FMCG operators advocate instant payments, tech adoption

L-R: Director, Retail/ FMCG, OPay, Isimeme Owobu; Project Director, FMCG Festival, Flora Mbeledeogu, and Group CEO, Cardinal Torch Group, David Olurin, at the Day 1 of the FMCG Festival held in Lagos recently. Photo: FMCG Festival/TheGuardian.

Operators in Nigeria’s Fast-Moving Consumer Goods sector have called for faster, uniform payment systems and wider technology adoption across the retail value chain to strengthen local businesses.

 They spoke on Monday in Lagos at the opening of the three-day FMCG Festival 2026, with the theme  ‘Driving the Future of Africa’s FMCG Industry Through Smart Technology Adoption, Payments, Logistics, Sustainable Packaging and Retail Excellence.’

 The Group Chief Executive Officer of Cardinal Torch Group, David Olurin, said payment platforms must deliver instant settlement for distributors, suppliers and retailers.

 “Payment systems are improving, but we need to make it absolute, whereby when payments are made, it’s instant,” Olurin said.

 He said every provider must meet the same standard: “Payment platforms must exist across the board and not be selective.”

 Olurin said delays cost operators money because market conditions shift quickly. “Time is a factor that we must always take into consideration because prices change, scenarios change, situations change within minutes, within seconds,” he said.

 On packaging, he urged the government to set standards from the start of production, especially for sachet products, to protect consumers and the environment.

 “Government must have a standard of what you need and how you package your materials so that those materials don’t get into the drains or get into hazardous situations for human beings,” Olurin said.

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 He also urged local value addition, drawing on his work in cocoa. “Nigeria has a fantastic consumption population where we need to add value here, keep the value and earn the benefits here,” he said.

 The Director, Retail/FMCG, OPay, Isimeme Owobu, identified payment reconciliation and data access as major problems for small retailers, noting, “One of the major concerns with retail businesses is having to receive payments, view those payments and reconcile.”

 He said OPay has built a dashboard that lets retailers receive and track payments, and an AI-driven feature that helps them decide when to stock up. Interested businesses can reach OPay through its sales representatives in all states or its Instagram page, OPay Business. Owobu said the company recently opened a branch in Kano.

 The Project Director of the FMCG Festival, Flora Mbeledeogu, said the sector must stop reacting to the market and start shaping it.

 “Our goal for the FMCG Festival is simple: to transition from reacting to the market to actively shaping the market,” Mbeledeogu said.

 She said the festival would explore generative AI’s impact on product design and consumer insights, the role of seamless payments in bridging fragmented markets, and how agile logistics can reduce costs.

 Mbeledeogu said the festival had facilitated business connections from its opening day, citing an entrepreneur who discovered that OPay offered distributor financing after seeking funding for his distributors and subsequently pledged to partner with the fintech company.

 She said more than 50 exhibitors and over 100 distributors attended: “Everyone is in the same room.”