By Perpetua Egesimba [email protected] 08094000013, 08111813040

In order to boost the technology,  health, defense, security, and agriculture sectors of the economy, Africa FinTech Foundry (AFF), a brainchild of Access Bank, has been established.

According to the financial institution, it wants to do things that would drive the economy and make life better in Nigeria and in Africa.

It was against this background that 12 pioneering companies in financial technology would be vying for space at the AFF, a new financial industry that applies technology to improve financial activities. This would boost technological innovations in Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa and the world,  supported by Access Bank Plc.

Speaking at the AFF Disrupt 2017 conference briefing in Lagos recently, Access Bank executive director, personal banking, Mr. Victor Etuokwu, said, “AFF was Access Bank accelerator, which sought to create new opportunities in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa. The foundry was to provide a platform designed to inspire and challenge African innovators, entrepreneurs and developers.”

Etuokwu explained that the idea of the foundry was conceived a year ago as the bank was thinking of better ways to remain relevant in the coming years, stating that it was then it dawned on them that innovation was the only insurance that the bank has against irrelevance.

AFF, he said, would provide African tech start-ups seeking to launch their product, with capacity building and training in business development and would also provide connectivity to global innovation grids, promote access to capital, create opportunities for partnerships and showcase best practices and successes in Africa-led innovation solutions.

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He said the bank was looking for better ways to serve its customers and stakeholders and, in order to be and remain relevant in an ever-changing world, it has to be innovative, stressing that AFF and the AFF Disrupt conference was on of the ways to grow and maintain the market share of the bank.

“We knew right from the beginning that we needed to have people who are different and can be very creative outside of a regular banking environment. That was why we created this foundry.

“It took us a long time looking for those who will run it, and we have the team that we think will take us to that effort,” he said.

According to him, the idea is to generate new products and enter new markets, and it is an open environment for every person who is creative, including innovators and developers, as they will gather a team of investors so that innovations would find the financing they need: “We will get everything that we need to be successful, advise, support, finance and market.”

Head of AFF, Mr. Victor Okigbo, said the foundry would be officially unveiled on December 13, 2017, while the AFF Disrupt Conference would hold on December 14 in Lagos.

He noted that Nigerians are blessed to live in interesting, extraordinary times, in a time when Nigeria was rising towards the top of the comity of nations, accelerated partly by technology skills and ability to leverage on human capital and potential.

According to Okigbo, FinTech entails the new applications, processes, products, or business models in the financial services industry, composed of one or more complementary financial services and provided as an end-to-end process via the Internet.

“We would be showcasing 12 extraordinary companies who are pioneers in financial technology.