Organisers of Africa CEO Forum to hold Africa Financial Industry Summit in November

The organisers of the Africa CEO Forum, Jeune Afrique Media will hold the second Africa Financial Industry Summit (AFIS) in November this year in the Togolese capital Lome, under the theme: Green, Borderless and Digital – Transforming Finance in the Age of Disruption.

The event was held virtually last year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the in-person meeting would come off this year.

Addressing journalists at a press conference in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire at the Africa CEO Forum, Amir Ben Yahmed, the CEO of the Forum, said the Summit intends to create a system where all the financial actors in Africa would meet.

He also stated that the Summit would give an opportunity to the private sector to discuss barriers in the financial sector in Africa.

The Summit would bring fintech, mobile money operators, insurance companies, the capital markets and the banking industry together.

“There is no forum with this format in Africa that brings the players such as in banking, non-banking institutions, the public and private sectors together,” he said.

The Governor of the Bank of Kenya,Patrick Njorege said the Summit presents a great opportunity “we all must take advantage of.” Citing innovation as the core of the Summit he added that “We (Africa) would do better with cross-fertilization. We can’t fulfill the objective of bringing Africa together if banking sector is left behind,” he said.

Other panelists at the press conference were Paul-Harry Aithnard, the Managing Director Ecobank in Abidjan and Sergio Pimenta, Regional Vice President for Africa of the International Finance Corporation (IFC). Ecobank is a sponsor and IFC is a co-host of the Summit.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi