By Myke Uzendu, Accra
All is set for this year’s African Cashless Payment Systems (ACPS) Conference and FIN Awards in Accra, Ghana slated for Sunday, November 28 to Tuesday, November 30, 2021.
The conference with the theme: ”Building a Cashless Africa” will set the stage for a cashless revolution and set the stage for an all encompassing financial digitization of the continent.
Kenya is reputed for being at the forefront of digital economic revolution in Africa. With the introduction of M-Pesa in 2007, Kenya also became a pacesetter in Africa in terms of mobile payments. This innovation has changed the dynamics of Kenya’s economy by removing the dependence on physical cash, and driving financial inclusion.
Just recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria launched the e-naira, a technology developed by a fintech company, Bitt, based in the Carribeans.
At the launch, the Central Bank of Nigeria governor, Godwin Emefiele, said 500 million eNaira ($1.21 million) had already been minted.
To crystalize the transition into digital finance in Africa, Foreign Investment Network (FIN) organised the largest Africa Cashless Payment Systems Conference to trigger the conversation to full integration of digital policy and infrastructure into African economy.
Ghana was chosen for the conference because of its aggressive digital transformation drive, dubbed The Digital Ghana Agenda, led by His Excellency the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, for which is up for the FIN Africa Digital Personality of the Year Award.
The ACPS Conference will be the largest FinTech gathering because there is considerable global attention on Africa due to the ongoing economic transformation backed by digitization within the context of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) initiative.
It will be an agenda-setting arena on the future of Africa in the face of modern cashless payment systems such as debit cards, credit cards, electronic funds transfers, e-wallets, mobile money, automated teller machines (ATM) and e-commerce payment systems.
Ghana FIN Coordinator, Nii Amarh Amarteifio earlier told journalists that the conference will facilitate the latest technology demonstrations, knowledge sharing, high-level networking, and most importantly, one-on-one business meetings between decision-makers and top-tier solution providers transforming the digital future of the financial firmament of the region.
He added that the conference will deliberate on how the 430 million youth in Africa aged 15-35 will be gainfully employed through the innovation and opportunities available in a digital economy.
The event will culminate with a FIN Awards where the Minister of Communications and Digitalization of Ghana, Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Finance Ghana, Ken Ofori-Atta, the Bank of Ghana, National Communications Authority, Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements Systems, several industry players and captains, as well as persons who have demonstrated exemplary leadership in various fields of endeavor will receive awards and Certificate of Honour.
There will be about twenty (20) presentations from twenty expert speakers, six group projects, and six panel discussions will be made as well as sixty exhibitions from leading banking solutions service providers in the world.
Some of the speakers include Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Archie Hesse, CEO of Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements Systems (GhIPSS), Bright Simons, Founder and CEO of mPedigree and many others.
