By Sam Ancer
Last week Cape Town was host to the 8th Africa Fintech Summit. Business leaders, startup founders, venture capitalists, angel investors, and many other key elements in the fintech landscape flocked to the Cape Town International Convention Centre on the 2nd of November to the 4th.
Fintech makes up around 30% of the startup space in South Africa so by extension the Africa Fintech Summit is one of the most important events in the startup space.
Founded in 2017 by Zekarias Amsalu and Leland C. Rice. The goal behind the summit is to help Africa become the leader in fintech that it always should be.
The inaugural Africa Fintech Summit happened in 2018 in Accra, Ghana with some of the most important African fintech companies of the time, and now, attending. The first event was a significant success and paved the way for future events across Africa and in the United States.
“We believe that the continent is uniquely positioned to be a leader in fintech, that this space provides unprecedented business opportunities, and that African fintech can transform individual lives and national economies through financial inclusion and sustainable economic growth. Our vision is to be a catalyst for this potential by enabling investments, informing smarter regulations, and fostering greater collaboration across diverse sectors and geographies.”
Africa Fintech Summit Mission Statement
Africa Fintech Summit 2022
The event started with a VIP Dinner where high profile delegates had an opportunity to mingle and network.
The following day the summit began with a registration followed by a Keynote address from the following individuals:
- Co-Founder of the Fintech Association of South Africa Andres Perez.
- Founder and Managing Director of Ibex Frontier Zekarias Amsalu.
- Radio Host, Author, and Founder of TNC Wealth Partners Samke Mhlongo.
As well as:
- South African Reserve Bank Divisional Head Lyle Horsley.
The summit hosted a number of panels, workshops, and networking events.
Notable panels included:
- Strong EcoSystems: The Bedrock of Flourishing Fintech.
- Payment Innovation from Now until Tomorrow.
- Tech Talent Empowering Fintech.
Notable workshops included:
- The Future of Ecommerce in Africa.
- Media Storytelling for Founders.
The event was sponsored and attended by some of the biggest names in the African fintech space, like payment infrastructure startup Flutterwave.
Another exciting element of the Africa Fintech Summit was the Alpha Expo Cohort Pitch Competition.
14 startups were selected to have their representatives compete against each other with pitches and demos for their products to a variety of investors and a chance to be selected for an accelerator programme.
Some of the most important emerging groups in the Fintech space took part in the competition, including:
SmartWage uses Whatsapp as a way to share payslips with remote workers.
SmartWages technology means that not only is it faster, and easier for remote workers to access their payslips as and when they need them, but it is also cheaper for companies to use this service.
This is because the automated system ensures timeously delivery to registered employees. Automating an expensive and often difficult process.
Fintech is not only payment and payroll applications.
There is a realm of software that can help make systems more immersive and, by extension, more helpful.
XRGlobal’s VR training software and hardware is designed to help enhance skill and knowledge retention by 60%.
PrimeNet is a leading data and fintech solutions company who creates software designed to be universally relevant and applicable, regardless of the individual organisations specific needs.
Boasting more than 17 years of industry experience with more than 1500 happy customers, PrimeNet is doing amazing work and has partnered with major players in the tech space including IBM and AWS.
Conclusion
In terms of meeting its mission statement, the Africa Fintech Summit can be seen as an unmitigated success. They have created a space that allows Africa to assume a position where it can become a leader in the fintech space. By connecting, educating, and motivating important players within the African fintech space, they will be able to boost economies within the continent and create healthy growth that will benefit thousands if not millions of lives.
