We are proud to say that the inaugural HiPipo 40 Days 40 FinTechs set the bar very high: even though the event started soon after the lifting of the 2020 lockdown, it was tremendously successful.
Run under HiPipo’s Include Everyone program, the #40Days40FinTechs platform aptly provided a setting for the various players and stakeholders involved in digital and financial technology to exhibit their products and also share their ideas on how more of us, especially those underserved by the present financial systems, can be brought into the fold.
It was over a month of exhibition, dialogue and discussion, one not seen in the sector before, and it generated enormous publicity and pull for inclusive real-time payment systems. It also served as an introductory point for the industry’s emerging technologies and solutions, like the Level One Project and Mojaloop. Last, but definitely not least, it drew the most attention yet to what is undeniably the future of digital financial services- interoperability.
Exciting to witness was the variety of sectors the participants seek to serve, going beyond just the traditional financial services but also making forays into health, education, agriculture and real estate. In their day-to-day operations they are changing the lives of the likes of rural farmers, women, small business holders (formal and Informal) and unemployed youth.
Definitely also not to be overlooked were the various ministerial policy makers and regulators who honoured our invitation and added to the discussion.
For the FinTechs, the cost-free exposure aided by the generosity of the Level One Project; an initiative of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Financial Services for the Poor (FSP) program, which is part of their Global Growth and Opportunity division, has been of great benefit. As HiPipo, our extensive effort and advocacy is partly for the intention of boosting the African FinTech landscape/ecosystem to a point where our innovators enjoy and sustain profitability to help them keep designing and deploying affordable and inclusive Financial Services for the Poor. It was thus pleasant for us to learn that up to 15 of the inaugural participants enjoyed increased client engagement and better bottom lines as a direct result of participating in the 40 Days 40 FinTechs initiative.
But this was just the start, and we acknowledge there is a lot more to do.
Season Two of 40 Days 40 FinTechs is here, starting in the lockdown, but with optimism that it will climax when the lockdown is partial or no more. Unlike last year, this time round, it finds the pandemic taking an even greater toll.
Of course this has informed HiPipo and partners’ thinking, but not just in terms of assurances that the safety of participants will remain paramount throughout the different activities. We believe that, just like last year, FinTechs will take up the challenge and use the opportunity to ride the wave of appreciation for cashless payments the pandemic has brought. We need to be prepared with appropriate products and have the appropriate real time payment systems in place to support an inclusive, interoperable digital marketplace that is both thriving and safe.
“It will be exciting to see what the participants have to offer. And again, various stakeholders will be on hand for more discussion and debate, with this time round extra insight from the likes of banks and MNOs. We anticipate extensive discussion on cross-border payments and on lending products (especially those offering facilities to persons and communities that are still on the bylines of finance and trade e.g. women and PWDs).” Said Innocent Kawooya, CEO, HiPipo.
40 Days 40 FinTechs Initiative, is implemented by HiPipo in partnership with Crosslake Technologies, ModusBox and Mojaloop Foundation, and sponsored by the Gates Foundation.
It is ultimately also HiPipo’s hope that more people, from all walks of life, will be drawn to the advocacy for financial inclusion. Together, we will bring the day when it is at 100% ever closer.
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