The AFFDisrupt 2019 was organized by Access Bank at Landmark event centre, Lagos Nigeria. It was an event that focused on the fintech ecosystem and unveiled how technology is disrupting traditional means of banking by providing financial inclusions.
The event started with the singing of the national anthem; followed by a welcome address by Ade Bajomo, the Executive Director, IT & Operations Access Bank Nigeria. Shortly after, Herbert Wigwe, the GMD of Access Bank Plc delivered the opening speech. Brett King the Futurist, Author and Chief executive Officer of Moven, United Kingdom gave a keynote address that stressed that technology doesn’t change the world, rather the dream behind the technology does.
The event had several speakers like Omobola Johnson, a former Nigerian Minister and Senior Partner at TLCom Capital; Uzoma Dozie, former CEO of Diamond Bank (now Access Bank); Herbert Wigwe, CEO of Access Bank; Ag Director General of the SEC, Mary Uduk; Funke Opeke, CEO of MainOne; Bayo Adekanmbi, CTO at MTN Nigeria; Bunmi Akinyemiju, Chief Executive Officer of Venture Garden Group, Nigeria; Adedeji Olowe, Chief Executive Officer of Trium Networks Limited, Nigeria; Paul Bragiel, General Partner at Savannah Fund, United States of America; Barbara Iyayi, Managing Director for Africa, Element Inc., United States of America, Adia Sowho, Managing Director and Vice President of Commercial at Mines, Nigeria and many more.
There were master class sessions such as; Digital transformation, Blockchain, Digital transformation frontier, fintech and wealth Tech. Panel sessions handled several sectors of the tech ecosystem like Venture Capital, The Future of Gaming & Artificial Intelligence, Regulation Technology (RegTech), and Women in Technology.
The Women in Technology panel session themed “Future Perfect Technology” was discussed by Funke Opeke, Chief Executive Officer & Founder, MainOne Nigeria; Audrey Mothupi, CEO of SystemicLogic, South Africa; Barbara Iyayi, Managing Director for Africa, Element, Inc. United States of America; and Adia Sowho, Managing Director and Vice President of Commercial, Mines Nigeria. In this session, they spoke about women’s involvement in the tech ecosystem and how they are doing significant things, even though there are few women in tech. Women were encouraged to step forward and get more involved in tech.
Startups like Trep Labs, SESO, KAOSHI, GRICD and SMART TELLER all pitched for the fund before a panel of judges. Gricd emerged the winner of the $10,000 grant.
The event eventually came to an end in the evening after a closing remark from Uche Okafor, the Regional Manager, West Africa, Bolt. It was an interesting one, and we look forward to another edition, come 2020.#
