Meet our Speakers

Inez Murray is the CEO of the Financial Alliance for Women, an international trade association of financial services providers driving women's wealth creation worldwide. Its members—banks, insurance companies, payments companies & fintechs—work across 180+ countries to build innovative, comprehensive programs delivering women the tools—access to capital, information, education and markets—they need to succeed. The Alliance provides members with a unique platform for peer learning & networking, giving them the resources they need to serve women customers well. The Alliance also uses its collective voice to advocate for greater awareness of women’s vital economic role as consumers, investors and job-creating entrepreneurs.

Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/inezmurray/

Web: https://financialallianceforwomen.org

Twitter @FAforWomen

Irene Arias Hofman is the CEO of IDB Lab, the innovation laboratory of the Inter-American Development Bank Group, the leading source of development finance for Latin America and the Caribbean. The purpose of IDB Lab is to drive innovation for inclusion by supporting early-stage entrepreneurial solutions capable of transforming the lives of vulnerable populations.

Previously, Irene worked for 20 years at the IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group, where she managed the Financial Institutions Group and also the LAC region with its 16-billion-dollar portfolio. Her focus has been on innovation and technology, venture capital, and organizational development.

Seasoned banking executive with over 15 years Fintech experience, Meagan is a critical leader in the Fintech ecosystem enabling Fintech’s to launch. She has spent most of her career enhancing the ecosystem through equity investments, bin sponsorships, regulatory frameworks and product development. At Visa Meagan’s passion is first and foremost Africa and how we use digital money movement to grow and nurture our continent for a better life for all. Meagan does this through enabling Fintech’s at Visa.

Michael | Serial Entrepreneur | 30+ Years Experience | Fintech & Payments Specialist | Digital Bank Platform Creator | UK Expat | Based in Singapore. Pioneering innovative fintech solutions for banks and telcos worldwide. Founder of Railpays, a groundbreaking digital banking platform that integrates a super-app, digital payment processing, and BaaS to support the digital transformation of our clients. With a decade of experience living in Asia and offices in India, Singapore, and Saudi Arabia, our 250+ dedicated team members are committed to driving success for our rapidly growing global client base. Professional, forward-thinking, and dedicated to pushing the boundaries of fintech innovation. Connect with me to explore new opportunities and collaborations in the ever-evolving world of digital banking.

Olayinka David-West is a Professor of Information Systems with professional experience in the IT and financial services industry and a passionate advocate for digital transformation and inclusive finance. Her research and practice engagements involve policy and strategic management interventions towards digitally transformed businesses and society.

Professor David-West is actively engaged in the implementation and effective use of IT in business organisations and governments; focusing on organisational design and business transformation challenges. In addition, she focuses on digital policy formulation. While her goal remains to optimise the effective use of ICTs, her experiences span multiple domains including, but not limited to software selection practices, change management, strategic planning, IT Governance, and IT competency assessment across various industry sectors. With contextual knowledge in emerging markets, she has developed approaches to plan, design, implement, manage, measure, and sustain changes in business processes and work practices as a result of IT systems deployments. In government, this practical knowledge has been employed in the analysis and development of policies, especially in local content, broadband and financial inclusion.

Professor David-West is a thought leader and active participant in the Fintech (IT, financial services and regulation) and financial inclusion ecosystems. With the support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), she leads the Sustainable and Inclusive Digital Financial Services (SIDFS) initiative, a research and advocacy programme dedicated to enhancing financial inclusion in Nigeria. With her technical knowledge and communication skills, she frequently facilitates active discussions in the capacity of technical Master of Ceremony (MC), panel discussion moderator and interlocutor. She has led consulting engagements for organisations including the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the World Bank Group (WBG) and Microsoft Nigeria. She is the author of several academic papers, technical reports and case studies.

Professor David-West advocates engendering male-dominated industries and mentors young women in STEM. She has featured on the Tech Women of Lagos exhibition, listed among the Leading Women in Nigeria’s Financial Technology Industry, and profiled in FintechTimes as a leading African financial inclusion expert.

Rachel Freeman is the Chief Growth Officer of Tyme and represents Tyme on the GOtyme Board of Directors and the Board of Tribe Fintech.  Rachel Freeman is an experienced and internationally recognized financial expert, particularly in the areas of financial inclusion and innovative financial technologies. From 2001 to 2017, she held several senior positions at IFC in Central Asia, Africa and Asia. Prior to joining IFC, Rachel was involved in several entrepreneurial ventures in the US and Russia. Tyme is the technology and solutions firm powering TymeBank, the first digital bank in South Africa with almost 7 million customers, and GOtyme, our licensed bank in the Philippines launched in October 2022. Tribe Fintech, a partner company to Tyme, provides underserved SMEs all over the world with simple business tools and networks to help them make better business decisions and improve their financial health

Mr Ravi Menon was appointed Managing Director of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) in 2011. He was previously Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Trade & Industry and Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Finance.

Mr Menon began his career at MAS in 1987. During his 16 years in MAS, he was involved in monetary policy; econometric forecasting; organisational development; banking regulation and liberalisation; and integrated supervision of complex financial institutions. Mr Menon spent a year at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, as a member of the secretariat to the Financial Stability Forum. A recipient of the Singapore Government's Meritorious Service Medal and Public Administration (Gold) Medal, Mr Menon has served on a variety of boards in the public, private, and people sectors in Singapore. On the international front, Mr Menon chairs the Network of Central Banks and Supervisors for Greening the Financial System as well as Chair of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero APAC Network Advisory Board. He is also a member of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) Steering Committee. Mr Menon holds a Master's in Public Administration from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Social Science (Honours) in Economics from the National University of Singapore.

Alex Sea is a francophone West Africa FinTech leader. He co-founded and manages Finov, an advisory and investment venture dedicated to the West Africa francophone financial technologies ecosystem. Finov HUB helps government and public players define and activate digital finance strategies, accelerate promising financial technologies with great social impact in a unique program, helps innovators develop very disruptive FinTech and co-invests in high value projects with business angels and venture capitalists and supports bank, insurance, microfinance, telecom companies, etc. 

Since 2017 he founded and chairs Africa FinTech Forum the leading francophone Africa FinTech event. He also organises the Africa FinTech tour, a FinTech roadshow across 10+ countries gathering local FinTech ecosystem players.

Alexio is an experienced ICT leader with a proven track record in leveraging technology to gain a competitive advantage in the business landscape. With a deep understanding of business priorities and pain points, he has exceled in building strategic relationships and leading expert teams to deliver innovative solutions. He is a confident technology leader who continuously stays ahead of the curve, bringing relevant innovations to drive business success. As an inspirational team leader, he focuses on insurance industry growth in use of technology. He holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering Honours, MSc in Computational Intelligence, and an MBA, showcasing his commitment to continuous learning and staying up-to-date with market trends. Alexio has an extensive professional history, with notable roles in prominent organizations. Currently serving as the Chief Technology Officer at ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance), he is responsible for general management, strategy and innovation, as well as leading digital transformation efforts. Prior to this, he held various senior IT positions at Unilever East and Southern Africa, including IT Management as well as Data and Analytics.

Ali is a Serial Entrepreneur and regular commentator and contributor on all things Tech and the Policy and Regulatory landscape that straddles this sector across Africa in particular and the world in general.

Ali also serves on several boards, key among them being the Founding Chairman of the Association of FinTechs in Kenya and Executive Board Member of the Africa Fintech Network. He’s also a board member at Longhorn Publishers PLC. 

Ameya Upadhyay is a Venture Partner at Flourish Ventures. He invests in organisations that have the potential to create economic opportunities for individuals in Africa.

A known movement maker, Amor Maclang is the convenor of Digital Pilipinas, the largest private sector-led movement for creating an innovation and a technology ecosystem engaged in the global digital economy in the Philippines. She is also the convenor of the Digital Pilipinas Festival - the largest digital economies festival in ASEAN - and the Philippine Fintech Festival. She’s the leading advocate of nascent technology adoption in the country from blockchain, Web3, cryptocurrency, e-commerce and fintech advising some of the leading companies, organizations and governments in ASEAN. In her domestic workstreams, she is the advisor of the Department of Finance, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Science and Technology, the Department of Information and Communications Technology, and the Department of Health and also stands as the Investment Promotions Partner of the Department of Trade and Industry-Board of Investments and the Philippine Economic Zone Authority. Recently, Amor was appointed to be the official partner of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation through the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to ASEAN to champion the Philippines as the Digital Bridgeway to ASEAN. As a recognized leader in the tech and innovation space, she was acclaimed in the highly prestigious Singapore Fintech Festival ASEAN Fintech Leaders Award. She is also the G100 global chair for women leadership. In honor of her relentless work in the tech and innovation space, Amor was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor in Philosophy (honoris causa) at Rai University India. On the flipside, she is the Co-Founder and Chief Reputation Architect of GeiserMaclang, the leading company in special situations, risk, issues and crisis, her 22 year old start up that specializes in high-impact, high-risk, high value and highly regulated industries specifically in the technology, renewable energy, public health, tourism, urban planning and the financial services industry.

Amy joined Jersey Finance in 2011, and in addition to being Deputy Chief Executive, retains an active position leading the Strategic Projects team which undertakes projects and initiatives to develop the financial services industry in the Island. Amy was born and educated in Jersey and subsequently went on to study at Durham University where she graduated with an honours degree in Natural Sciences. Previous to Jersey Finance, Amy worked for PwC in the Channel Islands where she specialised in the taxation of offshore funds and Jersey corporate vehicles and provided international structuring advice to a global client base. Amy is a Chartered Tax Advisor and Chartered Accountant.

Anna Ekeledo is the Executive Director of AfriLabs - a Network organisation of 400 technology and innovation hubs spread across 52 African Countries and the diaspora; leading the AfriLabs community to achieve its vision of a thriving innovation economy in Africa, and heading a pan-African team to develop initiatives and build multi-stakeholder partnerships that support African innovation hubs and other stakeholders in raising high potential entrepreneurs that stimulate economic growth and social development in Africa.

Anna is an international speaker, trainer, innovation ecosystem builder, and mentor. She is also an advisor, in several advisory roles; is a member of the Africa-Europe Foundation Digital Strategy Task Force, she is also engaged in a High-Level Policy Dialogue on the Science, Technology and Innovation working group AU-EU Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) and a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on the Future of technology policy. 

Prior to joining AfriLabs, Anna was involved in pioneering various impact-driven projects and new business units with organisations such as the Visiola Foundation, Wild Fusion Digital Centre, Google, Lagos Business School - Nigeria, and Ingenico - a French global financial technology company.

Anna has a first-class degree in Psychology from Covenant University, Nigeria and an M.Sc. International Marketing Management from Leeds University Business School, UK.

She has also been recognised as a top African economic and tech leader by bodies such as Choiseul 100 Africa, and Agile 50, the World's 50 Most Influential People Navigating Disruption, by Apolitical and World Economic Forum

Antony Ruddenklau, Partner

• Head of Financial Services Advisory, KPMG Singapore

• Global Head of Fintech, KPMG International

• Global Head of Innovation, Financial Services, KPMG International

I co-lead our Global Fintech practice and advise financial institutions, fintech, hyperscales and investors on strategy, growth and client development. I advise clients globally as diverse as Tencent and HSBC, through to Google, Insight Venture Partners and LSE.” Anton has led or advised on over 200 growth projects across Corporates and Financial Institutions and he has extensive experience of assessment and strategy design for emerging business models including embedded finance, marketplace models, ecommerce platforms, market utilities and joint ventures. 

Strategy Development

• Strategy development for Corporate & Institutional businesses including Markets & Transaction Banking, Investment Management and segment strategies across Consumer and SME

• Development of corporate strategic initiatives such as International Mobility, Innovation, Network Coverage, Regulatory Strategy and Strategy Execution

• Post crisis strategy projects covering post COVID and Lehman/ GFC market analysis for global banks, impact assessment of regulatory and market change on business model economics, the design of government and industry initiatives

• Market studies and research for governments, regulators and investors in the areas of financial technology (fintech), innovation and digital industry change

• New business model development and advise on the move to platform-based models (FI & Corporates) Customer Strategy & Execution

• Customer strategy covering dynamic segmentation, proposition design, pricing strategy & planning

• Design, development and leadership of global CX programmes to improve client engagement with banks, including the development of client advisory boards and client scorecards

• Advise to hyperscale technology firms, fintech and FMI on their FS distribution and product strategies

• Multiyear sales transformation for Corporate Financial Institutions, CRM programme development, sales effectiveness reviews and sales training projects across Corporate and Retail businesses

• Business and operating model development for market infrastructure providers covering Sales, Client Service, Product and Business Development – driven by market and regulatory change Digital & Innovation

• Development of strategies for digital, data & analytics across Retail, Wealth, Corporate segments

• Assessment and design of Innovation programmes for global banks, regulators and market infrastructure providers covering Corporate Venture Capital, Venture Building, Sandboxes, Client Outreach and Internal capability development

• Assessment, design and execution of new business models – platforms, marketplaces, utilities and the “Opening Up” of Financial Services • Design and execution of new digital banks, platforms and propositions for B2C, B2B and B2B2C models

• Development and execution of propositions for Liquidity, Supply Chain, Working Capital Management, Lending and Mass Affluent banking

• Cloud transformation - reimagining traditional FS products through cloud services (AI/ ML) and acceleration of data led business models

• Data led business transformation of corporate functions – Risk, Compliance, Finance and FinCrime

• Redefinition of scalable agile business transformation and broader digital/ market culture change Regulation

• Projects covering KYC/ AML, Bribery Act, FATCA, DFA/ Volcker, SEPA, Brexit and the PSD Key FS clients include HSBC, Citi, JP Morgan, Lloyds Banking Group, RBS, Santander, ING, Wells Fargo, Westpac, DBS, CCB, Bank of China, American Express, Google, AWS, Microsoft, Ant Financial, Tencent, Facebook, Creditease, Monzo, Clearbank, Revolut, PayPal, SWIFT, FCA, Bank of England, PBOC, Virgin Money, Aviva, BlackRock, FSA Outside of working in financial services, Anton has worked on growth projects with Corporates such as Intel, HP, Uber, PartyGaming, Ford, Mars, Tesco, EMI, WPP and Unilever.

Innocent Kawooya is co-founder and CEO of HiPipo. Founded in 2005, HiPipo is an established champion of digital and financial inclusion. The company is known for championing digital innovation and Instant, Inclusive Payment Systems (IIPS) across Africa under the HiPipo Include Everyone Program.

He is a FinTech & financial inclusion specialist, a women empowerment advocate, Internet entrepreneur, Computer programmer, film producer, humanitarian & entertainment executive. He stood as Kampala City Lord mayoral candidate in 2021.

He was awarded CEO of the Year 2021-2022 by TIG Network Afrika. In 2023, he was voted by the  Mojaloop Community Council as Co-Chair for the second time in three years. In October 2022, HiPipo was crowned among the world’s Top 20 companies escalating innovation in the digital financial services market by the Global Business Leaders Magazine. HiPipo was also awarded the Best Financial Inclusion Organization in East Africa at the FinTech Awards 2022 by Wealth & Finance International. #MadeOfGOD!

Iris Du is the head of Binance Africa and she has been working in Binance for 5 years, helped Binance creating the charity foundation, building the foundation from zero to one and then transferred to Binance first fiat exchange platform in Uganda and then covering the whole Africa business for Binance on commercial side. Prior to Binance, she was chief operation officer for Made in Africa Initiative which is a NGO supported by UNDP and specialized in high-end business platform to facilitate African economic and infrastructure cooperation with extensive experience running business in more than 5 African countries. Also she has 5 years of international trade and business experience from a world fortune top 500 company. and She is Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree.

Israel Bimpe is the CEO of Irembo and previously served on its Board of Directors. Before Irembo, Israel was Director of Africa Go-To-Market at Zipline. He led the expansion of Zipline across the continent and, prior to joining the Africa team, held various leadership roles across the company, including partnerships, operations, and national implementations.

Iyinoluwa Aboyeji is an investor and entrepreneur in the public interest. He is passionate about partnering with mission driven innovators and investors building an African future where prosperity and purpose is within everyone’s reach. He is currently the CEO and General Partner of The Funds for Africa’s Future an early-stage venture capital firm with a portfolio of over 100 companies collectively worth over $6 billion dollars.

Prior to founding the Fund, he was the founding CEO of Flutterwave, a billion-dollar global payments platform connecting African businesses and individuals to the global economy. Flutterwave is currently Africa’s most valuable startup processing payments of over $1billion dollars in payments every month and backed by global investors like Y Combinator, Greycroft, Mastercard, Visa and Tiger Global amongst others. He was also the co-founder of Andela, a billion-dollar business which matches Africa’s top engineering talent to global technology companies. Andela is also backed by top global investors like Spark Capital, Google Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Softbank amongst others.

Jack Lin is the President of MioTech. He has more than 20 years of experience in asset management. Prior to joining MioTech, he was a Managing Director and the President of the Asia Pacific at MSCI, and sat on the MSCI Global Management Committee. Before MSCI, he was the Head of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa at European asset manager Amundi and a member of the Global Management Committee of Pioneer Investments prior to Amundi's acquisition of Pioneer Investments. Lin also worked in Janus Capital Group as Managing Director of Asia Pacific and Global Co-CEO. In 2003, he represented investment firm Franklin Templeton to establish a joint venture with Sealand Securities in China and helped strengthen the firm's business operations across China, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea. Lin holds a Juris Doctor and MBA degree from UCLA.

Jacklyne is an Operations Management professional with seasoned experience in strategic business and operational planning, leadership- building, corporate governance, development and implementation of human resource and operational policies, and capacity building training. In her role, Jacklyne is responsible for promoting partnerships between capital allocators and businesses in East Africa by creating linkages within the private capital ecosystem. She specialises in both human and capital mobilisation.

Jacqueline Brondberg Aby is a Danish/Ivorian entrepreneur, who moved to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire in 2018 to develop a Money Transfer service she had worked for in London since 2013. Taking ATLMoney Transfer from 3 payout partners in Africa, to expand their payout network to over 700 locations in West Africa, with a year on year increase in volume of over 50%. Prior to this Jacqueline founded the first babysitting on-demand service in London, with a live booking and payment system. She excited Day&Night Sitters to pursue the opportunity to eventually move to Africa The MAGMA adventure begins in May 2021. Identifying a need and opportunity to be part of the rapidly growing fintech/remittance industry in Africa and eager to bring her knowledge acquired around the world, accumulating 15+ years working and living abroad, including missions in Dominica, London and France to the service of Ivorians and Africa. MagmaTech was founded to streamline the support and payout services for the benefit of money transfer operators and partners operating in the field of digital money transfer and payments. Magma focuses on West and Central Africa, as a service to bring financial inclusion to the proximity of the users.

James Ivan Ssettimba is Head, Africa Regional Office at Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI). He leads the delivery of AFI services to members in the region, integrating dialogues on policy content among members in the region, and leveraging proven knowledge from the region to the global network; taking due consideration of the financial inclusion policies that address pressing needs of the members in the region. James provides strategic advice for in-country implementation of financial inclusion policies and regulatory solutions relevant to the members in the region and supports the development of knowledge products that are pertinent to the region. He is a financial sector specialist with 18 years’ experience, with extensive practical knowledge in payment systems, digital financial services, policy formulation relating to financial inclusion, regulation and supervision of mobile money services, oversight and operation of payment systems and design and implementation of financial inclusion initiatives. He has previously worked with the Bank of Uganda as Deputy Director, Financial

Mr. Jean Bosco Iyacu is the Chief Executive Officer of Access to Finance Rwanda (AFR), a Not for Profit Company promoting Financial Inclusion and Financial Sector Development in Rwanda. He has over 15 years’ practical experience in the Rwandan financial sector and development finance. Prior to becoming the AFR’s CEO in February 2021, he was the Director of Programs of AFR for 7 years and has successfully led the design of AFR’s strategic plans for the periods 2016-2020 and 2021-2025. He has also been instrumental in the design and implementation of a diverse range of financial inclusion and financial sector development programs across Rwanda and East Africa. Before joining AFR, He was the Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Business Development Center (RBDC), an entrepreneurship and business incubation facility. He also served in various leadership capacities in some of the Africa’s leading Financial Institutions such as KCB Bank Ltd where he was the Regional Business Manager and Head of Retail and SME Banking. He holds a Master’s Degree in Economics from the University of Witwatersrand, South Africa. He is a Certified Expert in MSME Financing and Inclusive Insurance from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and a Certified Expert in Digital Money from the Digital Frontiers Institute. He has also attended the Harvard Kennedy School’s Executive Education on Rethinking Financial Inclusion in 2018.

Jean Claude Gaga leads Airtel’s MFS and Fintech arm – Airtel Mobile Commerce as Managing Director since January 2022. Prior to joining Airtel he was the Commercial Director at Equity Bank Rwanda where he delivered innovation in retail digital payments launching Fast Fasta – a merchant payment solution - disrupting a previously MNO (Mobile Network Operators) dominated space. This boosted non funded income for the bank. He served as CEO (Chief Executive Officer) at RSwitch, Rwanda’s national electronic payment processor, delivering payment interoperability and transaction processing services to banks and other financial institutions. He steered the company through its first EMV certification as a third-party processor for key international card schemes such as Visa and China Union Pay among others. He led RSwitch through several certifications for PCIDSS compliance ensuring the highest security standards for partners in the financial services sector. A digital payments enthusiast with over 13yrs experience, he pioneered Mobile Financial Services in Rwanda with the launch of the very first mobile money service with MTN Rwanda. Jean Claude is also a frequent conference speaker and has participated in major events around payments, mobile finance and fintech.

Jeremy is the founder and CEO of Liquid Group Pte Ltd, a cross border digital payment company headquartered in Singapore, with presence across the Asia-Pacific. He has been involved in payment ventures for over twenty years and is currently a member of Singapore’s Payments Council and serves as a Co-opted Councillor in SGTech. Jeremy is also Singapore Representative to the East Asia Business Council (EBAC) and Malaysian Singapore Business Council (MSBC). From 2009 to 2017, Jeremy was on the Board of Infocomm Investments Pte Ltd (now SGInnovate) and from 2009 to 2013, he served on the Board of the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), where he also served on the Investment Committee. Jeremy holds a Master of Science (Comparative Politics) from the London School of Economics, and a Bachelor of Engineering from King’s College London.

Jil-Alexandre N'DIA is the CEO and co-founder of Weblogy, a pioneer and leader in digital marketing and community information systems in Francophone Africa. In 25 years of existence, Daniel AHOUASSA, the co-founder, and Jil-Alexandre N'DIA have strategically led the startup's growth. Present on 4 continents, with Abidjan.net and its network of WAEMU country sites, AfriqueFemme.com, and JobAfrique.com, they have attracted over six million unique daily visitors since 2012. In 2016, Weblogy innovated with electronic payment systems in Sub-Saharan Africa by launching its first Abidjan.net Prepaid Visa Card. This new product allowed the company to position itself as the first prepaid card program manager Fintech in Francophone West Africa in September 2020. Weblogy signed a strategic partnership with Visa and thus proposed a state-of-the-art mobile super app called Visa APaym. This allows the dematerialization of all Visa cards and thus facilitates contactless payment. This application, the first in UEMOA, has been awarded the PCI-DSS Level 1 certification for the third consecutive year since September 10, 2020. The development of this application, its value-added services, and the volume of reloading and transactions of its prepaid Visa cards enabled it to obtain the status of the best Fintech of the year 2021 and the status of Best innovation Technology Finetch in 2023 in Francophone Africa by the region's largest processor, GTP and Visa. It then innovated with the virtual Visa card, the Visa business card, and the Visa platinum card, the first in francophone Africa. In January 2021, Weblogy launched APaym Pro, its acquisition platform that allows all businesses or simple entrepreneurs to get paid easily by all means of payment existing on the market such as mobile Money, Visa, Mastercard, and Visa QR code. Since November 2018, Weblogy is also the Program Manager for the VTC service application Yango, which currently holds a fleet of more than 10,000 vehicles. This proximity to taxi drivers solves the problem of banking for taxi drivers in Côte d'Ivoire. Jil-Alexandre N'DIA is the winner of the Young Entrepreneurship Excellence Award from the President of the Republic in 2013 and 2nd in the Excellence Award for Communication Development in 2019. He is: Officer of the Order of Merit of Posts and Telecommunications, Officer in the Ivorian Merit Order Officer of the National Order of Côte d'Ivoire. Jil-Alexandre N'DIA holds a degree in Information Systems Management from Indiana University, Kelly School of Business in the United States and was admitted in 2020 to the Stanford Seed transformation program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. President of the NGO "J’aime Jacqueville" for financial inclusion and Vice-President of the Kaydan Foundation for the promotion of entrepreneurship, the co-founder of Weblogy is socially engaged. In January 2022, a book written by Venance KONAN and Faustin EHOUMAN, prefaced by Tidjane THIAM, titled "Abidjan.net, A Story of the Future" was released in bookstores and became a bestseller just on pre-order.

José Samo Gudo is the Founder and CEO of Tablu Tecnologias, a company focused on the development of digital solutions for emerging markets.

Responsible for the development ROSCAS the largest platform used to digitize savings groups in Mozambique with more than 130,000 active members, as well as MoDI an award-winning open banking solution.

He is also a founding member of Fintech.MZ (Association of FinTech’s of Mozambique) and serves as Vice-President of Studies, Projects, Regulation, and Financing.

José led the implementation of the digital onboarding process for SIM registration pioneered by Vodacom Mozambique's while leading its Subscriber Provisioning and Administration department, where he managed the operations that allowed for more that 30,000 daily subscribers to be onboarded. 

He also led the Business Development and Products/Services teams for Vodafone M-Pesa Mozambique, where led the first interoperability project between a Bank and a Mobile Wallet in the country.

José holds a degree in Computer Science and IT Engineering from the Higher Institute of Science and Technology of Mozambique (ISCTEM), as well as a Master degree in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from the French University HEC Paris.

He also holds many certificates from the Digital Frontiers Institute such as markets marketing in emerging markets, leading digital money markets, mobile money operations, digital identity, digital money, cybersecurity, and others.

Joseph Joshy is the Chief Technology Officer at International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), a unified financial sector regulator for IFSCs established as a statutory authority by the Government of India. He is a Senior Technology Leader driving FinTech, Supervisory Technology (SupTech) and other strategic initiatives including contributing to the FinTech Agenda at India UK Financial Partnership, India US Financial Regulatory Dialogue, India - Japan Macroeconomic Policy Dialogue, Global Financial Innovation Network (GFIN), Inter Regulatory Technical Group (IRTG) on FinTech under the Financial Stability and Development Council - SubCommittee (FSDC - SC), FinTech bridges with Overseas Regulators [like Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)] among others. He is the architect of the unique FinTech Entity Regulatory Framework which provides regulatory authorization to FinTechs and TechFins at GIFT IFSC.

Prior to this stint, he was part of the Management team (Sr Vice President and Vertical Head) that co-founded Reserve Bank Information Technology (ReBIT), the IT Subsidiary of Reserve Bank of India, India’s Central Bank. Joshy had worked on RBI’s Technology Vision with the Information Technology Sub-Committee of the Central Board of the RBI. He was associated with numerous Technology Projects and Initiatives for the Reserve Bank of India across 25+ Departments spanning across Inspection, Supervision, Enforcement, Risk Monitoring, Currency Management, Foreign Exchange, Consumer Education and Protection among others. He was member of more than 20+ Technical Advisory Groups, Committees and SubCommittees at Reserve Bank of India. 

He is an experienced professional with more than 2+ decades in technology, consulting and delivering transformational technology projects for Government/Regulators and Fortune 100 clients with stints in the US, Canada and Mexico. During his tenure with a Tier-1 IT MNC, he had managed a portfolio size of more than 100+ MUSD with 450+ team size across different time zones and geographies spread across US, UK, LATAM (Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua), Philippines, China and India. He was also involved with the Start-up Ecosystem and has experience in setting up a Technology Business Incubator as its CEO.

Kirsten Wortmann Regional Director Africa Kirsten oversees revenue generation, adoption, and market penetration in Africa through strategic partnerships. She formerly worked with Mastercard for three years as the Digital Partnerships Lead responsible for business development and sales of Mastercard Digital Solutions with critical non-bank partners in Africa, primarily focusing on the region's telecommunications companies. Prior to that she was the Relationship Service Manager and Business Leader at Mastercard. Kirsten has more than ten years of experience and expertise in the payments business and has successfully grown top-tier payment organisations.

Kizito was the Board Vice President and interim-President of Digital Africa. Digital Africa is a €130m French Government initiative launched by French President Emmanuel Macron to support Africa’s Tech startups. Kizito is the co-Chairperson of the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) Africa and the Executive Head of 22 ON SLOANE which is Africa’s largest tech startup campus based in Johannesburg South Africa. He is an Independent Investment Committee Member of the IDF Capital Future Fund which is a USD$17m Telkom and BCX Fund focused on investing in Tech startups in South Africa. His experience includes, heading up Guest Relations, Internal Sales and Marketing for the Tsogo Sun Group, Editor for the African Entrepreneur magazine, Head of Research at the BAM-SA group, and Associate at Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL). He was also the Founder and Executive Head of SEA Africa, a Research and Development firm that supported SMMEs across Africa. Kizito plays a significant role in the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) in South Africa and the rest of Africa and has been highly instrumental in developing the Global Entrepreneurship Network in various African countries. He spear-headed the development of the largest Startup campus (22 ON SLOANE) in Africa situated in Bryanston Johannesburg. He writes regularly on Africa’s Startup ecosystem which is published in the Business Report newspaper. Kizito’s academic qualifications include a diploma in Latin Language (affiliated to the Urban University in Rome), a diploma in Public Relations, a postgraduate diploma in Business Management and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) where he delivered his thesis titled, ‘The contribution of higher education in advancing entrepreneurship in South Africa’.

Kwamina Duker, known as K Duker, is the CEO of the Development Bank of Ghana. Mr. Duker brings a wealth of experience in finance and investments, particularly Treasury and FX trading. With over 30 years of experience in leadership roles across different geographies including Ghana, the UK, and Asia, K Duker has particular experience of leading major FX technology platforms and treasury in Europe, the Americas, and the Asia Pacific.

K Duker was formerly the Managing Director of Dwennimmen Group Company Limited, an advisory firm that is passionate about connecting world-class expertise to Africa. Prior to this, he was the Managing Director for the Asia Pacific at OANDA where he had full oversight responsibilities of the company’s operations in the region.

He has previously served on various Boards including Consolidated Bank Ghana, Executive Committee member of OANDA, and Fidelity Bank Ghana. He currently serves on the boards of Learning Skills International School, Dwennimmen Group Company Limited, and Resilient Ghana.

K Duker holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of California and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Barking University, Essex, U.K.

Mr. Lacina Koné, is the Director General and Chief Executive Officer of Smart Africa having joined the organisation in March 2019.

He oversees the process of defining and advancing Africa’s digital agenda and has overseen the development of continental blueprints for Africa on Digital Identity, ICT Start-ups and Innovation Ecosystems, Smart Villages and the definition of Africa’s Smart Broadband 2025 Strategy in addition to advancing additional key continental initiatives. In recognition for this work, Mr. Koné has reached the 12th position in 2021 among the 50 personalities advancing Africa’s digital transformation. He recently ranked number 3 among the 10 Africa digital trendsetters in the 2022 Jeune Afrique technology ranking.

Prior to that, Mr. Koné was the advisor to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (2017-2018), in charge of Digital Transformation and Public Reforms, and was also the advisor to the President from 2011-2017. Mr. Kone is a professional of ICT industry with over 25 years’ experience in the telecommunications, satellite and intelligent transport system. Prior to that, Mr. Koné held during his career several high level technical and managerial positions with prestigious firms such as Booz Allen Hamilton and Intelsat.

Mr. Kone is a graduate of three continents. United Arab Emirates, he obtained a bachelor's degree in electronic engineering, in the UK, it has validated its Polytechnique rank at the University of Brunel, and the United States, his MBA from George Washington University.

He also sits on the advisory boards of Benya Capital in Egypt and Townlabour Technologies in the USA and he is also a Commissioner in the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (BBCOM).

Leila RWAGASANA is the FinTech Lead at Rwanda Finance Limited, the company promoting and developing Rwanda as a leading financial destination for international investment and cross-border transactions in Africa. Leila is a business development and partnerships professional with 9 years of work experience in Rwanda and across the continent. Leila is an expert developing businesses and acquiring new clients in the technology sector as well as a leading and managing organizational operations. Leila holds a Masters in Arts in International Business Management from the University of Westminster, London and a Bachelors with Honors in Global Financial Management from Regent’s University London

Mr Leong Sing Chiong was appointed as Deputy Managing Director for Markets and Development on 1 February 2021. He oversees the Markets & Investment, Development & International, FinTech & Innovation, as well as Sustainability Groups. Prior to this, Mr Leong served as Assistant Managing Director overseeing the Monetary & Domestic Markets Management Department and the Reserves Management Department since June 2018. He also served as Assistant Managing Director of the Development and International Group from 2013-2018.

Mr Leong began his MAS career with the Reserves Management Department in 1993 and served as Staff Assistant to the Managing Director from 1997-1998. In 1999, he joined the Monetary Management Division and was responsible for the implementation of MAS’ monetary policy and money market operations. Thereafter, Mr Leong was appointed Chief Representative of MAS’ London Representative Office from 2002-2004. Mr Leong spent six years with the International Department from 2004-2010 and was appointed as the Executive Director of Financial Centre Development Department from 2010-2013.

Mr Leong is a recipient of the Public Administration Medal (Silver). He holds a B.Sc Economics (Monetary Economics) from the London School of Economics and is married with two children.

Matteo Rizzi is an unconventional entrepreneur with two decades of experience in Financial Services, constantly referred amongst the top executives in the industry. He spent 13 years at SWIFT - where he co-founded Innotribe, the innovation arm of the cooperative, launching the first global startup challenge. Since 2013, he has a FinTech Investor and/or Venture Partner role with global VCs and CVCs (20+ deals, 5 exits). In 2015, he co-founded FinTechStage (now FTSGroup.eu) - a platform for Investors and Innovators to boost FinTech innovation globally. In 2019, Matteo founded Timepledge.org a global initiative to foster financial inclusion and entrepreneurship. The same year he launched Breaking Banks Europe (as the Executive Producer). He is the author of "The FinTech Revolution" and "Talents & Rebels" and is fluent in 5 languages.

Mukaya (Tai) Panich is CEO & CIO of SCB 10X. An engineer by background, Tai has over 20 years of experience working and investing in the technology sector in Silicon Valley, New York, and Singapore. Her expertise is investing in technology companies (both private and public), especially in Deep Tech (AI, Robotics, Semiconductor, Enterprise Software & Hardware, Internet/Media), Fintech and Blockchain/Crypto. Prior to joining SCB 10X, Tai was a Portfolio Manager at Pictet Asset Management, where she specialized in investing in publicly-listed technology companies globally, with focus on Asia. Tai was awarded the prestigious King's Scholarship to study abroad. She graduated with honors from MIT, where she earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and subsequently an MBA from Harvard Business School. She started her career as one of the early engineers at a Silicon Valley semiconductor startup, SiByte, which was acquired by Broadcom for $2.2 billion.

Nadeem is a globally recognized voice in the Digital Financial Services industry. Having lived and worked globally, built, scaled, and invested in a range of businesses, he has unique insight as an entrepreneur, innovator, venture capitalist, and philanthropist. Over the past decade, he has been at the heart of the “Fintech” revolution.

Recognizing that the fundamental needs of customers were changing and no longer subject to predefined industry silos, Nadeem began exploring the “Financial Wellness” concept and raised one of the first VC funds dedicated to this space. On the same vision, Nadeem co-founded Neem Exponential, an open banking platform to provide Financial Wellness to millions of underbanked people and businesses, launched in Pakistan.

Nadeem is also a former Head of Global Financial Services at Veon (and Jazz), with a deep understanding of Financial Services overall and within Pakistan. He co-founded and served as a CEO at the Anthemis Group, a pioneer venture capital firm in FinTech with over 500 million USD assets under management. Through Anthemis Group, Nadeem has invested in over 80 companies in the US and Europe. Previously, Nadeem served as a President at First Data International, with deep expertise in payments in developed and emerging markets. Nadeem is a Board Member at several impact-driven businesses and charities globally including Access Afya, Prospero World, and CARE Pakistan.

He is also the Chairman of The Future Farm, a global organisation dedicated to bringing emotional resilience, vulnerability, and mental health into the world of entrepreneurs.

Nadeem recalibrates his energy whilst painting, hiking, and exploring new parts of the world, through vibrant conversations and spending focused time with his loved ones.

Parul is a co-founder and director of pinBox. She has extensive experience in conceptualizing and implementing innovative financial literacy models and strategies, as well as technology-led outreach platforms for micro-pension and micro-insurance inclusion in developing countries. Parul developed and implemented "gift-a-pension", the first P2P eCommerce platform globally for pension and insurance inclusion of home help (nanny, drivers, guards, cooks) and blue-collar workers in garment export units.

At pinBox, Parul has worked in Rwanda, India, Uganda, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Kenya on designing a replicable and inclusive model and for contributory microPension programs. She was also part of World Bank, United Nations Development Program and FSD teams on advising pension regulators and finance ministries in developing field-tested strategies for expanding voluntary pension coverage. Parul has ~10 years of experience as a journalist at BBC, CNBC and NDTV.

Over twenty-six years professional experience spanning the financial sector, development finance and international development. Has served at senior management and executive leadership levels in the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors. Currently, doubles as the Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Fintech Network (AFN) and USAID contracted Senior Economic Advisor to the Liberia Ministry of Finance and Development Planning. Formerly, Governor of the Central Bank of Sierra Leone, where among major strategic reforms, pioneered one of Africa’s first regulatory sandbox, a innovative initiative that is now benchmarked by other central banks as a framework for leap frogging financial inclusion. As Regional Lead for Sub Sahara Africa, led a unique collaboration between Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) and Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSDA), to strengthen Africa’s financial markets, through the creation and dissemination of fintech related knowledge across Sub Sahara Africa. Previously served as Fiscal Affairs Minister of State in Sierra Leone, as well as Alternate Executive Director at the African Development Bank. A career retail banker with senior management roles in strategy, risk management, credits, compliance, operations, investments, and finance. Patrick holds a doctoral degree in Management with finance concentration, a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of the UK, MBA from Oxford Brookes University UK, and bachelor’s degree in economics.

Mr. Paul-Harry AITHNARD is the Managing Director Ecobank Cote d’Ivoire & Regional
Executive, UEMOA since December 2018. Prior to this, he was Ecobank Group Head, Securities,
Wealth and Asset Management since September 2012, in charge of brokerage, debt & equity
capital markets as well as wealth and fund management activities. In this position, he has grown assets under management to $ 1Billion and has earned Ecobank the "Best Performing Broker in Africa" award, according to Africa Investor Magazine in 2015. Prior to this position, he was the
Group Head Research of Ecobank Group from 2008 to 2014. Under his responsibility, the
Research Division was awarded as the best "Research Team in Africa" over 3 consecutive years
between 2011 and 2013. Prior to joining Ecobank, Paul-Harry worked in various positions
between 2000 and 2008 with BBSP, a leading Investment Advisory firm located in Paris, Montreal and Singapore. As Global Head of Commodities, and Co-Head of Global Macro Advisory in Paris, Paul-Harry supervised all global macro and commodities research at BBSP and advised key institutional clients (Banks, Asset managers, Hedge funds) on investment strategies in various assets/markets, including commodities, fixed income, equity and currency markets in Africa. From 2000 to 2007, Paul-Harry was the Deputy Managing Director of the BBSP North American affiliate, in charge of Global Advisory and Sales. Paul-Harry holds a Master's degree in History from Sorbonne Paris IV, a postgraduate Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s degree in Finance from HEC Montreal.

Pauline has deep expertise in digital topics, with 20 years experience in the financial services industry. She has supported Fortune 100 corporations & global institutions tackle some of the most pressing innovation challenges, and is a trusted advisor and mentor in the FinTech ecosystem including FinTech Nation https://www.fintechnation.io/fintech65 WomensWorldBanking , SingaporeFinTechFestival , Monetary Authority of Singapore, and an author contributing to books, articles & whitepapers relating to FinTech, RegTech, Digital Assets, Sustainability & Innovation. With a passion for innovation, she has always been pulled by dynamism and the move towards digital. Testament to this passion is her work at Boston Consulting Group, FinTech Control Tower, a venture she led capturing her drive for Innovation and FinTech. Today Pauline is building across Digital Assets, ESG and Financial Inclusion. A priority for Pauline is people, building inclusive and diverse teams and developing strong trust-based relationships. She is a strong advocate for diversity and developing talent into leaders. A passionate mountaineer from Chamonix, Pauline is committed to sustainability, financial inclusion and innovation through various Advisory Board roles.

Philip currently serves as a Managing Director for Katapult Africa a Venture Capital firm, investing in and scale tech companies across Africa through their Accelerator Program. Prior to joining Katapult, Philip was Strategy Consultant for the Government of Rwanda developing Rwanda’s strategy to become a Technology and Innovation Pan-African Hub under the flagship project of Kigali Innovation City, Philip was instrumental in the design and structuring of Rwanda’s first Government backed Venture Capital Fund designed to invest in stage growth companies in Rwanda and across East Africa. In his early career, Philip was a Senior Finance and Technology specialist for over 15 years’ in Investment Banking in the U.K, Philip led the implementation of several large scale technology and operational projects to optimise business performance and cost efficiencies. At Citi Bank, Philip managed the development team of a global equity trading platform. Prior to Citi Bank, Philip lead a team at ABN Amro that managed the development of a trading credit trading platform focused on Asset Backed Securities with implementation of product pricing and risk modelling for various financial instruments. Philip holds an MSc Computer Science from University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa and a BSc Computer Science and Mathematics from Makerere University, Uganda. Now based in Rwanda, Philip is married with three children and a great Arsenal Football Club fan.

Philip is the Co-founder and Director of Global Operations at AC Group Ltd, a company providing smart transport solutions. Within 9 years of operations, AC Group has been able to digitise public transport payments, provide Wi-Fi on all public buses, and provided visibility for bus operators in Kigali to recover more than 45% of their revenues. AC Group has created more security, efficiency, and convenience for the commuter, transforming public transport.

Being at the forefront of innovation, AC Group today has over 1.8 Million clients in Rwanda. Other clients & partners include; The World Economic Forum, African Union, and Smart Africa. Phillip's areas of expertise include aligning with disruption, discovering jobs to be done, organising for innovation, maintaining a disruptive scope, managing the strategy development process, product development and management, business development, and smart public transport solutions management. 

He specialises in design thinking, implementation, and smart transport solutions in Africa. From his previous roles as a consultant, Philip has a vast knowledge of the public transport ecosystem which includes, logistics management, route network planning, and operations management of public transport. Currently, Philip is working on creating more value for Tap&Go cardholders and introducing an ecosystem for EV buses in Rwanda. Philip has an academic background in Innovative disruption and has undertaken the Harvard Business school program on disruptive strategy

Ms. Rashmi Pillai is a global executive with 17+ years of experience in impact investing, digital financial services, inclusive and competitive financial markets development and financial markets policy and regulation—across Africa and South Asia.

She is currently the Global Head of Public Policy for Wave Mobile Money. Previously she was the CEO at Financial Sector Deepening Uganda (FSDU). Prior to that she was a digital financial services technical expert to two organizations - CGAP, at the World Bank and the Better Than Cash Alliance at the UNCDF across multiple African countries. 

Before her foray into financial inclusion and financial markets development, Ms. Pillai co-founded the "Sankalp Forum" - The first major impact investment deal flow platform in India for for-profit social enterprises and took it to scale. The forum has now expanded across South East Asia and East Africa. 

Ms. Pillai has a Masters in Public Policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University on a Fulbright Scholarship. She also holds another Masters in Spectroscopic Physics from M.S. University Baroda, India. 

Robert leads Co-Develop’s investments and strategic partnerships in Africa working closely with the global investments team.

Robert is passionate about responsible technology and previously led Omidyar’s portfolio of investments in Digital Identity. At Omidyar his investment strategy included working closely with Governments, Multi-lateral agencies, civil society and research institutions that explored exciting areas of work including encrypted messaging platforms, data privacy, digital rights, digital transformation and E-Government.

Robert also currently serves as an Advisory Council Member for California State University’s Cybersecurity Program. The council works collaboratively to provide constructive feedback and strategic direction to guide quality improvement and assess program efficacy.

He is also serving on various boards including B Lab East Africa and Select Africa Limited where he provides strategic and advisory oversight to both organizations.

Robert holds an MBA in Strategic Management from Moi University and a BCom in Entrepreneurship from the University of Northern British Columbia.

Dr Robert Ochola is an expert in strategy and innovation within the African banking and mobile telecommunications industry. He is responsible for AfricaNenda’s overall strategy execution and leadership. His primary focus at AfricaNenda is on building momentum for an inclusive and interoperable approach to digital payments across Africa. During his career, Robert has pioneered the development of a new Pan-African Payments and Settlement Systems (PAPSS) for driving cross-border trade, led the development of mobile payment solutions and the expansion of its product suite, along with overseeing the successful roll-out of solutions for ultra-low-cost mobile devices across Africa and the Middle East. Prior to joining AfricaNenda, as Chief Executive Officer, Robert served as the Director of Strategy and Innovation at Afreximbank, served as Head of Strategy with Safaricom, and was the Director of Strategy, Research and Innovation at the KCB Bank Group. He is an alumnus of Imperial College London, Warwick Business School and the University of Cape Town.

Robert is the CEO of QT Global Software LTD. Providing technology solutions to the public and private sectors.

An accomplished senior executive with over 25+ years’ expertise in Financial Inclusion, Education Finance, Digital Finance, Microfinance, Banking, Program Management, Strategy Development, Stakeholder Management, Institution Capacity building, and Advocacy, with a focus on Access to Finance to underserved especially rural youth, women, refuges and PwDs. Served in various Executive positions such as, CEO, CFO, COO, and consultant for development and finance Institutions, this includes 20 years in sub-Saharan African countries (Zambia, Rwanda, Tanzania, Malawi & Uganda) and 5 years in India. Proven competencies in developing partnerships, Financial & Digital literacy, banking automation, policy development, product development, MSME & SME finance, turnaround management, training & mentoring, social Impact evaluations, youth employment, agriculture value chain development (SHF), responsible finance, client protection, and donor management. Have developed business strategies and set performance standards for five countries. He holds a Degree in Commerce and MBA in International Business operations. He is the Founding officer for Guardian Co-operative Bank, Bangalore –India in 1997 and Urwego Opportunity Bank Rwanda. As a consultant of Opportunity International, He introduced the first Microfinance SME credit, Education finance and led CBS Automation in India, Zambia, Tanzania and Rwanda. Worked along with CARE for a USAID /AED project in 2009, which recommended setting up of SACCO's in Rwanda, resulting in increasing financial inclusion in Rwanda (up to 93%), especially through SACCO’s, digital finance and rural saving groups . Worked along/ trained by Transparency International on Client Protection and Responsible Finance principles. His last position was CEO for Vision Fund Rwanda from 2013 to 2019, Vision Finance Rwanda was awarded as the Best Financial Service provider in Client protection and Social Impact during his 6 years tenure. He is currently the Head of Financial Inclusion and Resilience at FSD Rwanda /Access to Finance Rwanda . Ross was the CEO for Skill Africa, an IT Talent Development company, and also worked as an Independent Consultant specialized in Financial Inclusion and Digitial Finance. He was on the core team of Consultants working on Rwanda Fintech Strategy and also the Finance and Investment Consultant for the GIZ project working on the Wood sector. In addition, Ross conducted end of project evaluation of 4 yr World Bank Financial Inclusion Strategy Framework (FISF) –Rwanda; led AFR’s Covid-19 response initiatives; Conducted end of term research and evaluation of the Digitization of Saving Groups project and digital literacy targeting the rural farming community for FSD Rwanda; Provided TA/Capacity Building to MFI’s in 4 countries in Africa for IPC Germany; Provided consultancy for Feed-the-Future Nigeria Rural Resilience Activity for the population affected by Boko Haram conflict in North-east Nigeria for OI/CRS, He is currently based in Kigali –Rwanda. Invited as keynote speaker, Debater, adviser/panelist for national and international seminars, conferences and actively involved in fundraising events.

A student of Chinese philosophy who loves customer-centric and transformative technologies. Trained in management consulting and private equity in China and across Africa before starting his own business supporting the growth of informal retailers. He is now building his second business with a mission to ensure employees access their earned wages any time before payday. This will empower them to have the liquidity to cover expenses and emergencies and prevent them from predatory credit lenders.

Dr. Segun Aina OFR is an internationally rated FinTech thought leader and innovation ecosystem builder, global professional banking leader, regulatory technology enthusiast, serial entrepreneur, and respected futurist.

With three decades of distinguished banking career in three banks including six-year tenure as Bank CEO with a focus on technology as an enabler of financial services, Dr Aina is the inaugural Chairman of Global Council of Global Banking Education Standards Board (GBEStB) 2017 to date, former Chairman of Odua Investment Company Limited and past President of Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN 2012 to 2014).

Dr Aina is the founding President and Chairman, Board of Trustees of FinTech Association of Nigeria (FINTECHNGR) and founding President of the Africa Fintech Network (AFN), both of which he initiated. In these roles, he has initiated, coordinated, and led the development of regtech and suptech capacity development programs for various regulators in Nigeria and across Africa. He is the Founder/Chairman, The Fintech Institute (TFI) and Opolo Global Innovation Limited, and host of innovation related businesses.

As an innovation ecosystem builder, Dr. Aina who has been variously described as Nigeria’s FinTech envoy and Africa's Fintech Grandmaster incubated a number of successful fintech startups and sits on the Boards of various institutions in Banking, Insurance, Agriculture and Technology sectors. He also serves as a member of the UKAfrica Fintech Investment Group, a UK Govt initiative co-Chaired by the Lord Mayor of London and UK Prime Minister Ambassador for Business Fintech.

In addition, Dr Aina’s contributions to the academic sector is legendary – he was a member of the pioneer Advancement Board of Obafemi Awolowo University from 2006 to 2012 and is currently Chairman Advancement Board of the Federal University of Technology Akure (2011 to date), co-Chairman National Think Tank on Research for Innovation and Policy (an initiative of the University of Ibadan Research Foundation of which he is a member) and Member, Osun State University Advancement Board.

Dr. Aina is a distinguished alumnus of the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, INSEAD France, Harvard Business School (HBS), IMD Switzerland, and the Lagos Business School (LBS). He is a Fellow of London Institute of Banking and Finance, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Chartered Arbitrators, Institute of Directors, Nigerian Institute of Management as well as Member, Toronto Region Board of Trade, Canada and Canadian Council for Africa.

He holds the Nigeria National honors of Officer of the Order of Federal Republic (OFR) since 2010 and has received honorary doctorate degrees from four renowned Universities

Shadab is the President of the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA), the national industry association and a cross-industry initiative designed to facilitate collaboration between all market participants and stakeholders in the FinTech ecosystem. SFA brings together a strong community to foster collaboration, innovation and partnerships among members and the industry at-large, with the goal of strengthening Singapore’s position as a global FinTech hub. As the elected President since early 2021, Shadab leads the SFA Executive Committee, which sets the strategic direction for its activities related to representation and advocacy, fostering business growth, facilitating access to capital and opportunities as well as growing the FinTech talent pool. Shadab has over 17 years of experience working in the financial services industry with over 14 years at FinTech companies. He has a strong track record of growing businesses in the fintech space and is a thought-leader across multiple diverse fintech segments such as wealthtech, insurtech, payments, digital financing as well as web3.0 applications in financial services. Shadab also sits on the MAS Payments Council as an Observer. The Payments Council convenes key providers and users of e-payments in Singapore, to collaborate on strategies to drive the adoption of e-payments, promote interoperability among e-payments solutions, and advise MAS on payments-related policies. He is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Point Carbon Zero Programme which is launched by Google and MAS to drive the innovation, incubation and scaling of climate FinTech solutions in the region.

A familiar face on global news channels, Sharanjit Leyl has brought you the news from Asia on BBC World News, Bloomberg Television and the CBC for a quarter of a century. She spent eighteen years with BBC World News, covering business and politics, anchoring from its Asia bureau and from London's Broadcasting House. She regularly anchored live on location on breaking stories such as the Trump-Kim summits, the Hong Kong protests, the missing Malaysian Airlines flight among others, while contributing to BBC World Service radio and the BBC news website. A Singaporean native, she's produced and presented BBC documentaries on TV and radio about her city. Sharanjit now regularly moderates high level debates for the United Nations, the World Bank, the ADB and other multilateral and financial institutions while balancing a board career and advising various companies on media strategy and ESG. She divides her time between Singapore and Bath, UK.

Sharon UMUNYANA is a seasoned professional with over 10 years of experience in the fintech and payments industry. Currently serving as a Technical Project Manager at the Rwanda Information Society Authority (RISA), she is at the forefront of driving transformative fintech projects and leading government initiatives. Sharon's expertise lies in leveraging technology to build robust financial systems, foster innovation, and promote financial inclusion. With a strong background in fintech and the banking sector, Sharon excels at cultivating strategic partnerships and driving the adoption of cutting-edge fintech solutions. In addition to her fintech expertise, Sharon is actively involved in the Mojaloop Proof of Concept (POC) in Rwanda. Through this engagement, she aims to demonstrate the potential of Digital Public Infrastructures (DPIs) in revolutionizing financial services. Working closely with stakeholders, Sharon is dedicated to advancing digital public infrastructure in Rwanda with a commitment to achieving financial inclusion that creates a lasting impact.

As the Director of Community at Mojaloop Foundation, I spearheaded our global community development initiatives. Utilizing my expertise in community leadership, I craft the overall community experience and infrastructure, integrating vital community feedback into our product roadmap and scaling our developer network.

Sofie is CEO of hiveonline, the sustainable digital finance solution connecting the African informal economy. Prior to founding hiveonline, Sofie built multiple core banking and payments systems for 8 international banks in 60 countries, and led whole business transformations and new bank builds. She has led teams up to 2,000 people and budgets of over $1bn. She holds an MSc in informatics, chairs the Edinburgh Futures Institute's FI and Fintech Industry Advisory Board, is author of Fintech Revolution: Universal Inclusion in the New Financial Ecosystem and advises the UN, Central Banks, NGOS and others on blockchain for impact and sustainability, DLT policy and economic impacts of emerging technology.

Sopnendu Mohanty, currently the Chief Fintech Officer at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, is responsible for creating development strategies, public infrastructure, and policies around technology-driven innovation. Mohanty has over two decades of public and private sector experience in technology, operations, digital Finance, and investment strategies.

Mohanty extensively engages with global technology and financial services ecosystems and has championed notable collaborative public goods like API Exchange (APIX), Singapore Fintech Festival, Payment Rails, Data exchange platforms, and experimental programs like UBIN. In addition, Mohanty advises many international global advisory bodies on Fintech, Innovation and Inclusion. Within five years of his leadership, Singapore has become a leading global Fintech hub producing unicorns and home to many vibrant fintech companies.

He has co-authored several patented works in the application of digital technology in Finance and won many industry recognitions.

Stella N. Lugalambi is co-founder of Hamwe East Africa Ltd and the company’s director since 2013. In this role, she has steered Hamwe from a start-up to an award-winning Ag-Fintech enterprise. Under her stewardship, the company has been recognized for its agritech innovations by the National ICT Initiatives Support Programme (NIISP) in Uganda. It has also won the Coffee Value Chain Traceability challenge by UNCDF and been among the top 12 winners of the Disruptive Agricultural Technology (DAT) challenge by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and the World Bank. Stella has worked with mobile value-added services (VAS) since 2007 with some of the leading VAS providers and in partnerships with most of the major telecom companies in the region.

Stephen Richardson is the Managing Director of Financial Markets and Head of APAC. Stephen has multiple years of experience in both traditional and crypto-focused financial institutions. Stephen’s role at Fireblocks involves structuring, developing, and evaluating strategic opportunities with traditional financial services and native digital asset companies that align with the growth of the Fireblocks platform. Prior to Fireblocks, Stephen was a Senior Manager within the Financial Services practice of Accenture Strategy, where he focused on transforming customer experience and digital enablement programs for leading Financial Services firms. Prior to Accenture, Stephen worked as Head of Strategy and Head of Product (Business) for Noble Markets. While at Noble, Stephen was responsible for evaluating and implementing key strategic objectives, including the development of Noble’s banking and trade settlement products. Stephen holds a B.A. from Cornell University and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis (Olin School of Business).

Steve has led diverse impact-driven teams for 22 years in over 10 countries between work in the government, non-profit and the private sector. He aims to influence a more equitable and fair world, particularly through inclusive financial services. At the Mojaloop Foundation, he is driving interoperable real time payments that reach everyone by helping various stakeholders to understand their role in building locally owned, locally controlled, and locally operated payments infrastructure. He holds degrees in Mathematics from West Point and the University of Padova.