GITEX Nigeria 2026: What Monica Heard at Landmark Centre Is More Valuable Than What It Said
For two days at Landmark Centre, Monica was surrounded by the people shaping Nigeria’s digital future. But beyond the crowd, the conversations at its booth revealed something more telling: people were not just asking what Monica does. Some already knew, some were already using it, and others could immediately see where it fitted into their lives.
At GITEX Nigeria, Monica Had More Than a Booth
There is a difference between showing up at a technology event and actually being part of the conversation.
At GITEX Nigeria 2026, that difference was visible at Landmark Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, where technology companies, startups, investors, founders, buyers and ecosystem players gathered across two days to explore the ideas and products shaping Nigeria’s digital economy.
For Monica, the event was an opportunity to put its product in front of a highly relevant audience. But it was also something more useful. It was a chance to listen.
On September 2 and 3, visitors came through the Monica booth with different levels of familiarity. Some wanted to understand how the platform works. Some had already used it. Others arrived without knowing much about it but quickly found a reason to care.
And somewhere between those conversations, a bigger picture emerged.
GITEX Was About Technology. Monica Was Talking About What Happens Next
GITEX Nigeria was not built around one technology or one industry. It brought together different parts of the digital economy in one place, from emerging startups and financial technology to investment, artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure and the broader future of business in Nigeria.
The timing was particularly significant for Monica because the second day of the Lagos programme also featured FDX Nigeria by GITEX, with discussions around the future of finance, digital assets, payments, financial inclusion and cross-border finance.
Those themes sit close to the problem Monica is trying to solve.
Crypto has become easier to acquire, hold and transfer, but converting digital assets into usable local money can still introduce unnecessary steps. The familiar route for many Nigerians has involved finding another person willing to buy the asset, negotiating a rate, waiting for payment and navigating the risks that come with a transaction between two strangers.
Monica takes a different route.
As a direct Crypto-to-Naira off-ramp, the platform allows users to send supported crypto assets and receive Naira directly into their verified Nigerian bank accounts after the required blockchain confirmation. It currently supports BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, SOL, BNB and TRX.
At an event focused on what financial technology can become, that is an important conversation to have.
The Most Interesting Part Was What Happened at the Booth
The real measure of a brand at an event like GITEX is not simply how many people walked past its stand.
It is what happens when they stop.
Do they understand the product? Do they have questions? Can they see themselves using it? Do existing users have something to say about their experience?
For Monica, the answers were revealing.
One of the visitors was Akinola Akinpelu, an existing Monica user who has been using the platform for years. His familiarity meant the conversation was not about introducing him to Monica. He was already explaining why he uses it.
He recalled a time when a friend in the UK wanted to send him money in crypto. Rather than going through the usual process of finding a buyer, he told his friend, “Have you not heard of Monica? Send it through Monica.”
The transaction was quick, and for Akinpelu, that speed and reliability are what keep him coming back.
His experience also points to the larger problem Monica is addressing. When someone simply wants to move money from one form to another, the process should not have to become an entire project.
That is the promise of a direct off-ramp: fewer layers between the person sending the crypto and the person receiving the Naira.
Then There Were the People Discovering Monica for the First Time
Not everyone at the booth arrived as an existing user.
For some, GITEX was their first proper encounter with Monica, and those first reactions were just as telling.
Charles from the US Consulate, for instance, immediately connected the product to a situation he could understand. After hearing how Monica allows crypto to be converted into naira, he imagined using it to pay a friend in USDT and having that friend receive naira.
“This looks like something I would love to try out,” he said. “Paying my friend in USDT and him being able to convert it to Nigerian Naira in seconds is amazing.”
That reaction matters because it strips away the technical language that can sometimes surround crypto.
Behind the blockchain terminology is a fairly ordinary need. Someone has money in one form. Someone else needs it in another. The closer technology gets to solving that problem without unnecessary friction, the more useful it becomes.
Existing Users Had Their Own Story to Tell
Ifeanyichukwu, another existing user, has been using Monica since its launch.
“It has been great,” he said.
August’s experience was slightly different. He admitted that it took some time to get familiar with the app, but once he did, the experience changed.
“It took me a while to get the hang of it, but afterwards, I enjoyed my experience using the Monica app. It’s seamless, fast and reliable.”
Neither comment needed much decoration. They were ordinary users describing an ordinary part of their financial lives, which is precisely why they mattered.
Products become real when they move beyond demonstrations and become part of how people actually move money.
Not Everyone Who Walked Away Was a Crypto User
One of the more interesting moments at the event came from someone who does not even use crypto.
Eniola Wey won one of Monica’s raffle prizes during the event, taking home a tablet. Other prizes included a mini electric fan, tripod, AirPods and power bank, giving visitors another reason to engage with the booth beyond the product demonstration.
But Eniola’s interaction with Monica went beyond the prize.
She explained that she is not a crypto user herself, but she has friends who are. After learning what Monica does, she said she would tell them about the platform.
That may sound like a small thing, but it reflects something important about financial technology. A product does not always have to solve a problem for the person standing in front of you to make an impression. Sometimes understanding the problem well enough to recommend the solution is enough.
This Is Where the Story Gets Bigger Than GITEX
The most significant thing about Monica’s presence at GITEX was not that people discovered the brand.
Some certainly did.
The more interesting development was that Monica was meeting people at different points of the journey. Existing users were talking about their experiences. New visitors were testing the idea against situations in their own lives. People who do not use crypto were beginning to understand who might need the product.
That is different from simply creating awareness.
Awareness asks, “Have you heard of us?”
Experience asks, “What do you think?”
Adoption goes one step further: “How does this fit into what I already do?”
At Landmark Centre, Monica encountered all three.
And that is a useful position for any technology company to be in.
From Explaining the Product to Demonstrating Its Place in Everyday Life
Crypto is often discussed as though its importance lies entirely in the technology behind it.
For everyday users, however, the question is usually much simpler.
What can I do with it?
Can I receive money from someone abroad? Can I turn it into naira? Can I move that money into my bank account without searching for a buyer first? Can I use a platform that removes some of the uncertainty from the process?
Those are the questions that turn infrastructure into a product people understand.
Monica’s presence at GITEX put that distinction on display. The conversations were not only about crypto. They were about payments, access, convenience and what happens when financial technology is designed around what people actually need to do.
That is also why the event mattered beyond the two days themselves.
The Awareness Stage Is Not the Whole Story Anymore
There was a time when introducing Monica meant explaining what an off-ramp was, what the platform did and why someone might need one.
At GITEX, the conversation felt further along.
There were people who already knew the name. There were people who had used the product for years. There were people hearing about it for the first time and immediately connecting it to a real situation. There were also people willing to recommend it to someone else.
That is not the end of the journey. In many ways, it is where the more important part begins.
Because once people know a product, the brand no longer controls the entire conversation.
Users do.
They decide whether it is useful. They tell their friends. They return when they need it. They explain it in their own words.
And that was perhaps the clearest thing Monica heard at GITEX Nigeria 2026.
The brand is no longer speaking into an empty room.
People are already speaking back.
The Conversation Continues
GITEX Nigeria has ended, but the questions raised at Landmark Centre have not.
Nigeria’s digital economy is still changing rapidly. Crypto is still finding its place within everyday finance. Cross-border payments are still being reimagined. And users are still looking for financial tools that fit the way they actually live and work.
Monica’s job is not simply to be present at those conversations. It is to keep building a product that gives people a reason to stay in them.
For two days in Lagos, the booth gave the company a chance to hear directly from the people on the other side of the screen.
Some came as users.
Some came as prospects.
Some came simply curious.
What they had to say may ultimately prove more valuable than anything Monica could have said about itself.
Heard about Monica at GITEX? Now experience it yourself.
