Johannesburg, South Africa – November 22nd, 2023 - The 12th Africa Bank 4.0 Summit – SADC Region took place from November 15th & 16th, 2023 at The Maslow Hotel, Sandton, Johannesburg – South Africa.
The event brought together leading experts, innovators, and influencers from the banking, fintech and payments sector, setting the stage for profound discussions, insightful presentations, and the recognition of outstanding achievements.
The Event’s Chairman - Hennie Ferreira, Director from IVC Financial Services inaugurated the event with the Curtain Raiser Keynote, titled "Digital Microfinance in South Africa: Unlocking Financial Inclusion."
“Promoting Financial Stability and Protecting Consumers” was the prime focus during the Policy Panel which was joined by Shergeran Roberto Naidoo – Head: Stakeholder Engagement at BankservAfrica, Lance Fanaroff – Chief Strategy Officer at iiDENTIFii, Nolwazi Hlophe – Senior Fintech Specialist at FSCA South Africa, Thav Reddy – Group Head of Data Privacy at Absa Bank, Magla Moodley – Head of Enterprise Risk Management at FNB South Africa and moderated by Aleksandrs Trocjuks – Senior Sales Director EMEA Fraud and Identity at LexisNexis® Risk Solutions
Polys Hadjikyriacos – Chief Sales Officer & Executive Board Member at NETinfo Plc presented on “Modernizing Your Digital Banking Infrastructure” while “How to make Behavioural Biometrics a win-win through automation patterns, human-machine trust, authorization framework was elaborated by Jason Lane-Sellers – Director, Marketing Planning EMEA, Fraud and Identity at LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, during his exclusive presentation.

Guillermo Martin, Director, New Business Sales from FICO moderated the Influencer Panel titled “Changing Cycles! Being Adaptive to Continuous Improvement in Digital Banking Strategy.”
Panelists joining this session included Mpho Sadiki (BankservAfrica) Ashish Bansal (CBZ Holdings Limited) Hennie Ferreira (IVC Financial Services) Aleksandrs Trocjuks (LexisNexis® Risk Solutions) Sitesh Srivastava (Yethi Consulting) and Chanda Chime-Katongo (Zambia National Commercial Bank).
Throughout the event, attendees were treated to exclusive presentations on a range of pertinent topics, including “Modernizing Your Digital Banking Infrastructure” by Polys Hadjikyriacos, Chief Sales Officer & Executive Board Member from NETinfo Plc; “Behavioural Biometrics” by Jason Lane-Sellers, Director, Marketing Planning EMEA, Fraud and Identity from LexisNexis® Risk Solutions; “Advancing Human-Centered Debt Collections in Southern Africa” by Neré Jansen Van Vuuren, Regional Sales Director: Africa, Australia & New Zealand from C&R Software.
Over 2 days, the event conducted some very insightful and interactive panel sessions, such as the Retail Banking Panel, Financial Inclusion Panel, The Payment TownHall, Digital Leaders Panel and the Closing Panel that summarized the complete Data & Analytics Trends in 2023.
"In exploring the demand for a human-centered approach in debt collections, this presentation unravels the imperative in Southern Africa, highlights its remarkable benefits, delves into key legal and ethical considerations, and examines the pivotal role of technology in enhancing human-centered collections within the region." – mentioned Neré Jansen Van Vuuren, Regional Sales Director: Africa, Australia & New Zealand at C&R Software during her exclusive presentation titled “Advancing Human-Centered Debt Collections in Southern Africa”
Chris Wood – Managing Executive: Product – Relationship Banking | Absa, joined as the Chairman for Day 2 of the event and sharing his insights on “Collaboration is the Route for Growth & Prosperity” in an exclusive session, while Solly Bellingan – Head of Marketing and Brand, and Acting Head of Cash Services at BankservAfrica, shared his insights on “Innovations in Payments: The Digitised v Cash Economies?
An insightful session on “Transforming BFSI with AI and Automation” was addressed in a joint-presentation by Rahul Bohra – AVP Products and Uma Tripathi – Business Head, South Africa from Cygnet Digital. AI and Web 3.0: Redefining Financial Services, the Future of Payments was elaborated during the exclusive session titled Engage and Enthrall with Farshad Nowshadi – Vice President eStrategy | Saman Bank | VC/Mentor | Level39.
The summit concluded with a Closing Panel on "Data & Analytics Trends in 2023: Everything you need to know to Enhance your Data Strategy" featuring Dolly Mphahlele (FirstRand Group Treasury); Theo Groenewald (Discovery Limited); Murendeni Nemukula (Bidvest Bank); Nozipho T. Duma (FNB South Africa) and Faith Sithole (Sasfin Bank).
The grand finale of the event was the Africa Bank 4.0 Awards (SADC Region), which recognized and celebrated the outstanding achievements of various organizations, associations, and service providers in the field of financial services. The award ceremony served as a benchmark for inspiring other organizations and startups to reach their own goals.
The esteemed award winners of the Africa Bank 4.0 Awards – SADC Region 2023 are:
• Best Enterprise Decisioning Technology Provider of the Year - FICO
• Most Innovative Data-Driven Credit Assessment and Lending Solution of the Year - Cygnet Digital
• Most Influential Data Scientist of the Year (Mozambique) - Camilo Amarcy
• Most Influential Data Scientist of the Year (South Africa) – Ursula Kuni
• Most Inspiring Islamic Banker of the Year (SADC Region) - Amman Muhammad
• Most Influential Retail Banker of the Year (SADC Region) - Bhavya Shah
• Most Influential Microfinance Leader of the Year (SADC Region) - Dr. Mandas Marikanda
• Best CISO of the Year (South Africa) - Itumeleng Makgati
• Best CIO of the Year (Zambia) - Mwangala Muyoyeta
• Best CIO of the Year (Zimbabwe) - Ashish Bansal
• Best CIO of the Year (Mauritius) - Ashwin Kumar Ramphul
• Best COO of the Year (Zimbabwe) - Munyaradzi Kavhu
• Best CIO of the Year (SADC Region) - Unathi Mtya
• Best CDO of the Year (SADC Region) - Ray Naicker
• Best CEO of the Year (Zimbabwe) - Courage Mashavave
• Best CEO of the Year (Zambia) - Mukwandi Chibesakunda
• Best CEO of the Year (SADC Region) - Mizinga Melu

The 12th Africa Bank 4.0 Summit – SADC Region was an exceptional gathering of industry leaders and visionaries, fostering insightful discussions and celebrating innovation and excellence in the financial services sector.

About Africa Bank 4.0 Summit
The Africa Bank 4.0 Summit is a premier gathering of banking and fintech professionals, thought leaders, and innovators from across the globe. The summit aims to foster discussions, inspire innovation, and recognize excellence in the financial services sector while providing a platform for networking and collaboration. Visit www.biiafricabanksummit.com/ for more information.