The 2019 Africa Global Payment Summit will cover “developments in payments and wallets as well as the larger, cross-border regional platforms that are transforming the African payments landscape.” Sessions with address regulatory best practices, bringing together the 16 central banks of the Southern African Development Community to identify what an enhanced global payment system for the region
Category: Events
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Asia Pacific Housing Forum 7: Powering Collaboration; July 18-19, 2019; New Delhi, India
Event Summary: The theme of the 2019 edition of this biennial forum is “powering collaboration for [the] housing ecosystem” in India, including addressing the changes to the housing market brought about by urbanization. Conference sessions will revolve around
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Business Fights Poverty; July 11, 2019; Oxford, England
Event Summary: This event will cover ways to “embed purpose authentically within business,” which the organizer describes as incorporating societal objectives within organizational goals.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: WWB, Gates Foundation Issue FinTech Innovation Challenge to Promote Financial Inclusion for Unbanked, Underserved Women via Technology
Women’s World Banking (WWB), a US-based charitable organization, has called on organizations to partake in its FinTech Innovation Challenge, which seeks to identify financial technology (fintech) solutions that address the needs of women, 1 billion of whom do not have access to financial services. The competition is co-sponsored by the US-based Bill & Melinda Gates
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Agri-Finance Forum; September 17-18, 2019; Nairobi, Kenya
This second annual conference on financing agriculture in Africa will present solutions to close the “productivity gap” including how to increase yields, save water, improve soil health and harness renewable energy. A trade show will
MICROFINANCE EVENT: NpM Seminar on Geodata for Inclusive Finance; June 24, 2019; Nairobi, Kenya
This seminar will focus on “the use of geospatial data for smallholder finance and the topic of data privacy.” It is part of a series of events organized by NpM, formerly known as
SPECIAL REPORT: SAM (African Microfinance Week); October 21 – 25, 2019, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
The fourth biennial SAM (from the French translation of African Microfinance Week, Semaine Africaine de la Microfinance) will address themes including agricultural finance, financial technology (fintech), youth employment, and small and medium-sized enterprise development. In addition to providing practitioners and investors with a venue for exchanging ideas, the event includes conference presentations, an Investors’ fair, an Innovators’ fair and
MICROFINANCE EVENT: 16th Consultative Forum on Climate and Disaster Risk; June 12 – 13, 2019; Johannesburg, South Africa
This event will explore the role that the insurance sector can play in addressing the risk management needs of poor and other vulnerable people in the developing world who are most affected by climate risk and natural disasters. This includes how stakeholders in the sector can collaborate and innovate to help reduce the “protection gap” and otherwise improve individuals’ resilience. The forum will
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Global Sustainable Finance Conference; July 11 – 12, 2019; Karlsruhe, Germany
The ninth annual Global Sustainable Finance Conference (GSFC) will cover “innovations in financial services and business models for sustainability” that can be used in transitioning to an environmentally sensitive, digital, and inclusive modern economy. Sample session titles include
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Shared Value Summit; May 23 – 24, 2019; Nairobi, Kenya
This event aims to promote economic growth in Africa by increasing the awareness and popularity of the “shared value” business outlook, through which social and environmental protection are imbued into the fundamentals of business strategy. The schedule includes
MICROFINANCE EVENT: SPTF, Smart Campaign Present Inclusive Digital Future: A Summit on Responsible Finance in Action; June 25 – 27, 2019; Nairobi, Kenya
This summit will focus on topics related to the question: “How do we promote inclusion and trust in digital financial services while fostering innovation and growth?” Sessions will include
MICROFINANCE EVENT: European Research Conference on Microfinance; June 3 – 5, 2019; Paris, France
The sixth annual European Research Conference on Microfinance will focus on the ways in which financial technology (fintech) innovations are shaping the ways that microfinance institutions operate, including the advantages and disadvantages of deploying fintech in developing nations. Many of the topics are centered around
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Sustainable Finance Forum; May 22 – 23, 2019; Yerevan, Armenia
The first edition of this event will focus on sharing ideas among impact investors, “venture philanthropists,” commercial banks, microfinance institutions and social entrepreneurs. The main goal of the forum is
MICROFINANCE EVENT: MFC Annual Conference: “Demystifying Digital in Microfinance;” May 30 – 31, 2019; Istanbul, Turkey
The 22nd annual conference of the Poland-based nonprofit Microfinance Center (MFC) will focus on challenges and trends relating to digitalization in financial inclusion. In addition to traditional conference sessions, the event will include a Social Investors Fair and a Fintech Marketplace. Sample workshop topics include Responsible Digital Financial Services; Fintechs [Financial Technology Firms] and Financial Inclusion in Turkey and Beyond; and EU Funding for Microfinance. Pre- and post-conference events include
SPECIAL REPORT: 18 Months After SAM, Better (Digital) Services for 200k Kenyans via Musoni, Association for Micro-finance Institutions (AMFI) of Kenya
Caroline 
Karanja, the CEO of Kenya’s Association for Micro-finance Institutions (AMFI), recently told MicroCapital that, “The SAM conference in Addis gave us a platform to meet with new partners with whom we have created a steady working relationship since.” AMFI’s membership of 51 includes microbanks, credit institutions and other actors in the country’s microfinance sector. One of the organizations that Ms Karanja learned about at SAM was Musoni Services, which offers
MICROFINANCE EVENT: European Microfinance Network (EMN) Conference; June 6, 2019; Vienna, Austria
The 16th annual European Microfinance Network (EMN) Conference will focus on topics such as affordable financial technology, artificial intelligence and innovation. Speakers will also cover
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Bengaluru Fintech Summit; May 30 – 31, 2019; Bengaluru, India
The fifth fintech (financial technology) summit organized by UK-based Fintech Storm features speakers from the banking, fintech and venture capital industries, as well as policymakers from the government of India. The first day of the summit will focus on
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Africa Financial Services Investment Conference (AFSIC); May 8 – 10, 2019; London, UK
The main objective of Africa Financial Services Investment Conference (AFSIC) is to support attendees in “making investment decisions… executing transactions, and raising debt or equity capital.” AFSIC provides participants the opportunity to network with approximately 1,000 “African business leaders, investors and dealmakers.” Sessions include An Analysis of Credit Investment Opportunities in Africa’s Financial Services Sector; Where to Find Africa’s Most Attractive Credit Investment Opportunities; and Meet the Seed Funders, Incubators, Accelerators and Venture Capital Funds Accelerating the Growth of Africa’s Best New Companies.