Building a Foundation of Digital Trust: Reflections on PAFON 3.0

On 24 April 2026, I attended the Payments Forum Nigeria (PAFON 3.0) at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos. The conference was themed, “Fair Digital Payments as a Catalyst for Deepening Financial Inclusion in Nigeria.”

Although I was one of the invited guest speakers discussing how to orchestrate stablecoins and CBDCs as payment rails in West Africa, I also had the privilege of learning from other industry leaders. Alongside other notable voices across the FinTech, mobile money, Web3, and financial inclusion ecosystems were Prof. Obadare Peter Adewale, Professor of Practice in Cybersecurity and Chief Visionary Officer at Digital Encode, and Chika Nwosu, Managing Director of PalmPay. By the way, I actually sat right next to Chika Nwosu for a few minutes, blissfully unaware of my proximity to the fintech founder until he strode up to the podium to speak. Clearly, my industry networking radar needed a quick software update that morning! 

Building Digital Trust in the Digital Economy

A major highlight of the event was listening to Prof. Obadare discuss the critical need for digital trust. As he rightly pointed out, “It’s a lifetime journey to build digital trust; it is not something you build in a day.”

I wholeheartedly agree.

Given the rising cybersecurity risks in today’s digital payment landscape, Prof. Obadare emphasized a crucial mindset shift for innovators. Instead of viewing robust cybersecurity architecture as a costly regulatory burden, developers must embrace it as an integral component of sustainable innovation and safe adoption.

I have always viewed digital trust as a continuous process rather than a final destination—and it is certainly not a thing for overnight achievement. In digital security, including the data protection space, you often find a number of innovators merely “checking boxes”, neglecting the substantive element. But digital trust doesn’t work like that. In fact, digital trust has to be imbibed as a culture at both individual and institutional levels.

Ensuring Digital Trust: Three Strategic Questions You Must Ask Yourself When Evaluating New Innovations

Toward building digital trust, I found the three strategic questions Prof. Obadare asks when evaluating new innovations to be particularly insightful:

1. Are you doing the right thing? (The Structural Question)
2. Are you doing it the right way? (The Architectural Question)
3. Are you getting it done well? (The Delivery Question)

As a “builder” myself, I must keep asking myself these three questions. It’s not enough to “innovate.” Innovation should have built-in trust rails. With these trust rails, innovations get to grow safely and sustainably.

Having followed Prof. Obadare’s work in the cybersecurity space since 2017—the same year I founded Infusion Lawyers—I continue to be inspired by his relentless pursuit of excellence and impact. As a legal professional, policy consultant, and advocate in the digital economy—including the intersection of law and emerging technologies—I am always thrilled to see the vital elements that make up the digital economy come together.  

Digital Trust: Why Developmental Regulation is Key to Realizing a Self-Reinforcing Value System

We must enable a value system that drives digital inclusion, financial access, and economic freedom for all. Crucially, this must be done safely and sustainably, rooted in digital trust and supported by both robust technological infrastructure and developmental regulation especially in developing countries and emerging markets.

This is why I cannot emphasize enough how vital adopting developmental regulation is in the context of a rapidly evolving digital economy like Nigeria’s, where building Digital Trust is, as Prof. Obadare noted, a “lifetime journey.”

Developmental Regulation acts not as a stop sign, but as a sophisticated GPS and well-paved superhighway. Traditionally, regulation is viewed as a restrictive “policeman”—reactive, focusing primarily on enforcing rules and punishing infractions after they occur. Developmental regulation flips this paradigm. It is an assertive, forward-looking approach where regulators actively collaborate with innovators, industry stakeholders (like the FinTechs and banks present at PAFON 3.0), and advocates (like the legal and policy consultants) to co-create a supportive framework for development itself.

It moves beyond mere compliance to focus on enablement, experimentation, and partnership. 

Looking Forward

I’m grateful to the conveners, including the Co-Convener and Chairman of the Nigeria Information Technology Reporters’ Association (NITRA), Chike Onwuegbuchi, for organizing such an impactful event. A special shoutout to Techeconomy’s Peter Oluka and his team for their contributions to the success of PAFON 3.0. 

I am also grateful to the conveners of the Lagos Blockchain Week and the Nigeria Blockchain Week, led by Chukwuemeka Mbaebie, for inviting me to share insights regarding stablecoin adoption and other payment innovations in today’s digital economy. I look forward to our continued collaboration in the ongoing tour ahead of this years’ Lagos Blockchain Week, holding July 13–19 in Lagos. And a special shoutout to my people at Infusion Lawyers and the leadership at the Virtual Asset Service Providers Association (VASPA) for their general support towards advocacy for digital trust in the payment system.

I look forward to further collaboration within the ecosystem as we continue to build digital trust together, and I eagerly anticipate PAFON 4.0.