The Egyptian capital Cairo is poised to host the FinTech Conference “Seamless North Africa 2019” for the second consecutive year, organised by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) under the auspices of the Prime Minister, Mostafa Madbouly, and with the participation of the most renowned international and local experts in the field of financial technology, e-payments, and e-commerce. The conference is held in collaboration with the Council of Arab Economic Unity and the League of Arab States, and is co-organised by the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI). Partakers will represent influencing and well recognised entities, institutions, banks and international companies, that cover multiple sectors of banking, finance, and e-commerce, aiming to discuss and evaluate the role played by new technologies and strategies to cater for improved services to citizens and consumers across the Arab world.
Deputy Governor of the CBE, Lobna Helal, affirmed that "hosting the conference for the second year in a row reflects the tremendous success achieved by Seamless 2018 in its first edition, emphasising that “The CBE's hosting of the conference stems from the premise of its pioneering role to communicate with society and address the challenges facing the expansion of innovative financial products and services. The role played by the CBE is no longer limited to the regulatory and organisational aspects, but has extended to support and incentivise the society to be less cash-dependent and to sustain the transition toward financial inclusion, under the umbrella of the National Payments Council, which is privileged with the chairmanship of President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. ”
Sub-Governor of the CBE for the Payment Systems and Information Technology Sector, Ayman Hussein, has stated that "The conference has attained escalating importance derived from the leading role played by FinTech in providing, efficient, effective, and affordable financial and banking services to meet the diverse timely and logistical needs of customers, thus creating an enabling environment and improving accessibility to the general public, appointing financial technology as a key pillar of financial inclusion and a fundamental supporter of economic growth, accordingly, achieving benefits on the individual and state levels."
The conference will discuss the challenges that face Egypt's emerging FinTech eco-system, in the areas of microfinance, microcredit, cross-border payments, remittances, data analysis, artificial intelligence for retail banking, cybersecurity. and the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) credit score.
General manager Fintech and innovation, Rasha Negm, added that "The conference will incorporate several panel discussions, interviews, presentations, and workshops revolving around the latest trends and innovations in financial technology. An exhibition of more than 50 leading technology and innovative solution providers will be held during the conference, which avails an opportunity to learn about the latest innovations in the Fintech field."
