His Excellency Wamkele Mene, the distinguished Secretary-General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat, is set to deliver the keynote address at the 12th Africa Fintech Summit. The event will convene on 5 September 2024 at the JW Marriott Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya. This summit emerges as a critical juncture in Africa’s financial technology landscape, as the continent advances towards deeper economic integration.
Wamkele Mene, who was appointed Secretary-General by the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of States and Government of the African Union, has been instrumental in steering the AfCFTA towards unprecedented milestones. As of March 2024, the number of countries engaging in trade under the AfCFTA has surged from six to thirty-five, marking an exponential increase of nearly 500% since the inaugural trade occurred in October 2022. This expansion underscores the growing momentum behind Africa’s single market, which unites all 55 countries of the African Union and eight Regional Economic Communities (RECs), encompassing a population of approximately 1.3 billion people and a combined GDP of $3.4 trillion.
The upcoming summit provides a platform for Mene to offer key insights into the current status of cross-border trade across the continent, particularly in light of the transformative role that financial technology has played in catalysing this growth. The significance of his address is further amplified by the recent approval of the Digital Trade Protocol in February 2024, which has been a pivotal step towards realising the full potential of Africa’s single market integration.
Zekarias Amsalu, Co-Founder of the Africa Fintech Summit, expressed profound enthusiasm for Mene’s participation, recognising the crucial timing of his address. “We are honoured to welcome His Excellency Secretary General as our keynote speaker for the 12th Africa Fintech Summit in Nairobi, Kenya this September. His Excellency’s participation and keynote address comes at such a pivotal time when the Digital Trade protocol approved in February 2024 has begun to pave the way for the realisation of Africa’s single market integration. The numbers are positive, and we are confident that the financial technology innovation ecosystems will play a huge part in the growing implementation of the trade protocol,” Amsalu remarked.
Following Mene’s keynote, the summit will delve into a roundtable discussion entitled “AfCFTA’s Digital Trade Protocol – Impacts and Opportunities for the Fintech World.” This session will feature a diverse array of stakeholders, including regulators, leaders from the fintech and financial sectors, infrastructure investors, and data centre operators. The roundtable promises to explore the profound implications of the Digital Trade Protocol for multinational enterprises operating within AfCFTA member states, highlighting the protocol’s capacity to streamline cross-border commerce, enhance customs procedures, reduce tariffs, and harmonise import and export regulations.
The remainder of the summit will be characterised by a series of high-level fireside chats, thought-provoking panel discussions, and workshops. With over 80 speakers, the event is poised to leave an indelible mark on Africa’s fintech industry, providing attendees with actionable insights on innovation, collaboration, regulation, partnership, and growth.
The 12th Africa Fintech Summit in Nairobi is set to be a defining moment for the future of financial technology on the continent, as it coincides with an era of unprecedented growth and opportunity within the framework of the AfCFTA.
