Swift’s Africa Advisory Group, founded to provide senior industry insight into Africa’s financial markets, will hold its first meeting in Mauritius in advance of ARC 2016
Johannesburg, 5 April 2016 – Swift’s Africa Advisory Group (AAG) will hold its inaugural meeting on 16 May 2016 in advance of the Swift African Regional Conference in Balaclava Mauritius. Comprising key industry players from across the continent, the aim of the AAG is to provide insights into the challenges and opportunities facing the African financial markets and to find out how Swift can better support the needs of the growing African community.
Members of the AAG include leaders from across Africa’s payments and securities businesses:
- Kyari Bukar, CEO, Central Securities Clearing System Nigeria
- Francis Chukwunyem, General Manager & Chief information Officer, Zenith Bank
- Dipo Fatokun, Director, Banking & Payments System Department, Central Bank of Nigeria
- Patrick Gutmann, Group Head, Transaction Services Group, Ecobank
- Deon Kruger, Head of Operations & Investor Services, TPS & Corporate and Investment Banking, Standard Bank South Africa
- Jonathan Lamb, Head of Channel Management, Standard Bank South Africa
- Rose Mambo, Chief Executive, Central Depository & Settlement Corporation Kenya
- Tim Masela, Head of the Payments Department, South African Reserve Bank
- Iann Seymour-Smith, Head of Operations, Strate
- Stephen van Coller, Chief Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking, Barclays Africa
- Nerina Visser, Exchange Traded Funds Strategist and Advisor, ETF South Africa
AAG members will also participate in ARC 2016.
Sido Bestani, Head of the Middle East, Turkey & Africa, Swift, says: “In recognition of the increasingly important role of African markets in the global economy and to Swift, we established the African Advisory Group in 2016.Our objectives are to share views and experiences on the challenges, developments and opportunities facing the African financial community, and to identify opportunities for mutual support and collaboration. ARC 2016 is a perfect opportunity for our first meeting as it will bring together industry participants from more than 40 African countries.”
Swift plays a critical role in Africa’s payments, securities and compliance businesses. The AAG will be uniquely placed to provide a platform for sharing strategic insights regarding trends within Africa as well as discussing developments in the international financial industry. AAG members will also be able to provide guidance for Swift’s future strategies and solution developments.
Together Swift and the African Advisory Group will help shape the future of solutions in the payments, securities market and compliance domains in Africa.
Note to editours:
The Swift African Regional conference will bring together more than 500 high-level financial representatives from across 45 countries for three days of discussion and debate featuring senior speakers and strategic thinkers from across the industry and the region. The theme for this year’s conference is 'Facing Global Challenges'. The opening plenary will focus on the ‘Megatrends’ that are having the biggest impact on the global economy and shaping Africa’s future.
For the second time, ARC will partner with Swift Innotribe for the Startup Challenge in Africa, showcasing young African companies and offering the winners the opportunity to pitch their business on a global stage at Sibos in Geneva, Switzerland.
ARC 2016 will take place in Balaclava on 17-19 May 2016. See the full agenda.
About Swift
Swift is a global member-owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services.
We provide our community with a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and financial crime compliance.
Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to communicate securely and exchange standardised financial messages in a reliable way.
As their trusted provider, we facilitate global and local financial flows, support trade and commerce all around the world; we relentlessly pursue operational excellence and continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies.
Headquartered in Belgium, Swift’s international governance and oversight reinforces the neutral, global character of its cooperative structure. Swift’s global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres.
For more information, visit www.swift.com or follow us on Twitter: @swiftcommunity and LinkedIn: Swift.
Contacts:
Swift Press Office
+32 2 655 3373
pressoffice@swift.com
