Meeting Report

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ifotO-UfE7G6ZnhBRftcKWJB2IhE_n2aiUkmwW-4AxA/edit#heading=h.8denlkoc4exn

Who should attend?

• Developers
• Regulators
• Business entities
• Consumers
• Civil society
• Academia
• And anyone interested in blockchain ecosystems!

Program

Day 1 (11/2 Tue.)

Day 2 (11/3 Wed.)

Day 3 (11/4 Thu.)

invited Speakers / Panelists

Nobuyasu Sugimoto

IMF

Mr. Sugimoto is Senior Financial Sector Expert at Financial Supervision and Regulation Division, Monetary & Capital Markets Department of International Monetary Fund.

Prof. Bitange Ndemo

Professor of Entrepreneurship/Former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Information and Communications in Kenya

Bitange Ndemo is Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi’s Faculty of Business and Management Sciences. His research centers on the link between ICTs and small and medium enterprises with emphasis on how ICTs influence economic development in Africa. He Chairs the Kenya Distributed Ledgers and Artificial Intelligence Taskforce that is developing the country’s a road map for digital transformation. He is an advisor and Board member to several organizations including Safaricom one of the leading telecommunication company in Africa, a member of the: OECD Expert Panel on Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, World Economic Forum’s Global Blockchain Council (part of the World Economic Forum’s Global Fourth Industrial Revolution Councils). He is a former Permanent Secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communication in Kenya where he was credited with facilitating many transformative ICT projects including building of the undersea cables, open data initiatives and the Silicon Savanah. He is a Senior advisor to UN’s Global Pulse (Big Data initiatives) and the UNCDF’s Better than Cash Alliance and UNICEF’s Innovation Council. He is an Open Data/Big Data evangelist and dedicated to simplification (visualization) of data for ordinary citizens to consume. He writes two columns every week for the Business Daily and Nation on-line.

Kwame A. Oppong

Head of FinTech and Innovation, Bank of Ghana

Kwame Oppong is the Head of Fintech and Innovation at Bank of Ghana. His background spans Technology, Digital Financial Services (DFS) operations, policy development, and regulation. He has consulted for several governments, public sector institutions, international development organizations and private corporations globally. Prior to joining the Bank, Kwame worked with CGAP (World Bank Group), Millicom, Hewlett Packard Company (now HP EB) and other organizations in the banking, housing finance and health insurance industries. He holds a BSc in Business Administration, an MSc in Business, Executive Education in policy design and certifications blockchain, cloud computing, virtualization, financial inclusion and others. Kwame is a passionate advocate for financial inclusion, innovation, and the development of digital economies.

Erik Feyen

Head Global Macro-Financial Monitoring and Lead Financial Sector Economist, World Bank Group

Erik Feyen is Head of Global Macro-Financial Monitoring in the Finance, Competitiveness, and Innovation Global Practice of the World Bank Group. In this capacity, he leads the global monitoring and analysis of key macro-financial vulnerabilities and trends. He co-leads the Bank’s analytical work on the future of finance, advises on fintech-related country operations, and regularly coordinates IMF - World Bank collaborative efforts such as the Bali Fintech Agenda and the joint staff position on the regulatory and supervisory implications for the banking sector stemming from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Erik has led and participated in a wide range of country policy engagements related to financial stability, development, and regulation, including numerous IMF - World Bank Financial Sector Assessment Program missions (FSAPs). He has written extensively on international macroeconomics, financial stability, financial development, fintech, and climate change and his academic research has appeared in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Portfolio Management, and the World Bank Economic Review. Erik represents the World Bank in the Analytical Group on Vulnerabilities of the Financial Stability Board (FSB) and in several groups of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) work relating to virtual assets activities. Erik is also a member of the FSB’s Regulatory Issues in Stablecoins (RIS) Working Group and the World Economic Forum’s Digital Currency Governance Consortium. He previously served on the FSB’s Financial Innovation Network. Erik holds a Ph.D. in Finance from the University of Amsterdam and an M.S. in Technology, Policy, and Management / Electrical Engineering from Delft University of Technology. He regularly lectures at Columbia University.

Iota - Kaousar Nassr

Economist / Policy Analyst, OCED

Iota - Kaousar Nassr is the directorate for financial and enterprise affairs at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED). Prior to that, Iota worked as an associate in mergers and acquisitions at Citi Bank in London.

Roselyne Wanjiru

Lead On-Chain Analyst, Utafiti

Roselyne is an economist, youth mentor, and blockchain strategy consultant. She is the Lead On-Chain Analyst at Utafiti, a digital assets advisory platform that enables investors to leverage financial opportunities in emerging technology platforms. She has served as the Director of Growth and User Acquisitions at Pesabase, a premier payments and remittance solutions provider in Africa. She is a keynote speaker & thought leader in Africa’s budding blockchain ecosystem, having spoken in international conferences & media platforms on the need for innovation in and adoption of emerging technologies for economic efficiency & creation of new opportunities for youth in Africa as contributors, not just consumers in the global digital economy. She is passionate about leading initiatives towards appreciating & adopting Blockchain technology.

Adeola Alain Patrick Aina

CEO, Digital Intelligence Services

Mr Adeola Alain Patrick AINA embarked on entrepreneurship in 1999 by creating “ Technologies Réseaux et Solutions” one of the first IT Service and Engineering companies in the Togolese Republic. He has just launched “Digital Intelligence Services" (DIS), which specializes in supporting digital transformations. DIS now hosts most of his blockchain and emerging technologies activities. Since 2016, he has been actively involved in blockchain technologies and adoption on the continent. As Chief Technology Officer at WACREN, he contributed to the establishment of the 1st education and research network for West and Central Africa. He served the African Internet Registry (AFRINIC) for 11 years in various roles, including Acting CEO. He also served on the Security and Stability Advisory Committee of ICANN for many years. He was a member of the ICANN Security and Stability Review Team (SSR2). DNS and Cryptography expert, he serves as the “Crypto Officer” for the DNSSEC of the DNS root in the role of Trusted Community representative. He was a member of the Internet Society Board of Trustees.

Muthoni Njogu

Managing Partner & Head of Commercial & Corporate Law, Njogu & Associates Advocates

Muthoni Njogu is the Managing Partner & Head of Commercial & Corporate Law at Njogu & Associates Advocates. Her practice areas include Corporate & Commercial, Civil & Commercial Litigation & Dispute Resolution, Technology, Media & Telecommunications, and Intellectual Property. She has a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors where she has served for the last 11 years. She is a certified Mediator, registered Patent Agent, a Commissioner for oaths, and a Notary Public. Muthoni is also deeply passionate about the 4th Industrial Revolution , notably Blockchain and Virtual currencies and represents various clients on the same front and in addition to being the General Legal Counsel for the Blockchain Association of Kenya. Muthoni is an active participant in the African Blockchain Ecosystem and a key speaker on Digital Asset Regulation in addition to serving as a writer in these areas.

Elly Ohene-Adu

Digital Financial Services specialist

Elly Ohene-Adu is a Digital Financial Services specialist with expertise in Financial Services, Payment Systems Regulation and Oversight, and Financial Inclusion policy formulation. She is accredited with the passage of ground-breaking regulations which allowed non-banks to issue electronic money thereby setting the path for the increase in financial account ownership and financial inclusion in Ghana. As a subject matter expert on financial inclusion, Elly has had many speaking engagements with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF), Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI), Center for Financial Inclusion (CFI-Accion), and Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), amongst others. Elly has consulted for AFI, Bankable Frontiers and Associates (BFA), and Better Than Cash Alliance (BTCA). Under the auspices of BTCA, she developed Ghana’s first ever Digital Payments Roadmap published by Government in 2020 and is helping to implement it. She is currently a member of the boards of Ghana Interbank Payment & Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) and Bank of Africa Ghana Limited. She is also a Senior Technical Advisor with the UNCDF’s BTCA and a member of the Financial Inclusion Forum Africa, serving as the Chair of its National Advisory Council.

Clarence Blay

Assistant Director, Bank of Ghana

Mr. Clarence Blay is an Assistant Director of the Bank of Ghana responsible for oversight and risk assessment in the newly established Fintech and Innovation Office. He has approximately two decades experience in various areas of central banking including banking, payments system policy and strategy, financial inclusion, financial market infrastructure development, assessment of financial market infrastructure, surveillance and examination of payment systems, fraud investigations and market participants dispute resolution, and supervision of digitally delivered financial services. His current role is in the area of Fintech policy, risks and supervision. Mr. Blay has facilitated training programs and made presentations at conferences in and outside Ghana on payment and settlement systems, electronic banking, digital finance, payments system risks and financial inclusion. He was Bank of Ghana’s representative on the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) payment systems expert group that facilitated payment systems development in Sierra Leone, The Gambia and Guinea. Currently, Mr. Blay serves as a co-chair on the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) Global Standards Proportionality Working Group. Mr. Blay holds a Master of Finance from the University of London and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Ghana. He is also a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) of the United Kingdom.

Lord Fusitu'a

Chairman, Commonwealth Pacific Parliamentary Human Rights Group

His Majesty’s Lord of the Realm, The Kingdom of Tonga, Lord Member of Parliament for the Niuas, Legislative Assembly of the Kingdom of Tonga Executive Director of the Spartan South Pacific Group Limited Director of the Priority Consulting Group Barrister of the High Court of Australia, Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory Law Practitioner of the Supreme Court of Tonga.

Organizing and program committee

• Alain Aina (Lome)
• Elly Ohene-Adu (Independent Consultant, ex-Bank of Ghana)
• Shin’ichiro Matsuo
• Nii Quaynor (Accra, co-chair)
• Robert Schwentker
• Nat Sakimura
• Mai Santamaria
• Shigeya Suzuki
• Ryosuke Ushida
• Roselyne Wanjiru (Nairobi, co-chair)
• Aaron Wright
• Ayako Yamazaki

Observers

• Reena Aggarwal (Block #3 local co-chair)
• TBA (Block #5 local co-chair candidate)