NAIROBI, Kenya, 24 September 2024/African Media Agency/- Fintech stakeholders from around the world recently converged in Nairobi, Kenya, for the 12th edition of the Africa Fintech Summit. The three-day event, which ran from September 4 to September 6, 2024, welcomed 680 in-person delegates from 62 countries, with over 1,000 more participating virtually.
Focused on the theme “Fintech in Every Industry,” #AFTSNairobi2024 connected fintech innovators, banking and finance executives, investors, regulators, and ecosystem enablers for conversations around the state and future of fintech in Africa and the sector’s role in driving the growth of other industries. The focus was on fintech’s ability to improve efficiency, access, transparency, and reliability in industries such as insurance, healthcare, real estate, climate tech, and even governance.
AFTSNairobi2024 kicked off with its customary VIP Dinner on the 4th. Dignitaries enjoyed fine dining and engaging conversations at the Nairobi Capital Club, courtesy of Onafriq and Circle. Both companies announced a new partnership geared at driving financial inclusion across Africa.
Day two began with five keynote addresses. Each of these notable speakers delivered a short address on critical topics ranging from fintech’s role in driving commerce in Africa to Kenya’s digital transformation efforts: H.E. Wamkele Mene, Secretary-General, African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat; H.E. Eng. John Tanui CBS, PS, State Department & Digital Economy, ICT, Keny; Stanley Kamanguy, CEO, ICT Authority of Kenya; Esther Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer, Safaricom, and Zekarias Amsalu, Co-founder & MD, Africa Fintech Summit.
A quick fireside chat with Paystack co-founder and CEO Shola Akinlade focused on his entrepreneurial journey served as the opener for a flurry of panel discussions focused on fintech and its overlap with other industries. One of such panel sessions examined mobile money’s continuous role in fostering financial inclusion and access in Africa, featuring speakers from Visa, M-PESA, GSMA, and others.
The mobile money panelists agreed on interoperability as the next level in unlocking mobile money’s potential to drive value for all stakeholders. For customers, it will remove the barriers that prevent the transfer of money between different mobile money services, enabling faster, cheaper, and easier transactions. For mobile money service providers, interoperability will increase the desirability of their products and create a larger market to tap into, while African economies will benefit from the ease of moving money that an interoperable mobile money ecosystem will create.
Several other panel sessions, workshops, and two exclusive Kenyan regulatory and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) roundtables were interspersed by coffee and lunch breaks, which also doubled as networking sessions and opportunities for side engagements such as the Excellence in Fintech Award Ceremony. Exceptional African and Africa-focused fintech stakeholders ranging from fintech companies and other financial institutions to investors and other ecosystem enablers were recognized across twenty categories. Big names like M-PESA, Interswitch, Flutterwave, Paystack, Visa, MDP, Moniepoint, OPay, Ecobank, 54 Collective, Amazon Web Services, and MTN were among the awardees selected via public voting.
Day three was just as eventful. It began with three ecosystem tours tagged Investing in Kenya (sponsored by Bank of America), Expanding into Kenya (sponsored by CB Group), and STEM Students – Learning from Silicon Savannah (sponsored by Chevron). The first two focused on helping interested delegates understand the logistics of investing and expanding into Kenya, while the third tour aimed to provide STEM students with knowledge about Kenya’s tech ecosystem and how they can build tech careers. All tours took place within Nairobi and collectively had eight stops, including Nairobi Securities Exchange, KenInvest Office, Two Rivers International Finance and Innovation Center (TRIFIC), CB Group, and others.
Proceedings on the final day continued with masterclasses back at the JW Marriott Hotel, touching on everything from storytelling and branding in the startup world to how founders should protect themselves when negotiating with investors. The three-day summit came to a fitting end with the Alpha Expo Pitch Competition, which saw 15 African startups take to the stage to pitch their solutions to a panel of judges and attendees. Uganda’s Flow Global finished in first place, while Rwanda’s Ironji and Tanzania’s KiasiApp were second and third, respectively. All participants got $25,000 in AWS cloud credits courtesy of Amazon Web Services (AWS), while the top three startups also won prizes from Numeris, African Media Agency, Trends Research, and The Kenyan Wall Street.
Proceedings on the final day continued with masterclasses back at the JW Marriott Hotel, touching on everything from storytelling and branding in the startup world to how founders should protect themselves when negotiating with investors. The three-day summit came to a fitting end with the Alpha Expo Pitch Competition, which saw 15 African startups take to the stage to pitch their solutions to a panel of judges and attendees. Uganda’s Flow Global finished in first place, while Rwanda’s Ironji and Tanzania’s KiasiApp were second and third, respectively. All participants got $25,000 in AWS cloud credits courtesy of Amazon Web Services (AWS), while the top three startups also won prizes from Numeris, African Media Agency, Trends Research, and The Kenyan Wall Street.
Supported by several African and global fintech stakeholders, #AFTSNairobi2024 was a massive success. Attendees were particularly impressed by the quality of the conversations, interactions, and business opportunities, going by their reviews on social media:
“Last week, I had the privilege of participating in the Africa Fintech Summit in Nairobi, Kenya. It felt amazing to connect with fintech stakeholders from across the continent & strategize how to enable a thriving African fintech ecosystem as partners.” — Chad S. Pollock, Vice President & General Manager, Visa East Africa.
“We made sure to attend and participate in the Africa Fintech Summit and it blew us away with all the ideas and connections unearthed. I’m confident we will see more collaborations and innovations that will emerge from this experience.” — Amal Enan, Chief Investment Officer, The American University in Cairo & Partner, 500 Global, who attended the summit with a contingent of 500 Global’s portfolio companies.
“Yes, I had an incredible time at the 12th Africa Fintech Summit in Nairobi! Over the course of 3 days, I connected with amazing fintech leaders like Shola Akinlade, explored new partnership opportunities with existing and new businesses, and gained valuable insights to drive innovative solutions across Africa and beyond.” — Ivan Kadiri, Sales and Partnerships Manager, Fincra.
As a bi-annual event, Africa Fintech Summit returns in 2025 with its customary Washington D.C. edition, which is set to take place on April 24, 2025, on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF Spring Meetings. The date and location for the 2025 African edition will be announced soon. Stakeholders interested in speaking, partnership, and sponsorship opportunities can contact the AFTS team at info@africafintechsummit.com.
Distributed by African Media Agency in partnership with Africa Fintech Summit
About Africa Fintech Summit
Africa Fintech Summit is the premier global initiative dedicated to the African fintech ecosystem. AFTS is traditionally hosted in Washington, D.C., each April during the World Bank/IFC annual meeting week and in a different African city each November. The summit is being held in a hybrid format, in person in the selected Venue in compliance with COVID-19 protocol and global live virtual delegates.
Supported by an advisory board of thought leaders and fintech pioneers, AFTS is a unique space where innovative ideas are debated, investments mobilized, partnership deals signed, and collaborations formed across sectors and geographies. AFTS is organized in partnership between Washington, D.C.-based firms, strategic advisory group Dedalus Global, and pan-African consultancy advisory firm Ibex Frontier.
Media contact:
Charles Isidi
Head of Marketing and Communications,
Africa Fintech Summit.
charles@africafintechsummit.com
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