Sponsored by Zenith Bank
The Commonwealth Trade and Investment Summit is developed and hosted by the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council.


Session Description
The ease of accessing finance to support business growth, funding entrepreneurs, and facilitating global trade remains inequitable across the Commonwealth. A significant part of the world’s population continues to live outside the digital economy, the International Telecommunication Union recently found that 37% of the world’s population – or 2.9 billion people – have still never used the internet. According to the World Economic Forum – only a third of the population in Africa is using the internet, while in Europe, around 90% of the population is online.

Innovations in the Fourth Industrial Revolution were accelerated by the COVID pandemic, and increased the world’s need for agility, adaptability and positive transformation. As the global economy moves towards a more digitised world, an estimated 70% of new value created over the next decade will be based on digital platform business models. However, FinTech businesses are still faced with a challenging regulatory landscape that holds back potential growth and limits the positive impact for consumers.

With this rapid movement, and fewer steps forward in bridging the digital divide, there is a greater risk for exclusion, further exacerbating the unequal concentration of power, wealth, and social instability. Companies must navigate this changing landscape, ensuring that no Commonwealth citizen is left behind.

We were delighted to welcome:
Moderator: Jay Gomez, Partner, Triay Lawyers
Opening remarks: Mr Jim Ovia, CFR, Founder and Chairman, Zenith Bank

Panellists
- Janine Hirt, CEO, Innovate Finance
- Bhairav Trivedi, CEO, Crown Agents Bank
- Dr Valentine Obi, Founder and CEO, eTranzact Global
- Adeeb Ahamed, Managing Director, LuLu Finance Holdings

свернуть