Successful conclusion of the 6th Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS)
Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Development is pleased to announce that the 6th Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS), in which it participated as a Media Partner on November 16-17, 2021, at The St. Regis Cairo, has successfully concluded.
In an effort to recover from the economic & social consequences of Corona Pandemic, and develop financial technology in Africa and the whole world, the 6th Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) has been held with the participation of numerous businessmen & international experts. For two days, AFTS tackled the main pillars of financial technology and the necessity to develop it through strengthening relations between stakeholders and exchanging ideas, innovation & visions in a collaborative manner, in order to support financial technology ecosystem, achieve financial inclusion and reinforce the notion of non-cash societies.
The event strated with the opening remarks of each of: Ms. Karima Elhakim, Ecosystem & Venture Builder, Fawry, Mr. Leland RiceCo-Founder & CEO, Dedalus Global & AFTS, Mr. Zekarias AmsaluCo-Founder & MD, AFTS & Ibex Frontier, Ms. Rasha Negm, Assistant Sub-governor – FinTech and Innovation, Central Bank of Egypt, H.E. Mr. Joe Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs of Kenya, and Ms. Akaego Okoye, Founder & Host, Africa Business Stories, Director, Member Relations Corporate Council on Africa.
The 6th Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) included a number of dialogue sessions, among them a session entitled “African Fintech Scaling Globally”, which tackled international successful experiences for the expansion of the African financial technology, besides the needed laws and regulations to facilitate financial and technology transactions.
In this regard, Ms. Falgu Shah, Head of BizOps and Expansion, Paystack, referred to the successful Kenyan experience in developing & promoting financial technology, whereas during the past few years, Kenya managed to achieve a quantum leap & high indices in areas of financial inclusive and providing services via mobile phones.
In the context of Egypt`s adoption of innovative technology & reliance on banking & technology- based solutions & products, and supporting startups, Mr. Ahmed Monir, Head of Regulatory Sandbox, CBE, declared that CBE has signed several MOUs with various institutions on enhancing financial technology & inclusion, as well as supporting entrepreneurs & startups in Egypt. Moreover, Mr. Mostafa Moharram, Senior Partner of Moharram & Partners, noted that Egypt has a proactive role in building an efficient financial technology ecosystem in Africa.
With respect to discussing ways of attracting investments to the African countries, the session “Investing beyond VC” addressed the importance of innovation in promoting financial technology and overcoming the challenges that face global venture capital. Mr. Saad Sheikh, Partner, TLG Capital, praised the Nigerian experience in developing a digital currency, while Mr. Ashraf El Khatib, Chief Investment Officer- Private Equity, Ekuity Holding, called for enhancing & driving innovation in financial technology industry through converting innovative & promising ideas into flexible banking & technology- based products & solutions, in line with the variable needs and expectations of customers from various sectors & groups.
As part of illustrating the role of banks in promoting financial technology enterprises, a session entitled “Banks & Fintechs: Collaboration/Competition” tackled the basic pillars of banking digitization, and stressed that digital transformation represents not only a promising opportunity, but also a major challenge for several banks. In this context, Ms. Djiba Diallo, Senior Fintech Advisor, Ecobank, reviews Microsoft`s successful strategy & experience towards digitalization & Fintech, as well as the challenged faced in the region.
In the second day of the 6th Africa Fintech Summit, North Africa Regional Finals – Startup World Cup launched, where international investors & entrepreneurs have the opportunity to present their startups and ideas before the arbitration committee, to represent North Africa at the Grand Finale of Startup World Cup in Silicon Valley this September and compete for a $1million equity prize!, the winner is “Amanleek”, an individual & business insurance startup.
ICCD`s participation in the 6th Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) is considered as a reinforcing step towards enhancing commercial relations among the African continent countries, and because it is convinced that financial technology crucial role in the global economy prosperity.