Sustainable, borderless and digital – transforming finance in the age of disruptions
Africa has been at the global forefront of modernising financial services. By expanding world-leading mobile money operations, taking steps towards offering green finance and more recently introducing Central Bank Digital Currencies, financial institutions have been building foundations for improved financing of African economies.
The continent is furthermore home to trailblazing fintech entrepreneurs whose start-up companies attracted more than US$2 billion in investment in 2021, up from just $230m in 2020. The region’s legacy banks and insurance companies are also making headway on financial inclusion and are expanding geographically.
Yet the sector’s sweeping sustainable, borderless and digital transformation is about to take place under extreme volatility, that most industry executives have never experienced. In this high-risk macroeconomic environment, the financial industry’s profitability is likely to come under pressure, from deteriorating asset quality, liquidity risks and scarce available capital as well as emerging climate and cyber risks.
In this context, adapting to climate change ($30 to $50 billion needed each year over the next decade), closing the trade finance deficit (estimated at $81bn for SMEs) and expanding financial services will hardly be possible without an ambitious industry-wide roadmap.
To help the industry prepare for the challenges ahead, the Africa Financial Industry Summit – AFIS will mobilise on 28 and 29 November in Lomé banks, insurers, fintechs, capital market players, mobile money operators, Central Bank governors, and Ministers to chart the course towards growth and build tomorrow’s public-private dialogue through panel debates, interviews and strategic roundtables.
Eight pillars to support financial inclusion and a pan-African industry
By bringing together the most influential leaders, regulators, and institutions of African finance, AFIS works to improve financial inclusion and the emergence of a true pan-African industry of financial services.
In consultation with the AFIS Advisory Board, a 45-member consultative body comprised of Africa’s leading commercials banks, insurers, capital market providers and development finance institutions, as well as fintechs and central banks, AFIS has identified eight pillars key to safeguarding profitability and increasing trust and synergies between players in this period of high volatility.
These pillars provide the foundation for the topics to be discussed at AFIS 2022:
Industry Trends
• From COVID-19 to inflation: Evaluating central banks measures and reliefs
• Trade finance and correspondent banking: Tackling headwinds from global compliance requirements
• Gender parity in financial access and in the boardroom
• Strengthening equity for banks: Time for stress tests
Common Market
• AfCFTA: The financial industry as the backbone for regional integration
• Interconnecting African capital markets: Opportunities to expand financial resources
• Accelerating payments integration: An essential path to success
• Advancing towards harmonised monetary policies
Regulation & Efficiency
• CBDCs and crypto: A brave new world for African finance
• Does Africa need Basel III?
• Blockchain: The saving grace for Know Your Customer and anti-money laundering
Commercial Banking Outlook
• SME Finance: Finding the right recipe to fill the funding gap
• Alternative credit scoring: A financial inclusion win or privacy concern?
• Digital banking: Changing mindsets for legacy banks
• Affordable homes: Making housing financing more accessible
Capital Markets & Corporate Financing
• IPOs in Africa : Accelerating Africapitalism
• Africa’s infrastructure gap: A potential relief with blended finance
• Revamping agricultural finance to tackle food insecurity
Sustainability
• Post COP27: The future of energy financing policies for Africa’s banks
• Climate finance: Defining the role of financial institutions
• Generating higher returns in corporate ESG finance
Insurance Growth Potential
• Advancing bancassurance and consolidating Africa’s fragmented insurance sector
• Insurtech: New horizons to measure risks
• Expanding consumer insurance: Affordable rates and access via digital platforms
Digital Financial Services & Fintech
• Mobile money and banks: Interoperability and partnerships to ease value erosion
• Building a pan-African regulatory framework to inspire innovation
• African fintech: Navigating the drop of capital funding
• Cyber-crimes: Designing a strong governance strategy to mitigate risks
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