Africa Fintech Summit Cape Town 2022 - Here’s What Happened!

From November 2-4, 2022, the Africa Fintech Summit hosted fintech stakeholders from across Africa and the world in Cape Town, South Africa. We chose the “Mother City” to host this year’s AFTS November edition because of its established status as a prominent startup and fintech hub, with South Africa in general also boasting a thriving startup ecosystem that has attracted 95% of the funding to Southern Africa since 2019.

With the expansive lineup of engagements and the guaranteed presence of top industry stakeholders, AFTSCapeTown looked promising on paper, and it delivered on its promise. The summit kicked off with a VIP Dinner on the 2nd. Attendees were treated to an evening of fine dining and stimulating conversations at the Cabo Beach Club overlooking the breathtaking Cape Town waterfront and harbor.

The relaxing dinner was just what attendees needed before diving into the intense and packed main event that followed on the 3rd of November at the Cape Town International Convention Centre . Following an opening keynote by Lyle Horsley , the Divisional Head of the Fintech Unit at the South African Reserve Bank and the Chairperson of the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group, day two of the summit saw a flurry of 16 engaging panel conversations, two workshops, a closed-door roundtable discussion, and a startup exhibition.

The insight-driven panel discussions featured top fintech innovators, regulators, and investors who explored topics ranging from payments innovation to fintech investing against a backdrop of the summit’s theme: “the Africanization of Global Fintech.” The workshops centered on building tech talent and managing startup PR and storytelling, with titc.io hosting the former and the African Media Agency (AMA) anchoring the latter.?

After an eventful day of high-level conversations, Amazon Web Services (AWS) hosted 20 female founders and AFTSCapeTown speakers to an invite-only Women in Fintech Champagne Cruise and Dinner. The sunset cruise was a fitting way for the female stakeholders to wind down and further connect with one another.

Day three of the summit saw attendees embark on a Cape Town Ecosystem Tour that took them to some of the pillars and drivers of the city’s flourishing startup space and also connected Cape Town's fintech ecosystem with international investors and corporates. The entourage made stops at The Delta , Wesgro ’s One-Stop-Shop Investment Centre, The Cape Town Stock Exchange , and UCT Financial Innovation Hub .

No aspect of the summit was underwhelming, not even the last item on the agenda, which was the 5th Alpha Expo Pitch Competition that took place after the Ecosystem Tour. Fourteen startups representing several sectors took to the stage to pitch before a panel of judges and AFTS Cape Town attendees. Ethiopian fintech startup, Chapa , secured first place, with Periculum and SmartWage finishing second and third, respectively. The top three startups won various services and awards from the Fintech Association of South Africa (FINASA) , titc.io , Amazon Web Services (AWS) UQDO, Paystack , Dedalus Global , Ecobank Transnational Incorporated , and the Africa Fintech Summit .

#AFTSCapeTown2022 was a massive hit — the most successful AFTS edition yet — but we couldn’t have pulled it off without everyone who attended in person or virtually, our sponsors, partners, volunteers, and all the superstars on the AFTS team. Thank you for your support, and see you on April 20, 2023, in Washington, DC., for #AFTSDC2023, which will take place during the Spring Meetings of the IFC/World Bank.