Upcoming webinar:

TOPIC: Fintech in Africa: opportunities and challenges

The confluence of finance and technology, fintech, has spurred a massive phenomenon in Africa, accelerated in part by COVID-19. The International Finance Corporation indicated that 63% of venture funding was allocated to fintech in Africa in 2021.

Despite strong growth and investment, is there still room for further growth to address some of the major gaps in providing access to basic services leveraging technology across the spectrum of financial services? The growing and young populations of most African countries, together with increased smartphone penetration and improving connectivity, may well be the ingredients for a fintech revolution.

Despite this, startups and incumbents face unique challenges to leverage technology in the financial services industry. These challenges may hinder growth opportunities. Our experts weigh in on these issues and provide insights on the way forward.

Join us virtually for our tenth monthly event on Thursday 06 April.

We look forward to seeing you.

Date: 06 April 17:30 - 19:00 SAST (GMT+2/ EST+7) 

Cost: Free

Location: Online via Zoom 

OTHER RESEARCH

Our research focus spans the following areas: 

• The strategies of multinational enterprises 
• Globalisation and international business regulation 
• International human resource management 
• The globalisation of technology and innovation and multinational enterprises 
• Economic development 

Apart from undertaking research projects and offering international business education, HBS Africa has funded the appointment of the first DAC fellow. In addition, PhD students will be jointly supervised by academics affiliated to both HBS Africa and Henley UK. Associate members for the sister centre have been appointed from across Africa. Active research projects include:  

1. Fostering exporter-buyer relationships for sustainable export performance in the South African agricultural industry  

Professor Danie Petzer from HBS Africa, Prof Marianne Matthee from the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), and Dr Stefanie Kühn from Stellenbosch University are collaborating on a research project focusing on sustainable export performance in the South African agricultural industry. Ms Vickey de Villiers has been appointed as the researcher.

2. Enhancing food and nutrition security in South Africa 

HBS Africa and Dr Andrew Ainslie from the Department of International Development at the University of Reading are collaborating on a research project that centres on enhancing food and nutrition security in Africa. This project is based on one of the key recommendations for future research of the discussion paper, Agricultural and urban land in South Africa, that Dr Ainslie co-authored in 2019. A research project focusing on food and nutrition security in Africa will form the core of the collaboration, producing thought leadership pieces, such as webinars, white papers, conference papers, and journal articles.