Undoubtedly, securing finance is a huge task for many local entrepreneurs as well as companies that operate in the African continent but the Netherlands-Africa Business Council ( NABC ) in conjunction with the African Studies Centre Leiden will be Innovation in Finance Conference to unearth the mystery.
The partnership will birth a summit themed ”Innovation in Finance” in NABC’s Africa Works series, to discuss and show its members the way forward in scaling the hurdle of financing businesses in the African clime.
”Access to finance is a very important theme for our members,” said Irene Visser, Managing Director of the Netherlands-African Business Council (NABC).
”Companies that approach banks for investment funds in Africa are still met with skepticism, unfortunately. Existing possibilities are not being explored. Whether you are a startup or a bigger company looking for an investment of millions, Africa Works! is the place to be.” The third edition of Africa Works! will be organised together with development bank FMO and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Africa Works 2016 promises to be an important bridge that will help promote business cooperation and cross fertilization of ideas between Dutch and African businesses in diverse areas including business finance,” said Professor Ton Dietz, Director of ASCL in a statement available to PageOne.
Entrepreneurs in Africa often meet unexpected challenges, and are faced with steep interest rates which are often well above 20 percent. Therefore, Africa takes the lead in coming up with innovative solutions which bypass the traditional banking sector. Visser: “In Kenya, only 10 percent of the people have an official bank account. But over 75 percent of them can send money, through their mobile phones. Technology creates new possibilities for them.”
The event will take place on November 10 and 11, and will be opened by Klaas Knot, the President of the Central Bank of The Netherlands (De Nederlandsche Bank). Another prominent speaker is Amine Bouabid, CEO of the Bank of Africa – a bank which is active in 17 African countries, with total assets of USD 6 billion.
Tomi Davies from Nigeria, the president of the African Business Angels Network, will hold a keynote speech on the second day while the gracious Ugandan BBC journalist Nancy Kacungira will moderate the event. Africa Works! Is expecting between 400 and 500 participants, ranging from fintech startups to prominent banks and financing institutions.
