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Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub chosen to host Africa FinTech Festival 2020

3 min read
Published 12 November 2019

Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub will host the Africa FinTech Festival (AFF) 2020, scheduled for May 2020 with a targeted number of 2,000 delegates.

“The vote of confidence we received by the other member countries in Africa to host this event shows that Mauritius is making waves in the FinTech arena on the continent. Exposing the Mauritian FinTech ecosystem to Africa and the rest of the world, including the youth on the island, will be a catalyst for more investment, interest and innovation being developed locally,” says Michal Szymanski, MAFH CEO. MAFH is the host organiser.

Why did MAFH apply to host the AFF 2020?

The Africa FinTech Festival is an annual conference and meeting of representatives across Africa – from regulators, policy makers, FinTechs, investors, to banks, and more. The conference highlights the ideas, trends, innovations and key debates on wide ranging issues from Regtech, consumer protection, disruption of savings, credit, insurance and pension value chains, to borderless operations, non-traditional partnerships, and game-changing business models.

MAFH applied to host the AFF 2020 as a strategic initiative to drive and support the growth of a pan-African FinTech ecosystem, and to facilitate open collaboration for the purposes of driving innovation and financial inclusion in Africa.

This event is strategically aligned with the MAFH’s vision to promote Mauritius as the FinTech Innovation Hub for Africa, under which a key objective for MAFH is to increase outreach and to build pan-African as well as international connections and associations.

Hosting AFF 2020 will strengthen MAFH’s positioning that Mauritius is the FinTech Hub for Africa and create awareness of the benefits of Mauritius as an effective centre of activity as well as a nucleus for African FinTech collaboration.It will also provide a great opportunity for delegates to learn about the Mauritian and African FinTech start-ups, the Mauritius business environment and to experience the location itself.

Finally, hosting AFF 2020 is the ideal opportunity to showcase that there is an existing platform to welcome businesses, start-ups and corporates in Mauritius. By hosting events such as AFF 2020, MAFH aims to promote the ultimate objective of Africans investing in Africa!

What should we know about AFF 2020?

While the theme has not yet been confirmed, our aim will be to highlight, through the conference content, that Africa’s future is FinTech. We also intend to emphasise how FinTech democratises finance and can drive financial inclusion in Africa.

With a view to understanding more about AFF 2020, it may be noted that the event objectives include:

  • Showcasing examples of pan-African FinTech innovations and start-ups
  • Showcasing that there is an existing platform to welcome businesses, start-ups and corporates in Mauritius
  • Facilitating linkages and encouraging partnerships across start-ups and member associations
  • Facilitating linkages for investors and start-ups
  • Providing a platform to discuss the regulatory landscape and opportunities for pan-African collaboration
  • Providing opportunities for learning and experiential workshops to encourage participants to meet and work together in alternative forums

The event is expected to be held over 3-5 days in May 2020, with the precise duration and dates to be confirmed at a later stage.

The festival host country is selected by the Africa FinTech Network,a platform that unites Africa FinTech leaders and stakeholders through their country associations to exchange information and ideas, support creation of innovative technologies and deployment across and beyond Africa.

What was AFF 2019 all about?

Uganda hosted the Africa FinTech Festival over 5th and 6th November 2019 which saw representatives come together from over 25 African nations.

The theme for AFF 2019 was “the role of FinTech’s in Africa’s digital economy” which was closely examined by delegates at the 2019 conference.

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