First Access at African Fintech Unconference 2018

African Fintech Unconference 2018 Set to Boost Industry Collaboration, Hosted by MFS Africa, Nomanini and Tugende

3 August 2018 — First Access will be attending the second annual African Fintech Unconference (AFU18), held on 25 & 26 September 2018 at the magnificent Spier Wine Farm in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

This key industry event will be co-convened by African fintech pioneers Nomanini, MFS Africa and Tugende. As with the inaugural AFU held in March 2017, this year’s Unconference agenda will be guided by African fintech innovators, thought leaders and entrepreneurs. Unlike traditional conference formats, AFU creates a space for open, dynamic dialogue and valuable interactions.

“The fast-moving and highly disruptive African fintech landscape is ripe for consolidation, and AFU18 will provide an important platform for discussion and information sharing - with the ultimate goal of boosting collaborative fintech partnerships across the continent,” explains Vahid Monadjem, CEO of Nomanini, an enterprise payments platform provider organises the informal retail trade for financial inclusion.

According to advisory firm PwC, cumulative investment in global fintech could well exceed $150bn within the next 3-5 years. Given the current innovations emerging from the African continent, major portions of this projected investment could be directed towards African fintech projects. This makes industry events such as AFU18 even more critical - to consolidate efforts and to forge sustainable partnerships for the long term.

“We are delighted to be a part of the second annual African Fintech Unconference, as it provides an unparalleled platform for discussion at a time when trusted partnerships are key to creating a healthy ecosystem for Africa’s fintech innovators,” says Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS Africa, the largest mobile money inter-operability hub in Africa.

Testament to the importance of such an event, AFU 2017 attracted 90 participants from around the globe, including banks (Ecobank, Fidelity Bank), funders (the Mastercard Foundation, IFC, USAID), fintech innovators (MFS Africa, Interpay) and thought leaders (Digital Frontiers Institute, BFA, Caribou Digital), among others.

“Given that the fintech landscape is still an emerging one, with many new players vying for attention, it is important to promote dialogue and to create transparent, long lasting relationships,” notes Michael Wilkerson, founder and CEO of Tugende, which finances income-generating assets for proven entrepreneurs. “This is precisely why we believe AFU18 is such an important event for the industry, and we encourage all stakeholders to attend.”

To learn more and and register for AFU18, please visit www.africanfintechunconference.com. Follow the conversation on Twitter via the event hasthtag #AFU18 and #Finnovation and #Finclusion

About MFS Africa

MFS Africa is a leading Pan-African fintech company, operating the largest digital payments hub on the continent. The MFS Hub is connected to over 170 million mobile wallets in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering unparalleled reach for financial services providers. The company allows merchants, banks, mobile operators and money transfer companies to take advantage of the unique ubiquity of mobile wallets as safe, convenient, and cost-effective transaction channel. The company works in close partnership with players across the ecosystem to bring simple and secure mobile financial services to un- and under-banked customers.

About Nomanini

Nomanini is a South African-based enterprise payments platform provider that optimises transactions in the informal retail sector. Nomanini provides banks, mobile networks and mobile money operators with merchant tools and management platforms to enable widespread and convenient access to VAS products, cash transfers, bill payments and bank transactions for people in informal markets.

About Tugende

Tugende finances income-generating assets for proven entrepreneurs. They invest in giving a chance to customers generally unable to access traditional credit providers, including most micro-finance institutions—often due to a lack of existing collateral.