The use of mobile financial services (MFS) has grown exponentially over the last 10 years, making sub-Saharan Africa a leader in MFS innovation, adoption, and usage. Banks and financial institutions are building digital financial services ecosystems and partnering with telcos and fintechs to provide financial services like online deposits and withdrawals, money transfers, merchant payments, loans and savings products amongst others to reach both the ‘last mile’ and scaling up to serve SMEs. By utilizing transactions and other data, mobile products offer affordable, simple and innovative solutions, increasing access to financial services for millions across the continent. According to the GSMA, West Africa is the 2nd largest region with mobile money accounts. In this webinar, we will hear from members EcoBank, Jumo, and the South African multinational mobile telecommunications company, MTN, who are leading MFS in this region.

Speakers

Arnold Kavaarpuo is the Country Director for Jumo in Ghana. Arnold is a financial inclusion evangelist, fintech enthusiast, and published author. In his role as Country Director of JUMO Ghana he set up the initial operation and has since grown the business to about US$1 billion in disbursements values. Arnold is passionate about driving game-changing financial services with a focus on new delivery channels, product design and value optimization. He has experience across a variety of channels including branch- and partnerships based with Mobile Network Operators, commercial banks and insurance companies. Prior to JUMO, Arnold headed up the Unsecured Lending Unit of afb Ghana Plc where he oversaw the development and growth of a 100% unsecured loan product for the informal sector and a direct-debit-only payday loan product. In 2011, he was a key member of the team that developed and launched the first bancassurance product in Ghana. Arnold holds a BA in Geography and Rural Development and an MBA in Global Business. He is currently studying towards a Doctor in Business Administration with a research focus on Inclusive Innovations.

Martin Vogdt is the Chief Product & Platform Officer at Jumo. Martin has considerable expertise in building rapidly scaling digital start-ups across Asia, Europe and Africa, with a focus on user experience and technology in large e-commerce companies in developing markets. Prior to joining JUMO, Martin held several positions at Rocket Internet and was an early team member at Lazada (now Alibaba Group) and Home24, followed by senior positions at Jumia Group, Africa’s biggest e-commerce venture.

Owureku Asare, Head, Digital Solutions, Group Commercial Banking at Ecobank with oversight of 33 Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to his current role, he was the Regional Head, Consumer Distribution for Ecobank Anglophone West Africa. He also led digital financial services initiatives in more than 15 countries in Central, East and West Africa. He is a seasoned subject matter expert in financial services with over 17 years of experience in large-scale product management, Sales and Distribution, Credit Structuring, Structured Trade, Cash Management, and Relationship Management. He is a specialist in Digital Financial Services with a focus on Financial Inclusion, Payment innovation, Issuing and Acquiring. Owureku is an international speaker on Digital Financial Services with speaking engagements in Africa and Asia. He currently serves as a Board member of Diabetes Youth Care and a Member of Rotary Club of Accra La-East with an objective to serve above self. He also serves as a Director of Enovate Advertising, Impact Food Hub and Financial Inclusion Forum Africa. 

William Danso-Abeam is the segment Head, Direct Banking for Ecobank Ghana Limited and leads the execution of the bank's strategy for the Mass Market, driving self-service through digital and convenient channels. With 13 years in Retail Banking, William started from retail banking operations and evolved into Direct Banking via Digital channels. As the segment Head, Direct Banking, he led Ecobank Ghana Ltd to launch the very first Digital lending offer within the Ecobank Group which has disbursed over 4.1m loans valued at $227m to over 1.2m customers within the first 10 months. Prior to joining Ecobank Ghana Ltd, William worked with the International Community School (ICS), Ghana, as the Resource and Finance Manager. 

Registration for members is available on the member portal here. 

For non-members, register below to join the online meeting from your computer. 

Prior registration is required to attend the webinar.

Enter meeting number 471 823 173  if the registration form is not displayed. 

For more information, please contact: Jessica Alfaro