The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) are organising inaugural Afro-Asia FinTech Festival, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya on July 15 and 16.
According to a joint statement, the festival – the first of its kind globally – will provide a platform for connections, collaborations and exchange of ideas between Africa and Asia. It will also further boost the fintech ecosystems in the two regions.
Dubbed ‘FinTech in the Savannah’, the theme of the festival is ‘Sustainable Finance: Inclusive and Green’. It will explore financial services innovations from emerging Afro-Asian markets that can transform legacy systems and bring about lasting environmental and social benefits for citizens and society.
The two-day event will revolve around three topics:
“Some of the most exciting developments in technology-enabled financial inclusion are happening in Africa and Asia,” said Ravi Menon, managing director of MAS. “The central banks of Kenya and Singapore share a vision to build an Afro-Asia platform to synergise efforts in FinTech innovation. With Kenya and Singapore as the starting points, we hope to bring our two regions closer together to innovate and make financial services more accessible and affordable for our people.”
Dr Patrick Njoroge, Governor of CBK, added: “CBK is honoured to partner MAS in co-creating a unique platform for policy-makers, technology entrepreneurs, financial industry leaders, and other players to come together and tap their diverse knowledge and experiences. Cross-border cooperation is increasingly important as global problems cannot be resolved in isolation. We need to come together as a global community to learn from each other and co-create solutions that will improve the lives of our people.”
