BY: Justice Godfry
The much publicised Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF) Disrupt Conference 2019 took place on Thursday in Lagos with emphasis on how banks and other industries can remain relevant in the face current and impending technological disruptions.
Keynote address:
A Futurist, Author, and Chief Executive Officer, Moven, United Kingdom, Brett King, he reiterated that technology is moving much faster than before, stressing that in such an environment of rapid change, “you either disrupt or get disrupted.”
King emphasised that by 2025, there will be more robots than human beings. So, “Be nice to robots.”
In the financial services sector, the Futurist hailed Nigeria as having a more modern payment system even than the United States.
But he warned, “Disruption is central to the survivability of the banks and other sectors”, stressing that “with technology like Machine learning, artificial intelligence opening more bank branches will become unfashionable”
“We are in era the car has more information than the human driver; this is the big disruption”.
He described Artificial Intelligence as having three phases:
1. Machine Learning;
2. Artificial General Intelligence &
3. Strong AI
“By 2025, there will be more robots than human beings. Be nice to robots.”
“AI in the future will be able to tell you this person or that person wants to scam you; when he or she have no money which they pretend to have”
“So, disruptions are no respecter of persons or industries. For instance, China is 10 years ahead of the USA. With AI technology the Chinese government can recognize its 1.4billion population with CCTV cameras”
Access Bank CEO
Also speaking, the MD/CEO of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe stressed on how technology is demystifying services and products.
He said that this is more about data and its transferability, noting that being an intelligent Bank is no longer an option, but a necessity.
In his words, “There was a time when payments could only be made through Cheques. Now, through technology, transactions worth billions can be made in seconds. That is how much the world has changed.”
“This is more about data and its transferability. The payment system like all other system is benefiting from it. There has been a massive improvement in collection, processing and transferability of data. That is the improvement worth celebrating.”
“Being an intelligent Bank is no longer an option, but a necessity. Today, Internet of Things, Blockchain, and artificial intelligence are disruptions changing the dynamics in banking sector.
“Late Chief MKO Abiola used to exhaust 3 cheque books every morning. Today, nobody uses more than 3 cheque books in a year.
“Where will we be in 10/15 years from now? Technology is changing. We are to change with it.
Panel session:
First panel discussion on “Venture Capital; Securing Seed and Growth Funding for Start ups in Nigeria and Africa”, featured
The CEO, Venture Garden Group, Bunmi Akinyemiju; CEO, Trium Networks Ltd, Adedeji Olowe; and General Partner, Savannah Fund, USA, Paul Bragiel and moderated by the Partner & Lead for Digital Transformation, KPMG Nigeria, Boye Ademola.
Quotes from the panellists:
“In Nigeria, the average investor wants to control the business. We hope to get to a level where investors allow founders control the business, since they are the experts,” Adedeji Olowe.
Is crowdfunding a failure on the part of Venture Capitalists? “No, crowdfunding platforms give founders options to raise funds for their business”, Paul Bragiel.
“Sometimes we jump too fast into entrepreneurship. Get a job, learn and obtain domain expertise”.
“Acquiring significant knowledge and domain expertise as an employee is also a great advantage for founders”.
“Investors respond to the operating environment and the opportunities available. Nigerian investors are getting bullish on the tech scene and we expect more investments in this space”, Bunmi Akinyemiju.
From the panel, startups should learn to avoid mistakes such as not having the right process like project management
No communication with investors
No long-term plan and outlook
The Second panel dwelt on ‘The Future of Gaming & AI’ featuring
The EVP (Gaming) at Microsoft, USA, Phil Spencer and the Technical Fellow, AI perception at Microsoft, USA, Alex Kipman while the Partner &Lead for Digital Transformation, KPMG Nigeria, Boye Ademola, was the Moderator
Quotes from the panelits:
“Innovation can come from anywhere, disruption can come from everywhere”, Alex Kipman.
“Half of the internet connected worlds today play video games and so gaming opportunities are transforming from local to cloud based opportunities”, Phil Spencer.
“Be a technology innovator and not a consumer”, Alex Kipman.
There were also sessions like Hard Talk, Women in Technology and pitching by startups.
Source: Techeconomy.ng