, gaining flexibility, specialized expertise, and cost efficiency. However, this reliance introduces risks, including operational dependency, knowledge gaps, cybersecurity exposure, and cultural misalignment, that can affect continuity and compliance. For executives, the priority is to strategically balance external talent with internal capability-building, ensuring strong vendor governance, knowledge transfer, and compliance oversight to drive growth without compromising resilience or institutional knowledge.
In light of a shrinking local tech workforce, how are Nigerian banks balancing demands for innovation against the need for operational stability?
As the number of tech workers in Nigeria decreases, banks there are increasingly using a dual-focus strategy to balance new ideas with keeping things running smoothly.
To stay competitive and meet rising customer expectations, banks are accelerating their digital initiatives, including improving mobile banking, integrating APIs, moving to the cloud, and adding AI-powered services. Many are using fintech partnerships, outsourcing, and contract-based specialists to make this happen, even though there aren’t enough skilled workers. This lets innovation continue without placing too much strain on internal teams.
Banks, on the other hand, are putting operational resilience first by improving governance, risk management, and system monitoring. Cybersecurity, critical infrastructure, and core banking stability are still non-negotiable. Resources are set aside to ensure uptime, compliance, and data protection. This creates a hybrid model in practice: internal teams focus on mission-critical operations and strategic oversight, while external experts accelerate innovation.
From an executive point of view, success means carefully balancing this by leveraging talent, technology, and partnerships to quickly generate new ideas while maintaining the trust, reliability, and continuity that are important to bank operations.
What role do automation, AI, or emerging technologies play in filling human resource gaps and driving digital banking innovation in Nigeria?
Automation, AI, and emerging technologies are increasingly vital for addressing workforce shortages and advancing digital banking in Nigeria. As talented individuals leave the region, banks leverage these technologies to compensate for staffing gaps, accelerate processes, and deliver innovative experiences to customers.
Process Automation: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and workflow automation enable banks to automate many repetitive tasks, such as transaction processing, account reconciliation, and compliance checks, with minimal or no human involvement. This simplifies operations for small teams while enhancing accuracy, speed, and efficiency.
AI and Machine Learning: AI facilitates predictive analytics, fraud detection, credit scoring with alternative data, and personalized customer interactions. These capabilities replace or enhance tasks traditionally requiring human expertise, allowing smaller teams to manage larger workloads and offer tailored digital services at scale. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants also boost customer service by providing 24/7 support without additional staffing.
New Technologies: Cloud-native architectures, microservices, and API-driven platforms streamline product development, foster partnerships with fintech firms, and support modular innovation. These technologies reduce reliance on large internal teams, enabling banks to rapidly scale new initiatives while maintaining operational stability.
In summary, automation and AI help fill talent gaps, optimize operations, and speed up innovation, transforming Nigerian banks into more agile, technology-driven enterprises. Strategically, these technologies enable banks to do more with less, focusing their limited staff on high-value, strategic, and customer-centric projects rather than routine tasks.
Looking ahead, what structural or regulatory reforms are necessary for Nigerian banks to become globally competitive in tech capacity and talent management?
We need to focus on making Nigerian banks globally competitive in technology and talent management. This means ensuring that regulatory clarity, structural modernization, and talent sustainability work together to help the business grow.
Making rules that allow for innovation: To speed up fintech partnerships and product innovation, we need clear, flexible rules for open banking, API standards, and digital licensing. Nigerian banks will be able to operate at a global standard if they support sandboxes for experimentation and ensure compliance with data protection and cybersecurity rules. This will open new sources of income while lowering risk.
Infrastructure that is up to date and can grow: To reduce reliance on legacy systems, make services more scalable, and speed up the time to bring digital services to market, banks need to switch to cloud-native, modular architectures. Structural changes should encourage businesses to invest in research and development, innovation centers, and technology modernization projects to help them work more effectively and stand out from the competition.
Managing talent strategically: To keep and attract the best tech talent, you need to take a broad view. This means offering flexible work arrangements, hybrid work policies, and access to high-impact digital projects. To build local skills, reduce “japa” attrition, and ensure teams can work to global standards, banks should set up structured upskilling programs, certifications, and partnerships with universities. Encouraging diversity and inclusion will attract more talented people and foster new ideas.
In summary, Technology, talent, and rules must work together for Nigerian banks to compete on a global scale. From the CIO’s point of view, success means building a digital infrastructure that can scale and evolve quickly, hiring and training top-notch teams, and leveraging regulatory tools to accelerate innovation, all while ensuring the business grows and remains strong.
