[kictanet] PRE KIGF ONLINE DISCUSSIONS DAY 4 -FINTECH ECOSYSTEM IN KENYA

Fri Jun 30 12:51:25 EAT 2017

The Uber snakes it away in the Nairobi morning traffic along Mombasa road -
half asleep in the back seat, the city seeps through the car in a partially
wound down window. The morning air is warm and as always the city is alive
and awake.

 Its hard to imagine 15 years ago I travelled this same route to the
airport in a Matatu that had twigs on either side which stopped twice to
ask for directions. Now the driver knows where I am going, knows the
fastest routes and within 10min I have already transacted severally through
mpesa and now on a conference call.

Technology gains can only be best understood through story telling. Fintech
is definitely here with us.

*1. Is the business environment in Kenya conducive for FinTech business?*
Yes Certainly - Disruption as it turns out, is as much a form of social
evolution as it is of technological improvements. We are
all evolving socially and otherwise.

*3. Have banks finally caught on FinTech with their solutions?*
I think Banks are catching up on this technology as they continue to
understand it better. Its however quite clear banks will lead on this and
not the Fintechs as much touted.

*4. How will bitcoins & block chain technology affect the market?*
When you speak with someone in the Bitcoin community, their is only one
thing mentioned - as was during the dot. come era. In every conversation
"Bitcoin is here and will change everything". What all those
Crypto-pundits fail to remember or read about is at the beginning of the
dot.com boom there were Netscape, Yahoo, AOL, Lycos Alsta Vista etc. the
outcome yielded different winners: Amazon Google, Salesforce etc.

Again, as with dot.com there is something the larger public don't
understand. While the media mulls over Bitcoin and and gives credence to a
slew of people proclaiming a "decentralised network that no one will own"
to a naive public and convincing them to dump millions into "ICO", there is
something else happening. Consider FAAMG (Facebook, Apple, Amazon,
Microsoft, Google) do you think its a coincidence they are major
deployments for many Blockchain networks?

As with previous games the winners are already taking in massive rewards
because they are already hooked into an existing IT and
Banking Infrastructure. Currently investments are only flowing into
Blockchain infrastructure that must be enterprise grade. Same as the
Internet didn't make IT departments irrelevant, Blockchain will not replace
IT departments. What will change is the speed and types of skillset needed
in it. There will be no immediate shift to everything Blockchain  - there
will be long periods of co-existing and integration with existing IT
systems. However Blockchain will lead to a strong surge in cloud adoption.

The consequence of Blockchain among consumers will be most felt in
Infrastructure were developments relating to Identity, Privacy and Security
are taking shape.

I don't think Bitcoin has a future

E Njoroge Mwangi
Technology| FINTECH | Big Data

Cell +44 7539372742
Skype: Erick.mwangi

On Fri, Jun 30, 2017 at 9:01 AM, Francis Monyango via kictanet <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Morning,
>
> Fintech seems to be technical but because we are all involved in it one
> way or another, we definitely have lessons and opinions on what needs to be
> done.
>
> *1. Is the business environment in Kenya conducive for FinTech business?*
> *My answer would be yes. Yes because our internet penetration levels are
> really high compared other African states. Keeping in mind how mobile money
> has also picked up, there is definitely a conducive environment for
> fintech.*
>
> *3. Have banks finally caught on FinTech with their solutions?*
> *Banks have not really caught up but they are trying to blend their
> products with technological solutions. The wake up call seems to be when
> interest rates were capped.*
>
> *4. How will bitcoins & block chain technology affect the market?*
>
> *Crypto currencies such as bitcoin have started being hyped by block chain
> enthusiasts. However, the moment CBK will recognise it, it's true effect
> will be seen.*
>
> On 30 Jun 2017 08:24, "Rosemary Koech-Kimwatu via kictanet" <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Dear Listers,
>>
>> Our discussion topic today is the FinTech Ecosystem. Kenya is the
>> birthplace of some of the most revolutionary FinTech ideas and today we
>> will try to answer the following questions:-
>>
>> *1. Is the business environment in Kenya conducive for FinTech business?*
>>
>> *2, What is the experience of companies scaling &
>> deploying FinTech to other countries in the region?*
>>
>> *3. Have banks finally caught on FinTech with their solutions?*
>>
>> *4. How will bitcoins & block chain technology affect the market?*
>>
>>
>> Looking forward to a great discussion!
>>
>> --
>> Rosemary Koech-Kimwatu
>> Advocate -FinTech and ICT Policy
>> Head of Legal and Regulatory Affairs-Wayawaya
>> Tel: +254 718 181644 <+254%20718%20181644>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
>
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