Innovating Partnering
AFT aims at enabling representatives of African banks discover what MCB can offer in terms of opportunities and partnerships and progress while discussing the future of Africa and the banking sector. The theme of this year’s conference is "Innovative Partnering".

"Bank of banks"
For eight years, MCB has positioned itself as a "bank of banks" on the African continent. MCB thinks that African institutions can outsource some of their services leverage our know-how, technology and extensive network to progress. Chief Executive and Director of MCB Group, Pierre Guy Noël, insists that MCB and African banks have much to gain from each other by working more closely together.

Targeting Africa
"In addition to its ambition at the local level, Africa remains the main objective of MCB Group outside Mauritius. There is plenty to do on this continent and a lot of things we can do together," he said at the opening ceremony of the conference. To illustrate the financial health of the Group, Pierre Guy Noël stressed that MCB will pursue its expansion and diversification policy, both locally and regionally.

At a crossroad
Raoul Gufflet, Deputy Chief Executive of MCB Ltd, said that MCB does not want to compete with African banks on their region, but aims at building more sustainable partnerships and grow with them. He believes that Africa must take the right direction, given the difficult local and international context. "Africa is at a crossroad. AFT is a platform to connect all of us together to explore collaborative opportunities".

Ahead of the US
The conference is also attended by John Chaplin, advisor to Helios Investment Partners and Director of Interswitch Ltd, and renowned in the world of electronic banking. He believes that Africa is ahead of the US in terms of innovation in the payments sector. "The reason for this is very simple. In the United States, the population is already very satisfied with what it has in terms of payments and, therefore, does not necessarily find it necessary to innovate. On the other hand, this is not the case in Africa, which moves more towards innovation in the financial sector".