Seamless North Africa 2019 concludes events with Fintech competition

CAIRO - 19 June 2019: The second round of “Seamless North Africa 2019” conference has come to an end yesterday. The two-day conference was hosted by the Central Bank of Egypt, in collaboration with the Council of Arab Economic Unity and the League of Arab States, and was co-organized by the Egyptian Banking Institute (EBI).

More than 1400 local and International participants have gathered in this important event, in addition to 150 prominent experts and speakers in the field of FinTech, e-payments and e-commerce.

The pitch-off competition held on the sidelines of the conference has witnessed remarkable presentations by local and international competing Fintech startups.

The winner would receive 50 thousand dollars in cash awarded by a sponsor of the Conference. Each competitor presented an innovative business model, before the panel of judges, which was composed of international and local experts, who would vote on the final winner.

Paynas won the competition for its business model that encompasses automated payroll payments with a Multi-Purpose electronic payment Card.

The winning startups will be invited to attend a meeting with the Central Bank of Egypt’s top management to explore means of support, in order to accelerate the launch of its application in the Egyptian market; this initiative comes within the framework of the Central Bank of Egypt's keenness to sponsor creative talents and foster them, which will be positively reflected on the services extended to citizens, and promotes Financial Inclusion.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Egypt commended the outstanding level of the conference whether on the organizational side or the topics and discussions that were included. “The Conference is a step further towards Egypt’s transformation into a regional FinTech hub, and fosters joint collaboration with Arab and African countries and International and Regional Institutions. This will benefit regional economies and help improve the standard of living.”.

The startup awarded the third competition, sponsored by Emirates NBD-Egypt (ENBD), was also announced during today’s event, whereas five Startup companies, specialized in e-payment applications and cross-border transfers competed in this contest. The first day of the conference witnessed the announcement of winners of the competition sponsored by the National Bank of Egypt (NBE) in the field of Artificial Intelligence, while the second competition sponsored by Commercial International Bank (CIB) was in the field of digital financing.

As part of the Fintech cooperation agreement signed with the Central Bank of Singapore Mr. Muhanti, Chief Fintech Officer, announced the winners of Fintech Galaxy Competition, who will be participating in the Singapore Financial Technology Competition.

The opening speech of the second and final day of the Conference was delivered by H.E. Ambassador Mohamed Ismail Al Rabea, the Secretary General of the Council of Arab Economic Unity, followed by a speech by Dr. Ali Al-Khoury, Advisor to the Council of Arab Economic Unity and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Arab Union for Digital Economy, followed by the expert’s panels.

The speakers discussed several key topics revolving around two main pillars: “FinTech”, and “E-commerce”.

Among the topics discussed were the future of banking with the evolution of technology and artificial intelligence; facing innovation challenges in digital banking services; the role of technology in shaping the future of financial services; achieving balance between risks and innovation in the banking sector; and the best methods of investment in financial technology.

For the second consecutive day, the exhibition held on the sidelines of the conference has witnessed a high turnout of participants and visitors. The exhibition shed light on the latest Fintech applications presented by 50 leading companies and institutions in the field of innovation and financial technology.