British High Commission Port Louis to host FinTech Conference
High Commission partners with financial institutions to discuss innovative solutions for the Mauritian International Financial Centre.
The FinTech Conference takes place on 25 January
The British High Commisison, in partnership with the Financial Services Promotion Agency (FSPA) and the Board of Investment (BOI), is hosting a conference on Financial Technology (better known as FinTech) on 25 January 2017.
The conference will explore the development of Mauritius as a FinTech hub for the Sub-Saharan Africa region. A panel of experts, led by Nicole Anderson, CEO of FinTech Circle Innovate, will share their insight on how the British FinTech model can be applied in Mauritius to implement innovative solutions in the financial services sector and drive economic growth.
This event follows the visit of the Lord Mayor of the City of London to Mauritius in 2016 which laid the foundations for broadening the relationship between the Mauritian International Financial Centre (IFC) and the City of London. The conference programme will include a dialogue on British FinTech and panel discussions on Regulations and Compliance and Mauritius as a FinTech Hub for Africa. Key stakeholders such as government officials, business leaders, regulators and academics will attend.
The panel of experts will also include of P.K. Kuriachen from the Financial Services Commission, Dhanesswurnauth Thakoor from the Bank of Mauritius, Ian Dillon from NOW Money, Mark O’Sullivan from Interpaytech, Carl Weir from Cross Verify, Harvesh Seegolam from the FSPA, Ken Poonoosamy from the BOI, Hirander Misra from GMEX Group, Kabir Ruhee from Rogers Capital, Ravin Dajee from Barclays Bank Mauritius and Vidia Mooneegan from Ceridian HCM Mauritius.
The British High Commissioner, Jonathan Drew, said:
With a GDP of around $3 trillion, the UK is the fifth largest economy in the world. Within Britain’s globally-facing economy, London is regarded as the world’s leading financial hub. FinTech is all about finding innovative solutions in both a fast-moving industry and ever-changing world. The Mauritian financial sector has developed rapidly over the past 20 years and should greatly benefit from FinTech to help the country reach high-income status.
The Chief Executive of FSPA, Harvesh Seegolam, said:
FinTech is a key segment for the Mauritius IFC. At the FSPA, we have a strategic focus to develop Mauritius as the FinTech Hub for the region. We are discussing with select global companies operating in this space, many of which are from the UK. This event will allow us to consolidate the Mauritius IFC as the regional FinTech destination, in line with our broader strategy.
The Managing Direcor of the BOI, Ken Poonoosamy, said:
We have set as objective to develop the FinTech industry which is an innovative and fast-growing sector presenting tremendous opportunities for Mauritius. We believe the country’s significant value proposition can be further reinforced by leveraging on the synergies among the stakeholders from its strong Financial and Banking Services and well-developed ICT sectors. BOI is therefore proud to be associated with this event which is a first in Mauritius and will mark a cornerstone in the development of the local FinTech sector.