Introduction

The Middle East and African Summit inclusive by the Milken Institute focused on leveraging the rapid growth and adoption of digital financial technologies to create meaningful economic and social benefits. 

Middle East Summit’s Focus 

Over the past hours, policymakers, entrepreneurs, investors, corporates, and foundations gathered in Abu Dhabi (UAE), on innovation, economic growth, and sustainability. In order to also coordinate the partnerships, policies, and implementation that will use technology to promote greater financial inclusion more quickly. The summit was created to unite leaders, investors, and innovators for impactful discussions and meetings aimed at shaping policies, fostering regulations, and building meaningful, long-term partnerships. The ultimate goal is to tackle key issues, including climate resilience, economic diversification, technological advancements, and the pressing need for enhanced regional and global cooperation. 

Panel Discussion Insights 

During a panel discussion with Nicole Valentine (Director of FinTech), Gal Krubiner (CEO and Co-Founder of Pagaya), and Carol D. Pham (Commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission). Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola (Founder and CEO of Flutterwave) who was part of the panel mentioned how if he’d write a book, it would be called “Africa Redefined” because in Africa, if you were to check companies like Uber, their “skin” in Africa because payment is now simple. One is able to get an Uber using cash or a debit card in an easy way. Now Flutterwave is creating a foundation for merchants’ payments made easier for global merchants to do payments in Africa seamlessly.  Also making it easier for African companies to also expand beyond Africa, because Africa does not exist in isolation. “We’re connecting the world to Africa through seamless payments and that is how we’re defining how Africa can reimagine itself”, says Agboola.

Trouble in Fintech

Now recently Flutterwave has been in hot water, it has reported ₦2.9 billion in unauthorized transfers from its accounts in February 2023. To recoup the stolen money, the business filed a lawsuit to freeze accounts at 27 Nigerian financial institutions. The recovery process became more difficult after a Lagos court ordered the unfreezing of some accounts in spite of these efforts.

The incident raised serious questions about Flutterwave’s operations in Lagos, even though the company denied these allegations and claimed to have records to support their innocence. The operational and security issues with Flutterwave is troublingly depicted by this incident. Restoring stakeholder trust and guaranteeing sustainable growth depends on resolving this type of concerns as the business grows throughout Africa. Well, despite the setbacks, Flutterwave’s contributions to Africa’s fintech revolution remains substantial. The company has championed digital payment solutions that have driven financial inclusion across the continent.  

Flutterwave’s Next Step 

According to Flutterwave, what’s next for Fintech in Africa is that Africa Fintech is going through a revolution which is interesting; a revolution that is driven by the global influence. One of them being blockchain – a lot of stable coin is seen in the continent, for countries where it is extremely expensive to move money across borders in Africa. The important question right now is how does one make money movements seamless, very cost-efficient but yet still extremely efficient in the way it works? Now Agboola is positive that there is room for improvement. He’s currently obsessed about redefining the perception of Africa.