Session 1: Opening Session

DAY one01

THURSDAY, 22ND SEPTEMBER 2022

SESSION 1: OPENING SESSION

KEYNOTE The use of technology to improve and automate financial services and procedures has increased in tandem with the number of Fintechs enhancing financial day-to-day operations. Organizational collaboration is key in fulfilling this year’s topic. The impact of technology on daily activities, as well as digital security, is pushing cyber security legislation. Zambia is gradually transitioning to digital finance, with each organization playing an important role in the country’s journey toward digital transformation, financial inclusion, and hope for Zambia’s digital economy. Hon. Mutati recognizes the value of a platform like this for exchanging ideas and exhibiting developments.

During the opening, Mr. Roy Muyelo the Board Chair of PAYZ expressed his delight in being part of the ICT Expo and Fintech Festival, which was the first of its kind. He mentioned how the use of technology to enhance and automate financial services and procedures have risen exponentially in the past years and how this has been seen by the birth of so many Fintechs that have come up with innovative ideas, solutions and great initiatives which are helping businesses, companies and consumers to better manage financial day to day operations. Mr. Muyelo also stated how the fintech space has continued to dramatically grow and that there is tremendous need for resilience and skills, suitable for sustainable digital transformation through innovation, collaboration and inclusion, including the need to enhance digital and cyber security skills. He added that as an industry, Zambia is working tirelessly to be a leader in the digital field across Africa and how proud he is off the genius minds the country is producing. Mr. Muyelo also mentioned that he looked forward to a fantastic conference that would celebrate the leaders who continue to strive to push the industry forward. Mr. Clement Sinyangwe, the President of ICTAZ highlighted how the event recognises the evolution of the ICT sector and is aimed at capturing aspirations through the theme, “Enhancing Digital Security, Resilience and Skills for Sustainable Digital Transformation through innovation, collaboration & inclusion”. He explained how two years ago the whole world had come to a standstill due to the Covid-19 outbreak and that a lot of the day-to-day functions became impossible as people were forced indoors, which forced many services to go online and fortunately the ICT professionals were able to meet this challenge. He underscored how technology is an essential part of every aspect of our life and there being a need to provide an environment where the ordinary citizen is able to enjoy the full benefits of digital technology. He further mentioned how ICTAZ is particularly proud to be a part of the Fintech Festival because it demonstrates Zambia’s progress in bringing together the players around financial technology ranging from financial institutions, banks, mobile money operators (MNOs), software developers and development agencies. Mr. Sinyangwe then said that the issue of digital security is one of the main

drivers of the recently introduced Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes legislation and that the Ministry of Technology and Science is looking to revise this legislation to ensure the safety and security of citizens online. He also mentioned how ICTAZ is concerned by continued reports of cyber bullying, hacking and IT-related financial fraud, and added that he has learned from the ZICTA 2022 Mid-Year Sector Performance report, that ZICTA disconnected over two million SIM cards across the country in a bid to combat digital fraud. Mr. Sinyangwe ended his address by acknowledging New Dawn Administration’s commitment to equipping citizens with basic digital skills as outlined in the 8th National Development Plan and that ICTAZ pledges to support the Digital Economy agenda.

Mr. Isaac Holly Ogwal, UNCDF Country Director was delighted to note that the festival was an opportunity for International Guests to be exposed and learn from Zambia’s progressive journey and efforts around financial inclusion, digital finance, the role of Fintechs and the wider spectrum of growing a digitally connected economy. Mr. Ogwal said the UNCDF was encouraged to see the growth of the fintech ecosystem in Zambia, which is partly being demonstrated by the ability to successfully organise an event of this nature and magnitude, an event that brings together policy makers, regulators, the FinTechs, and ICT innovators of all kinds. He added that over the past years, The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) had worked closely with both policymakers and the private sector in advancing Zambia’s digital and technology space, and as such, they recognised that each organisation represented, had a critical role to play in the country’s journey towards digital transformation. UNCDF continues to encourage policymakers and regulators to create an enabling environment that protects the integrity of our economy, Fintechs and innovators to leap forward. He went on to say that the organisation would continue to work together with Fintechs and innovators who take on the necessary risks to transform how customers interact with products and services, as their aspiration is to witness investors operate in an environment that enables them access affordable and reliable capital needed by the country’s ever expanding start-up community. In conclusion, he attributed UNCDF as being one of the development partners, thus prepared to accelerate collaborations with each group of stakeholders to build Zambia’s digital economy. The Director of Payment Systems at the Bank of Zambia, Ms. Miriam Tembo Kamuhuza, cited how a forum of this nature is important as it ensures that all stakeholders in the digital ecosystem share ideas and have the opportunity to showcase their innovations, especially since the country is focusing on moving towards a digital economy and increasing financial inclusion. She stated how Bank of Zambia’s strategic plan for 2020-2023, focuses on Financial Stability and Financial Inclusion. She further stated that under this strategic plan, the Bank has committed to undertake activities that will contribute to increasing formal financial inclusion by leveraging digital financial services. Ms. Kamuhuza further detailed that Zambia has experienced the many benefits that come with the use of Digital Financial Services (DFS) and that DFS have contributed significantly to increased financial inclusion. She narrated that the 2015 and 2020 FinScope Surveys on access to financial services showed that digital financial services has been the primary driver in the overall increase in levels of financial inclusion in Zambia. She added that financial inclusion increased by 10.1% to 69.4% in 2020 from 59.3% in 2015; and that consistent with this increase, formal financial inclusion rose to 61.3% in 2020 from 38.2% in 2015 and that this growth was mainly attributed to increased uptake of mobile money services which increased to 58.5% from 14.0% in 2015. Ms. Kamuhuza explained that these trends are supported by an enabling regulatory environment which targets onboarding the unbanked, mostly in rural areas to allow them to have access to formal financial services in a deliberate effort to accelerate financial inclusion.

She also stated that the most recent and key development is the implementation of the National Financial Switch (NFS), which has interconnected the various financial service providers in Zambia i.e. the commercial banks, non-bank financial institutions, payment service providers including mobile money and Fintechs. She added that the NFS facilitates processing of Automated Teller Machine, Point of Sale and instant mobile payments across the various financial service providers and that Instant mobile payments had gone live on the NFS in April 2020 which has enabled individuals to send money to another person in real time using their phone or other mobile devices across wallets, bank accounts, wallet to bank and bank to wallet instantly. She added that the

successful implementation of the NFS is a major milestone for the country and the region at large and that the NFS has increased convenience, access and usage of financial services; increased innovation and enhanced efficiency. Ms. Kamuhuza mentioned how the Bank has implemented the Regulatory Sandbox which allows for small scale live testing of innovative financial products and services and also that the ZICTA is working in collaboration with the Bank of Zambia to support the Rural Finance Expansion Programme (RUFEP), which was recently launched as a collaborative framework on the oversight of digital financial services. She noted that going forward the Bank with key stakeholders will continue to promote the use of DFS.

Ms. Engwase Mwale, the FSD Zambia CEO began by highlighting how there was no secret on how transactions through automated clearing houses, cards and mobile devices have exponentially expanded within the nation. She went on to say that this proliferation has presented exceptional opportunities for Fintechs to deliver cutting-edge solutions such as microfinance products that are more consumer-centric and promote regular usage of digital platforms. She cautioned on how pertinent it was to understand that Fintechs are not subjected to the same regulations as banks, as they are more versatile in terms of digital capabilities that assures convenience, therefore Fintechs play a strategic role in morphing the economic and financial landscape. She informed the conference how FSD Zambia believes that there are no shortages of opportunities for Fintechs to contribute to the financial inclusion space. Having already witnessed how new technologies and a comprehensive range of related innovations, it was evident that financial services that support and enhance better socioeconomic outcomes are now within reach of all Zambians; males, females,young or elderly. She went on to mention how FSD had earmarked to achieve Zambia’s Financial Inclusion targets and urged policymakers, regulators and critical institutions to work together to help mitigate some of these challenges. She further called on all market players and smart investors to rise to the occasion and build Zambia’s Future “through Innovation, Collaboration and Inclusion”. She appealed to all financial players to find means of demonstrating mutually beneficial business proposals that encourage collaboration and investment.

Honourable Felix Mutati, MP, Minister of Technology and science informed that conference of the Zambian government’s ambition to build an integrated, inclusive and a digitally powered Zambia by 2030. The Minister then highlighted on the five elements that needed to be worked on collectively, which included:

i. Creation of an enabling environment to facilitate Zambia’s digital transformation agenda which will entail the development of a National Digital Strategy and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) policy that will be launched in October, 2022. He stated that this development will help to ameliorate the disorderly and fragmentation that has hindered smooth coordination in the past. He pointed out that there is work in progress with regards to interoperation where emphasis is on machine talking to machines, with the desired outcome of a cashless Zambian society. He also cited that in the quest to borrow best practices from model digitally transformed economies, the Minister will lead a delegation for the purpose of benchmarking so that at the time of Innovation Africa Summit there will be a better story to share for Africa and particularly Zambia.

He appealed for technical assistance from ICT experts on the issue of digital Identity (ID) that remains crucial to help eliminate fraud and duplication of efforts. He reminded the delegates that the digital space was theirs and as such they were expected to make constructive and substantive submissions to the development of Cyber Security and Crimes pieces of legislation.

The other critical piece of legislation that requires urgent attention is the cyber capital concerns that will adequately address issues of start-up capital, innovation hubs, incubation, framework that will leverage the growth of ICT firms and as the new dawn government’s message is that they want to grow with the start-ups.

ii. The second action point, stated by the Minister, consisted of the Three As (Availability, Accessibility and

Ms. Vivian Mbumwae who was representing women in technology recognized the government for the positive strides towards ensuring that Zambia is digitally transformed and further mentioned that it is up to the various stakeholders to ensure that the country becomes a leader in the region by collaborating in creating an enabling environment. She thanked the Sponsors for choosing to support the international ICT Expo and Fintech Festival, as well as every individual, organisation, company and development partner for the role they played in not only supporting innovation in the ICT sector but also having made this event possible. Affordability) of innovation which are the yardstick for the quality of services. This entails that the people of Zambia must be able to connect and transact across payment systems anytime and anywhere inconformity to the demands of three As.

iii. The third point echoed, the new dawn government’s desire to give the big responsibility of government revenue service bus to SMART Zambia Institute, whilst providing opportunities to the private innovative firms to operate government mini revenue service buses e.g. market levies, toll gate. He mentioned that the government is currently exploring methodical and robust approaches on how to construct software to actualize the aforementioned idea.

iv. The fourth action point is that of Public Private Partnership (PPP) through effective and efficient collaborations. The minister mentioned that in order to achieve sanity, there is need for a common charter that focuses on customer satisfaction. This necessitates the need for regulatory institutions like the Bank of Zambia,

ZICTA and security wings to collaboratively develop a common framework to avoid the prospect of confusing the general citizenry.

v. The Honourable Minister also motioned that ICTAZ has a very big role to play in the digital economy transformation agenda and that the new dawn government wants to give them “teeth”. The Minister emphasised on the need for a well regulated ICT professional as is the case with other professions like Medial Association of

Zambia and Law association of Zambia.

The Minister concluded his remarks by stating that with what he had witnessed at the inaugural ICT expo and Fintech festival, there is hope for Zambia’s digital economy transformation.