The Bank of Ghana in collaboration with the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Development Bank Ghana has launched the maiden edition of the 3i summit.
The summit under the theme, “From Innovation to Impact: Investing in Africa’s Financial Sector to drive Africa’s Transformation”, supported by Elevandi is set to take place in Ghana from the 13th to 15th May 2024 at the Accra International Conference Centre.
It is a Fintech festival to drive Innovation, Investment and Impact for Africa’s FinTech and Financial Services sectors.
The summit aims to spearhead transformative discussions, address key growth and investment opportunities, and explore how market players in the financial ecosystem are leapfrogging in digital transformation and pioneer the much-needed dialogues and actions to drive Africa’s FinTech growth.
Addressing the gathering at the press launch, the Governor of Bank of Ghana, Dr. Ernest Addison, said Ghana and the world has witnessed the remarkable shift with the rapid emergence and evolution of financial digitalization and transactions.
And also the actualisation of novel technologies in the payment ecosystem has revolutionised business transactions, reshaped customer behaviour and redefined the nature of commerce.
According to the governor, “We have an advantage in the digitization race as Africans. This is due to the bulging youthful population who are tech-savvy, the high mobile phone penetration, the consistent expansion of mobile network access and more importantly, the rising homegrown FinTech solutions.”
These immense opportunities, he added that provide fertile grounds for accelerating digitalisation.
However, while these are commendable, he emphasized the need to highlight the potential negative impact a lack of requisite investments in African FinTechs could have on the innovations and scalability of solutions in achieving the desired impact.
Dr. Addison bemoaned the lack of funding can significantly stunt the growth of the FinTech movement in several ways.
“Without sufficient capital, brilliant ideas, and prototypes of FinTech startups solutions with the potential to address the diverse financial service needs have failed to progress to production.”
It is against this backdrop and more that this upcoming 3i Africa Summit is designed as a platform for governments, businesses, investors, regulators, innovators, and thought leaders to discuss and collaborate on measures to unlock Africa’s full potential by harnessing the potential of FinTech.
On what to expect from the summit, the governor said the Summit will feature a Lab Crawl, a platform through which diverse participants can benefit from visibility for investment opportunities to both local and international investors and capital providers.
He further added that the speaker line-up includes 15 keynote speakers of eclectic and influential backgrounds, about 15 Central Bank Governors spanning 5 continents, 3 Heads of States, over 100 global investors, asset managers, Tech Executives and many more.
“The plenary and break-out sessions will offer participants the opportunity to discourse and learn from over 100 speakers from across the world on current developments influencing Africa’s innovation landscape, capital generation, and policy development. These interactions are important to enhance innovators and regulators’ appreciation of each other’s perspectives in the spirit of cooperation and collaboration” he disclosed.
Furthermore, “the various activities planned for the 3i Africa summit are designed to provide an environment for participants to extend their social and professional network horizon. Most importantly, Government will establish an Innovation Fund to promote the development of the FinTech Industry”, he stated.
To this effect, the organizers of the 3i summit is optimistic that it will steer the financial sector in adopting technology comprehensively to improve the delivery, efficiency, convenience, and inclusivity of financial services in Africa.
