Side event Proparco-European union | Guarantees and innovative approaches to investment de-risking in Africa and the MENA region
Recognised as drivers of inclusive growth, economic stability and sustainable job creation, small and medium-sized enterprises face an investment gap estimated at 331 billion dollars a year. Against this backdrop, guarantee mechanisms are emerging as levers for accelerating and sharing risk, enabling local financial institutions to better support private sector financing. These guarantees address the […]
Orchestrating pan-African interoperability for mobile money
Access via sign-up on the event app or by invitation only. BCEAO’s pilot interoperable instant payment system marks a decisive turning point in progressing mobile money interoperability on the continent. While West Africa is accelerating interoperability projects, the rest of the continent is lagging. Ambitions for continental interoperability remain thwarted by diverse financial regulations, cumbersome […]
Women in Finance | Can gender bonds and innovative mobile products unlock a $2.5 trillion opportunity?
Gender bonds and mobile apps offering advanced capital to women hold new hope to empower female entrepreneurs, who could add $2.5 trillion to Africa’s GDP by 2025. But the continent has the lowest gender bond issuance globally, and the digital tools designed for women-led MSMEs still face challenges of digital literacy, internet connectivity, and access […]
Connected capital markets: Unlocking intra-Africa stock trading
Intra-African trade has seen growth, yet it remains only 15% of total trade—far below Europe’s 68%. The African Exchanges Linkage Project (AELP), launched in December 2022, connects over 2,000 companies with a combined market capitalisation of $1.5 trillion, aiming to facilitate cross-border securities trading and boost market transparency across seven African exchanges. Through increased liquidity […]
Masterclass | Embracing AI and Blockchain for Finance – Pathway to the Next Billion: Leapfrog or Freefall
In an era of rapid technological acceleration, African financial leaders face a critical choice: embrace transformative technologies like blockchain and AI to leapfrog legacy systems or risk stagnation. Africa has already demonstrated its ability to leapfrog, becoming a global leader in mobile payments. Now, blockchain and AI offer similar revolutionary potential. Key Points: How can […]
AgTech: Financing the transformation of Africa’s agriculture and food systems
Africa needs to significantly improve productivity in its food value chains to meet the current and growing demand of an increasing population and achieve food security. Agricultural Technology (agTech) presents an opportunity to transform agriculture and food systems in Africa in the way Fintech has transformed financial inclusion in the past decade. AgTechs connect smallholder […]
CBDCs: Maximising the potential for cross-border payments and financial inclusion
Access via sign-up on the event app or by invitation only. Egypt, Ethiopia, and Rwanda this year joined a growing list of African nations exploring CBDC launches. Nigeria’s eNaira wallet, integrated by some fintechs and commercial banks, shows the potential for offline services to the unbanked – although only 0.5% of Nigerians were using the […]
Energy, private equity, real estate: How can African institutional investors better exploit these opportunities?
Access via sign-up on the event app or by invitation only. African institutional investors are looking to diversify their portfolios into alternative assets such as private equity, real estate and infrastructure to optimise their risk-return profile. But alternative assets represent just 3% of total assets under management due to a lack of properly adapted local […]
Turning consumer savings into productive investments via capital markets
Access via sign-up on the event app or by invitation only. Channeling Africa’s savings into productive investments that drive economic growth remains a critical challenge. Success stories like M-Pesa in Kenya, and South Africa’s Tax-Free Savings Accounts (TFSAs) have increased financial inclusion, and abroad Singapore’s Central Provident Fund (CPF) and India’s Systematic Investment Plans (SIPs) […]