The Africa Financial Industry Summit aims to foster a pan-African financial services sector and its second edition is currently being held in Lomé, Togo.
Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS), an event which aims to foster a pan-African financial services sector, is taking place from 28 to 29 November in Lomé, Togo. As new technologies revolutionize financial services, the event will discuss how Africa’s financial sector can transform in the age of disruption and leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Africa Financial Industry Summit: ‘Green, Borderless and Digital’
Under the theme ‘Green, Borderless and Digital – Transforming Finance in the Age of Disruption’, the AFIS, a sister event to the Africa CEO Forum, brings together the continent’s financial sector leaders and regulatory authorities.
Africa’s development depends on building an efficient, inclusive and sustainable financial sector. However, the sector is also exposed to global shocks. Inflationary pressures, monetary instability and investor risk aversion threaten the sector’s capacity to adapt to the technological changes revolutionizing banking and financial markets.
Over 600 financial sector leaders
Through panel discussions, roundtables and business case studies, more than 600 financial sector leaders, including bank CEOs, fintech operators, mobile money operators, institutional investors, capital markets operators and development finance institutions, as well as regulators and finance ministers, will address the challenges and opportunities facing Africa’s financial industry.
In consultation with a 45-member Advisory Board of influential industry leaders, the AFIS platform has identified three avenues key to the future of African finance: green financial solutions to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change, creating a borderless financial ecosystem and delivering a profitable digital transformation that brings financial services to the unbanked and underserved.
“The African financial industry is one of the most dynamic in the world, with exceptional room for growth, in a context of very strong demographic trends. The recent adoption of the AfCFTA represents a unique opportunity to rethink the African financial industry on a continental scale, especially in the context of a redefined global financial architecture,” said Amir Ben Yahmed, Chairman of the Africa CEO Forum.
“IFC is committed to expanding formal financial services to the millions of unbanked or underbanked people in Africa. At a time when African fintechs are experiencing rapid development, dialogue between financial players and between the private sector and public authorities is key to achieving financial inclusion and thus ensuring the financing needed to drive economic activity,” said Sérgio Pimenta, IFC Vice President for Africa.
The world’s ‘youngest continent’
Coveted by international investors, the world’s youngest continent, which has had one of the world’s fastest-growing economies up until the pre-coronavirus period, must now examine its development trajectory as the world prepares to emerge from the pandemic.
After shrinking by 2.1% in 2020, the year which marked the first recession in 20 years, Africa’s economy showed its resilience in 2021. It must now realize its true potential to get back on the pathway to growth in an inclusive and sustainable manner.
The major issue at play is how to impact the continent’s economies in a positive and sustainable way for each of the countries that contribute to making the African market one of the most promising and dynamic in the world.
AfCTA brings together states with an estimated population of 1.3 billion people.