NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

The CashlessAfrica event will comprise three components:

(A) CONFERENCE – The two days of inspiring presentations, interactive sessions and networking opportunities with more than 40 thought leaders covering eight sessions, 24+ hours of advanced content, networking and more than 250+ official delegates. The multi-format conference will feature presentations, panel discussions, demos, networking, and exhibitions.
(B) FINHACKTON – In March 2017, the FinTech community will be invited to collaborate and co-create solutions to compelling financial services challenges across Africa with specific challenges solicited from the market demand-side. Teams will develop market-ready solutions to these problems, and the selected teams will present their solutions at the demo session during the conference.
(C) CASHLESSAFRICA CHAMPION AWARDS – The CashlessAfrica Champion awards will recognize innovative Fintechs, banks, mobile network operators, financial services providers that have been implemented in Africa or elsewhere with the potential of impacting positively on the African continent.

Entrepreneurship is emerging as a crucial catalyst in Africa’s development.  African entrepreneurs are evolving; driving innovation and impact, and in the process transforming communities and economies. The African narrative is gradually shifting from aid-led solutions to enterprise-led solutions to developmental problems. Entrepreneurs create innovative enterprises which creates jobs, protect the environment, improve conditions of living and governance, thereby building resilient local economies.

But the African enterprise landscape is tough, as the World Bank’s Doing Business Index has consistently shown. For enterprises to thrive, and interventions to be effective, they ought to be resilient.

Can enterprise be an engine of resilience in Africa? How can Africa’s enterprises develop resilient solutions to Africa’s problems? The British Council will use its extensive network to convene a regional summit in March 2017 to dialogue on ‘next generation innovations’ and celebrate efforts in entrepreneurship and resilient development. 

The two-day FinTech Conference will bring the FinTech ecosystem together and it will also help in building relationships, share knowledge and create business opportunities.

The potential of new technologies and applications  is to transform and leapfrog financial services in Africa. It is not in doubt with the innovative trend from banks, fintechs and mobile network operators in providing basic financial services encompassing payment, banking, money transfers, insurance, crowd funding, etc across the continent.  The continent is moving away rapidly from legacy systems and leapfrogging into next generation technologies with new opportunities for the supply and demand side operators in the space of the African financial technology.

Our Vision

Financial Inclusion is not only about emerging markets, but a global opportunity for financial services to become smarter, more affordable and a catalyst for growth.

Our Plan

We want to bring together Investors, entrepreneurs, technology partners, financial institutions and regulators in a global event designed around what we believe is the biggest opportunity to change the world for the better.

Our Focus

Collaboration and dialogue around the challenges, opportunity of more inclusive financial services and the technologies enabling it. We will showcase the most compelling startups of the financial inclusion eco-system and facilitate the dialogue amongst regulators.