The Africa Fintech Summit is a global knowledge-sharing platform that connects innovators, regulators, entrepreneurs and facilitates conversations and partnerships that help them explore financial technology solutions to improve African individuals, economies and societies.
The summit is significant as it provides an opportunity to highlight the fintech industry’s expansion and innovation in Africa, which could improve financial inclusion, economic growth, and social impact. Important stakeholders will also have the chance to network, educate themselves, and cooperate together across industries and regions during the summit.
Objectives and Themes of the 2024 edition
- To emphasise the rationale for Nairobi, Kenya’s selection as the summit’s host city and how it represents the nation’s and the city’s standing as a fintech powerhouse.
- To talk about how fintech is affecting lending, payments, wealth management, insurance, and regulation, among other areas of finance.
- To exhibit new technology and business models, such as blockchain, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and neobanking, that are upending and changing Africa’s old financial industry.
- To showcase some of Africa’s most creative and exciting fintech companies, who will compete for cash and awards by pitching their ideas to a panel of judges and investors.
Some of the key speakers, sponsors, and partners of the Africa Fintech Summit
- Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO of Block, formerly known as Square and Twitter. He is a prominent advocate and investor of cryptocurrency and blockchain, and has expressed his interest and support for the African fintech scene. He visited several African countries in 2019 and 2020, and announced his plans to move to Africa for a few months in 2020. He also launched a $100 million fund called Btrust to support Bitcoin development in Africa and India.
- Cina Lawson, the Togolese Minister of Digital Economy and Transformation. She is responsible for implementing the national digital strategy and promoting digital inclusion and innovation in Togo. She launched the Novissi program, a mobile money-based social protection scheme that provides cash transfers to vulnerable households during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Shola Akinlade, the co-founder and CEO of Paystack, a Nigerian fintech company that provides online payment solutions for businesses in Africa. He led the company to become one of the most successful and influential fintech startups in Africa, with over 60,000 customers and processing over 50% of all online transactions in Nigeria. He also oversaw the acquisition of Paystack by Stripe, a global payment giant, for over $200 million in 2020, making it the largest startup exit in Africa.
- Raenest, a pioneering Nigerian fintech company that offers a digital platform for savings, investments, and loans. It is the main sponsor of the 2024 Africa Fintech Summit, and the headline partner for the 2024 Africa Tech Summit, which will take place on the same dates and venue as the Africa Fintech Summit. Raenest aims to democratize access to financial services and products for millions of Africans, especially the unbanked and underbanked segments of the population.
- Briter Bridges, a data-driven research firm that focuses on emerging markets, especially Africa. It is one of the partners of the Africa Fintech Summit, and provides insightful and reliable data and analysis on the fintech landscape in Africa. It also produces reports, maps, and dashboards that visualize the trends, opportunities, and challenges of the fintech sector in Africa.
- Dedalus Global and Ibex Frontier, two advisory firms that specialize in emerging markets, especially Africa. They are the co-organizers of the Africa Fintech Summit, and provide strategic guidance and support to the summit’s agenda, speakers, sponsors, and partners. They also produce the annual State of the Industry: Africa Fintech Report, which features continental and regional analysis, featured articles, and curated startups to watch list.
Reasons why Nairobi was chosen as the host city for the 2024 fintech Summit.
Nairobi boasts a thriving and inventive community of companies, investors, and regulators, making it a prominent fintech hub in Africa. Nairobi is the second-most active fintech city in Africa, behind Lagos, Nigeria, according to the 2023 Africa Fintech Report. Some of the most prominent and prosperous fintech businesses in Africa have emerged from Nairobi, including BitPesa, a blockchain-based remittance service that operates in several African countries, Branch, a digital lending platform that has spread to Nigeria, India, and Mexico, and M-Pesa, a mobile money service that has revolutionised financial inclusion in Kenya and beyond. Nairobi is also home to a number of fintech hubs, incubators, and accelerators that support and develop talent and innovation in the field, including iHub, MEST, and C4DLab.
To facilitate easier and more inclusive participation in the summit by delegates from throughout the continent, Nairobi has loosened its visa rules for Africans. Kenya is one of the top 10 African nations that grant other African citizens the greatest amount of visa-free or visa-on-arrival access, according to the Africa Visa Openness Report 2023. This implies that the majority of summit participants won’t need to stress about the trouble and expense of getting a visa in order to enter Kenya. Additionally, Kenya has introduced the East Africa Tourist Visa, which makes it easier and more appealing for tourists and business travellers to visit Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda with only one visa.
Some of the innovative fintech startups that will be at the Summit
- Ashiri NG, a Nigerian startup that provides a digital platform for peer-to-peer lending and borrowing. Ashiri NG aims to solve the problem of access to credit for individuals and small businesses in Nigeria, by connecting them with verified lenders who offer flexible and affordable loans.
- Chumz, a Kenyan startup that offers a mobile app that helps users save money and achieve their financial goals. Chumz uses gamification and behavioral science to motivate and reward users for saving, and also provides them with personalized financial advice and tips.
- Edanra, a Ghanaian startup that offers a digital platform that connects landlords and tenants in Ghana. Edanra aims to solve the problem of trust and transparency in the rental market, by providing verified listings, secure payments, and smart contracts.
