KCB Bank Kenya committed Sh10 million to the Afro-Asia Fintech Festival 2019, to be held next week in Nairobi. The summit is being hosted by the Central Bank of Kenya and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
The inaugural event, dubbed fintech in the Savannah, is modelled after the Singapore Fintech Festival.
Speaking about the summit, KCB Group chief operating officer Samuel Makome told the media that, “For the past five years, we have made significant investments in financial technology in the realisation that the future of banking is in digital finance. We will, therefore, remain innovative and relevant in fintech by continuously providing products and services that promote financial inclusion.”
The two-day summit consists of a fintech conference, exhibition and cultural highlights sharing the best projects of both the regions. The conference will see discussions on topics such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, regulatory technology, insurance technology, digital pension and the evolution of mobile financial services.
According to Ravi Menon, managing director of Monetary Authority of Singapore, some of the most exciting developments in technology-enabled financial inclusion are happening in Africa and Asia.
Africa’s fintech startups have raised billions since 2015 and the industry has grown 60 percent just in the last two years.
While in 2017, there were about 301 fintech companies in Africa, currently there are 491. South Africa (141), Nigeria (101) and Kenya (78) are the top three markets in Africa.
Over the years, African nations have come to appreciate the role of fintech in economic development. Kenya, in particular, has brought about fintech-positive practices that have contributed to inclusive economic development, making Kenya the most financially inclusive country in Africa.