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President Uhuru Kenyatta is welcomed to the Kenya School of Monetary Studies today for the official opening of the Afro-Asia FinTech Festival by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Chairman of the Monetary Authority of Singapore Pic: Photo Courtesy
Kenya hosts the first Afro-Asia Fintech festival
The first ever Afro-Asia Fintech festival is currently ongoing at the Kenya School of Monetary Studies. The festival is meant to bring together industry leaders in the financial sector, investors, policymakers, innovators and academicians to explore ways to use Financial Technology to improve the society.
“We are quite excited to be here today at the inaugural Afro-Asia FinTech Festival. We have about 1,500 participants from about 45 countries that are representing all the five continents. We have world-class speakers and people who are distinguished in the area of FinTech, “said Central Bank Governor Dr. Patrick Njoroge.
Kenya’s Central Bank has partnered with the Central Bank of Singapore in organizing the festival. Singapore is one of the leading nations in Fintech innovation. Kenya has also made substantial advancements in Fintech in the past decade. As a result, the percent of Kenyan adults with access to formal financial services has improved from 27 percent in 2006 to 83 percent in 2019.
CBK has positively contributed to innovation in the financial industry by allowing Fintech companies to develop their products and services in Kenya.
Mr. Jonathan Larsen, the Chief Innovation Officer at Chinese firm Ping An Group acknowledged Africa’s advancement in Fintech mainly due to the high uptake of mobile money solutions. “Africa can further capture the impending FinTech opportunity through proper regulation, capital investments, talent development, and both technical and physical infrastructure growth,” he said.
The speakers at the event spoke about the power of Fintech to improve people’s lives. The Afro-Asia Fintech Festival is modeled after the annual Singapore Fintech Festival. It is expected to grow into a big event that will gather innovators, researchers, financial sector players from Africa and Asia.
