From the 1st of November to the 3rd of November the 10th edition of the Africa Fintech Summit Lusaka 2023 was held. This summit brought together fintech stakeholders from Africa and all over the world to engage in thoughtful ecosystem-building conversations, share knowledge and exploring partnership opportunities as well as mobilizing investments. The headline sponsor of Africa Fintech Summit Lusaka was Flutterwave and over 625 in-person, delegates attended the summit from over 45 countries, additionally, more than 1000 other participants tuned in from all over the world with the majority being university students sponsored to take part by Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.
Keynote Addresses and Panel Discussions
The summit featured keynote addresses from Zambia’s minister of technology and science Hon. Felix Mutati, representatives of the Bank of Zambia, USAID Zambia and the US embassy in Lusaka. And these amazing keynote addresses were interspersed by 13-panel discussions on key fintech and topics related to fintech. Over 80 speakers ranging from founders and investors to bankers and regulators delve into prominent themes such as fintech in every industry, embedded fintech, and investing in fintech amidst a global investment slowdown to name a few. As parts of the summit, there were also workshops tagged “Fintech and financial inclusion: the role of regulators” and “Lessons learned from enabling fintech payment solutions across Africa”.
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Highlights and Big Ideas
The attendees of this summit generally agreed that it was a success as it delivered on its promises. The AFTS team was quick to point out the role that sponsors and partners such as Flutterwave, MDP, Chipper Cash, Ecobank, Cellulant, Paystack, PremierCredit, TechCabal, and others played in making the Lusaka event a great success. The summit explores how digital transformation is fostering financial inclusion and sustainable economic development in Zambia and across Africa. With an impassioned and ambitious keynote Zambia’s minister of technology & science, Hon. Felix Mutati set the tone for the event. In his keynote address, the minister touched on everything from the digital transformation strategy of Zambia to the fintech role in advancing it and the need for Africa to leverage digital transformation for economic growth. Later on, he went on to announce Zambia’s plans to support and foster digital access by launching a smartphone manufacturing plant in 2024.
Future Plans
Nairobi Kenya will host the 11th edition of the Africa Fintech Summit Lusaka in 2024 according to the AFTS Team. The date as well as the venue will be announced in January 2024. The Africa fintech summit leads to the conversation for Africa and across the globe, it is a biannual fintech conference. It takes place in Washington, DC every April during the spring meetings of the World Bank/IFC and every November in a different African city. The summit not only paves the way for the future of the fintech industry across the African continent as well as the globe but also brings together various investors, entrepreneurs, regulators and other stakeholders to explore and debate.
Conclusion
The Africa Fintech Summit Lusaka in 2023 was a great success. The summit brought together fintech stakeholders from Africa and around the world to engage.
