Africa has carved out a significant role in the payments innovation space, with its developments in mobile money frequently cited as a benchmark for the rest of the world. This field is one of rapidly evolving technology, and with it comes questions about how Africa’s payments systems can meet the demands of its diverse customer base while delivering on tighter security and a robust regulatory environment that promotes innovation and greater competition.
Payments innovation is diversifying, and while mobile still captures many of the headlines, the continent is making great progress in other forms of technology, including card-based payments to access transport services as well as bitcoin and blockchain.
FT Africa Payments Innovation Summit: Driving growth and promoting inclusion will bring together key players from across the financial, telecoms and fintech sectors to debate the challenges and opportunities associated with delivering payments solutions that drive financial inclusion to empower citizens and boost economic development. It will consider whether payments technology is so essential that access to it should be considered a right for all citizens, as well as examining what different stakeholders require from the payments ecosystem.
Regulators, policy makers, banks, telcos, innovators, software developers, mobile service providers and distributors will explore the role of payments innovation in meeting the needs of the next generation of consumers; empowering citizens through financial inclusion; and the trends and policies affecting Africa’s digital transformation. The summit will take a pan-African perspective when considering the opportunities and challenges of this growing market, drawing on case studies to examine what innovation means from a corporate, an innovator and a user perspective.
Further information can also be found on the website: live.ft.com/AfricaPayments
