President Akufo-Addo To Open SWIFT African Regional Conference In Accra

Accra, 14 March 2019 – SWIFT announces today that the President of the Republic of Ghana, His ExcellencyNana Akufo-Addo, will open its African Regional Conference (ARC), taking place in Accra on 18-20 June 2019.

ARC is an annual event which will bring together over 500 high senior financial professionals from across the continent to discuss Africa’s evolving payments landscape, how the financial industry is embracing and delivering change for its customers, and how to manage risk in an increasingly digitised world.

Alain Raes, Chief Executive of Europe, Middle East and Africa and Asia Pacific at SWIFT, said: “We are honoured that His Excellency Nana Akufo-Addo will deliver the keynote address and open our flagship African event. ARC 2019 promises to deliver a thought-provoking agenda with senior speakers and dignitaries from across the continent sharing their insights and shaping the future of financial services in Africa.”

The theme of this year’s African Regional Conference is ‘Enabling the Digital Economy’. Other confirmed speakers at the conference include:

• Julian Opuni, CEO, Fidelity Bank Ghana


• Mervat Soltan, Chairperson, Export Development Bank Egypt
• Matthieu Vacarie, General Director, YUP (Societe Generale)
• Abiodun Kasim, Treasurer, Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas
• Chipo Mushwana, Head of Ecosystem Development & Strategy, Nedbank
• Jack Ngare, Executive Director, Finserve Africa, Equity Bank Group
• Dr. Kasirim Nwuke, Chief of New Technologies and Innovation, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa
• Aly Abdel Raouf , Head of Operations, Qatar National Bank Alahli, Egypt
• Kevin Rudahinduka, Head of Digital Banking, Bank of Kigali
• Dale Morris, Research & Development, BankservAfrica
• Christabel Onyejekwe , Executive Director, Technology & Operations, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System
• Fashina Tomisin, Group CIO, Ecobank


• Connie Mkhize, Technology Delivery Manager, BankservAfrica
• Pattisson Boleigha, Chief Conduct & Compliance Officer, Access Bank
• Bahiyya Kara, Head of Compliance, Corporate and Investment Banking, Standard Bank
• Elly Ohene Adu, Financial Inclusion Consultant, Ghana

For the full agenda, please see here.