Developments in FinTech and P2P Lending across the continent hold tremendous economic potential. As a pioneer in the Mauritian FinTech space, we want to make this industry knowledge more accessible. Educating and empowering journalists with industry knowledge and insights help the FinTech developments be communicated fairly and accurately.

On Friday 4^th June 2021, we organised a workshop for journalists in Mauritius to share updates on recent developments, impact, regulations and predictions in the FinTech and P2P Lending space across Africa.

Organised in collaboration with Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub and Media Trust, the online workshop saw leading journalists from major news outlets in attendance.

The Panel 

 

The line-up of speakers included veteran FinTech professionals.

David Cracknell runs First Principles Consulting Limited, based in Kenya. The company assists financial institutions, regulators and policy makers to rethink financial services in the digital age. David has 25 years of experience in financial inclusion, banking, and enterprise development and extensively covers the state of FinTech in the African Continent on his blog.

Michal Szymanski is the CEO at Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub (MAFH), the peak FinTech body in Mauritius that exists to empower African FinTech industry. Michal is a former educator, entrepreneur, start-up mentor, and Head of Incubation at the oldest technology hub in Africa.  He has worked in clusters of innovations such as FinTech, EdTech, and BioTech, among others.

Yusuf Bauluck, Head of Regulations at MAFH, is a lawyer admitted to the Bar of England and Wales, and Mauritius. Previously a contract lawyer at UK and US law firms in UK and in-house counsel for a software company, Yusuf now advises MAFH members on corporate, commercial and regulatory matters.

Nishika Bajaj is the Deputy Editor at Platform Africa, a news portal that covers economy, sustainability, leadership, and innovation across Africa. Nishika has over 10 years of experience working in financial services and communications. Nishika extensively covers the African FinTech space.

The speakers brought their individual expertise to the panel for comprehensive coverage of the industry that included overview of FinTech across the continent, regulations, insights and analysis.

FinTech – Democratising Access to Financial Solutions 

Michal delivers a compelling presentation on how FinTech enables a better quality of life in Africa by helping financial services reach more people faster while bringing down the costs.

 “FinTech is a powerful tool for participating and allowing people who have otherwise been disadvantaged or discriminated against to be part of the digital economy through digital tools and technology.”, Michal comments.

Michal also emphasises on the economic importance of FinTech, “Innovation and digitisation of African economies is a key to being competitive and futureproofing our economies moving forward.”

FinTech Regulations in Mauritius

Regulatory frameworks decide how FinTech companies are governed. The legal frameworks can be complex but necessary.

In this workshop, Yusuf demystifies the regulatory framework in Mauritius. The presentation simplifies it by walking us through the current policies and framework in place. Yusuf explains how the Regulatory Sandbox Licence framework can be leveraged in the absence of regulatory framework.

To learn more about the Regulatory Sandbox Licence, check out EDB’s RSL Guidelines.

FinTech and Crowdlending in Africa – The Present and the Future

David gave us a glimpse of the future of the industry in Africa. He has put forward 14 predictions for the industry in Africa in a recent blog post. David’s first session focuses on these predictions.

In his second session, David explains the origins of crowdlending and different crowdlending business models. The session cites crowd and P2P lending companies across Africa and how Fundkiss fits into the picture as a Mauritian P2P lending pioneer.

The first session with Nishika focused on how FinTech, and P2P Lending in particular, is in a position to ‘solve credit access challenges’ across the continent as well as how Africa is uniquely suited for better uptake of FinTech solutions.

Nishika’s second session focused on methods that journalists can use to better cover the FinTech industry news in the media.

The webinar ended with an insightful Q&A session.

Fundkiss will continue to play its role in bringing together media professionals and the FinTech industry to share industry developments and insights by organising similar workshops in the future.

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