Nearpays has just placed Nigerian fintech firmly on the global stage. In Geneva, the Abuja based startup became the first African company to win the AI for Good Innovation Factory grand finale, the flagship competition of the United Nations' AI for Good Global Summit, organised by the International Telecommunication Union in partnership with several UN agencies. The achievement followed a competition that attracted more than 500 startups from around the world, with participants presenting artificial intelligence solutions designed to address social and economic challenges.

Founded by Nigerian entrepreneur Victor Daniyan, Nearpays built its win around a deceptively simple but powerful idea. Its flagship product, SoftPOS, transforms compatible Android smartphones into payment terminals, allowing merchants to receive contactless card payments directly on their phones without additional hardware. The platform combines artificial intelligence with payment processing, fraud detection, regulatory compliance and business management tools, removing the cost barrier that has long locked small and informal merchants out of digital payments.

What set Nearpays apart from competitors on the global stage was its engineering built specifically for African realities. Unlike many digital payment solutions that depend on stable internet connections, Nearpays' platform can operate both online and offline, allowing merchants in rural and underserved communities to continue accepting payments even during network disruptions. That resilience proved decisive throughout a rigorous selection process, with Nearpays advancing from the African regional finals in Johannesburg to the global semi-finals before ultimately claiming the top prize in Geneva.

The moment came with an unexpected bonus too. Musician and long time AI for Good voice will.i.am, added to the jury as a guest judge, closed the ceremony by telling each of the three finalists that he was matching the Innovation Factory's 20,000 dollar cash prize from his own pocket, meaning Nearpays left Geneva with 40,000 dollars in total, alongside access to a global network of investors, policymakers, researchers and industry partners.

Beyond the prize money, the win carries symbolic weight for Nigeria's wider tech ecosystem. Nearpays positioned the win as a signal to other African founders that technology built to solve local problems can compete internationally on its own terms rather than as a subsidiary category of emerging markets solutions. With international credibility now firmly behind it, Nearpays looks set to accelerate partnerships with banks and fintech players across the continent, building on a story that started with solving Nigeria's cash and hardware challenges and is now being told on a global stage.