Ghana is gearing up to host the inaugural 3i Africa Summit, a three-day event aimed at boosting digitalization and technology in the financial sector to foster greater inclusion.
This summit is organized by the Bank of Ghana, Development Bank Ghana, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore, and will bring together around 4,000 business leaders from about 80 countries.
The summit’s theme, “Unleashing Africa’s FinTech and Digital Economic Potential,” underscores its goal of reshaping Africa’s economic landscape by channeling sustainable, long-term investments.
This gathering will serve as a platform for discussing policies, aligning global intellectual resources, promoting entrepreneurial initiatives, and facilitating investment networks.
Kwame Oppong, Director of Fintech and Innovation at the Bank of Ghana, emphasized that this summit reflects the bank’s commitment to driving development across Africa through strategic initiatives like this.
Mr. Oppong believes that digitalization can drive innovation and growth on the continent.
“It’s part of our intent to help development. The opportunity that digitalization has on the continent is innovation…the right investment can scale to provide services both locally and internationally. If you look at the journey of fintech whether by bank or non-banks like mobile money providers, it has helped us achieve policy objectives.”
Kwame Oppong
In addition to its main themes, the summit will delve into topics such as artificial intelligence (AI), exploring its everyday applications and responsible use to safeguard consumers’ data.
Furthermore, discussions will revolve around agricultural technology and its capacity to enhance Ghana’s agricultural industry.
The Bank of Ghana advocates for technological integration in finance to boost service delivery, efficiency, convenience, and inclusivity across Africa.
This summit aims to facilitate discussions among stakeholders to devise strategies for establishing a robust and secure financial system. It anticipates drawing a diverse global audience eager to engage in these critical conversations.
“There are many interesting areas that will be discussed at the summit and one of the things we are doing is not make this a tech conference from the conversation perspective. Because that’s how you lose the whole country. If you talk about AI, people do not even realize that your daily life is integrated with AI, your phones, your tablets, how is it being used responsibly?”
Kwame Oppong
Summit Spotlights Fintech and Agricultural Innovation
Mr. Kwame Oppong elaborated on the key themes of the upcoming summit in a recent statement.
He emphasized the importance of consumer protection regarding data usage, posing critical questions such as how individuals can be shielded from data abuse while leveraging technology for positive impacts.
Specifically, Mr. Oppong highlighted the potential for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to access loans without the need for traditional collateral — a significant hurdle faced by many SMEs in Africa.
This focus on SMEs reflects the summit’s commitment to addressing pressing challenges and fostering economic growth for businesses in this sector.
Furthermore, agricultural technology will take center stage, with discussions centered on enhancing productivity within Ghana’s agricultural sector.
The aim is to explore innovative technologies that can revolutionize farming practices, ultimately driving increased efficiency and output in this vital industry.
Several countries are actively using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in agriculture to enhance productivity. Notably, the United States, China, India, and Brazil are among the leaders in this field.
In the United States, startups like Blue River Technology and Climate Corporation have been working on precision agriculture applications for years.
AI in agriculture is being used for a variety of purposes, including intelligent crop planning, smart farming, farmgate-to-fork strategies, and data-driven agriculture.
These applications help in analyzing the agriculture start-up landscape and improving crop planning at micro and macro levels through AI-enabled models that link weather forecasts, dynamic soil data, warehousing, logistics infrastructure, and market conditions.
The World Economic Forum has also highlighted the importance of AI in agriculture, emphasizing its potential to transform farming productivity, reduce environmental impact, and boost farmers’ incomes.
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