Lars Seier Christensen is a global pioneer in FX and derivatives trading, having co-founded the Saxo Bank, a fully licensed and regulated bank with an online trading platform that empowers you to invest across global financial markets. He then served as co-CEO of Saxo Bank for more than 20 years. In addition to his over 30 years of financial and banking experience, most interestingly, he is the founder of and has taken the role of chairman of a Swiss non-profit organisation, Concordium Foundation, educating and facilitating the adoption of compliance in blockchain and its next-generation sustainable blockchain platform. Concordium blockchain was launched on the main net last summer. Lars Seier Christensen seeks to understand the technology atmosphere in Africa, specifically Nigeria, to offer his grand entrepreneurial and trading and compliance experience to alleviate some of the present pressing problems.
Without mincing words, Africa is one of the first continents where the burgeoning new web 3 technology - the blockchain - finds most applications. The ‘perfect storm of factors that affirms this claim includes: 1) the teeming population of youths, millennials or GenZ’s, 2) the penetration of smartphone technology and the classic internet, 3) the problems remittance, 4) the exploding number of the unbanked and even 5) the frail and corrupt organisational structures. All these mostly problematic factors are extremely prevalent in the economic behemoth of the continent.
Africa ranks just about the highest amongst other continents in all of these. Anyone with even a two-hour-crash-course knowledge base of blockchain technology can envision how blockchain technology is pertinent in solving these African-centric issues.
Nigeria is regarded as the giant of Africa. Nigeria, estimated to have a population of over 200 million, has one of the youngest populations globally, and it is regarded as Africa’s ICT market. Yet, the foreign transactions limit is being strangled, forcing its young population to seek alternative means such as the ones made possible by blockchain technology. While the policymakers are neither unaware nor indifferent to this, their efforts to provide a better solution in a compliant digital currency have not yielded any results. Multiple launch attempts have failed. The silence that now surrounds the launch of its e-naira suggests helplessness.
The eNaira is a digital currency issued and backed by the authority of the Nigerian government and is a legal tender equivalent to physical cash. It is quite unlike Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that have no backing from established authorities. The eNaira is pegged against the traditional Naira and basically eases transactions and offers digital stability, thus reducing the need for physical cash. Although the authorities have tried to ward off other non-compliant cryptocurrencies, Nigeria's tech-savvy population has found alternative means to go about their daily business. Many would argue it is almost impossible to cease.
Lars Seier Christensen believes he has the experience to proffer solutions to Nigeria’s challenges, especially in the financial technology sector. He’ll be coming to discuss, learn and “shake hands” with significant stakeholders in the country across industries.
Lars will be in Nigeria for two days, from the 13th of April to 14th, discussing the big shots of the general tech ecosystem, including financial, commercial, and web3 technologies. He also aims to seal partnerships in the banking industry and policymakers to deeply understand the country's pain points of the general technology industry whilst presenting the offerings of Concordium and the opportunities that could be unlocked. Lars will also welcome interviews with the mass and crypto media to inform viewers and listeners on some of the notions and ideas he proposes, to set up frameworks for a better financial process that seamlessly fits into their everyday lives and businesses while still staying private and compliant.
He welcomes innovators to share ideas with him. During his stay, he’d like to meet with many innovators in the country to build transformative technologies. Besides an intriguing tech meetup event, he’ll also be meeting with some of the founders and CEOs of giant tech companies. If you’d like to speak with Lars for investment, partnership or collaboration, you can apply here before 10th April 2022.
Lars believes there are countless opportunities in the technology landscape of the African giant. He seeks to further understand the space's atmosphere and collaborate with the builders, bringing his heavy financial experience and network to implement sustainable economic solutions. Let’s see if Lars brings Nigeria’s fintech up to par.
About Concordium
Concordium is a public, decentralised, proof-of-stake (PoS) layer-1 blockchain with unique ID features at the protocol level, to ease regulatory compliance. Protocols are based on science-peer reviewed papers. Concordium has deployed a unique smart-contract environment with a fungible and non-fungible token standard. Concordium differs by offering nearly instantaneous, real finality with low transaction fees, and stable in FIAT terms. For more information: concordium.com.
