FinTech players to gather in Nairobi for the Finnovation Africa Series summit
More than 300 participants from established banking powerhouses to FinTech start‐ups will in May gather in Nairobi for the Finnovation Africa 2018 summit. The event will bring together stakeholders to tackle the most pressing questions for the progress of FinTech in Africa, providing a platform for them to engage in creating the future of financial services in the continent.
The event will seek to harness the FinTech revolution to boost strategic economic priorities such as financial inclusion and deepening – and how FinTech can make a positive and profitable difference in Africa.
The events hosted in Uganda and Ethiopia in 2017 saw more than 500 thought leaders, FinTech pioneers and bankers representing the foremost financial institutions from across the continent gather to address how FinTech can contribute to the positive and profitable transformation of financial services in Africa.
With a focus on the most significant technologies driving the financial services paradigm shift, including Blockchain and Bitcoin, Open Banking and APIs, Payment innovations, and Mobile Money and Digital Wallets, Finnovation Kenya 2018 also features a number of innovative sessions such as The Wolves’ Den, Silicon Savannah: Tales of Financial and Technology Start-ups in Kenya, Founder’s PainPoints, Inside the Investor’s Mind, and live-on-stage interviews with international Finnovators and African FinTech pioneers.
Speaking at the announcement of the launch of Finnovation Kenya 2018, David McLean, President of Ethico Live, said that: “FinTech holds a particularly powerful promise for Africa especially as an enabler of key strategic priorities, such as financial inclusion and deepening.
He added that the impact of new disruptive financial technologies is well placed to be genuinely socially useful, meaningfully improving how ordinary people engage with financial services and therefore deliver broader-based positive economic outcomes across the continent. ‘’FinTech also sets the bar higher for incumbent banks in terms of their own innovation agendas as the leading banks internationally and in Africa seek to make digital profitable and explore collaboration opportunities with FinTech trail-blazers. We are very excited to be bringing Finnovation to the well-established and high-growth Kenyan market and look forward to progressing discussions on the digital transformation of financial services in Africa.”
”The impact of Blockchain, Open Banking, Mobile Money and Payment innovations are radically transforming the financial services landscape as FinTech disruptors intensify the challenge to incumbent banks and kickstart new opportunities in Kenya”
Africa’s financial sector is in the midst of an exciting and profound transformation. The rapid growth of FinTech on the continent is driving the disruption and, in many cases, leapfrogging of legacy systems as innovators accelerate the digital transformation of financial services across Africa. This has further spurred the leading incumbent banks in Africa to more rapidly ramp-up their own innovative approaches to meet the financial needs of under-served markets across the continent.
FinTech players are increasingly becoming an important part of the fabric of Africa’s financial services industry. In addition, the leading banks on the continent are now harnessing innovative technology and are also collaborating with FinTech start-ups to better connect with under-served consumers, improve financial inclusion and provide a platform to scale much faster.
Finnovation Africa: Kenya 2018 will take place at the Radisson Blu Nairobi on the 31st of May 2018 .
