[kictanet] Kenya IGF Online Discussions. Day 3. Developments in Fintech and E-commerce

Fri Jul 13 09:37:16 EAT 2018

Hi Barrack,
Having worked first hand in tech startups and innovation i can tell you
that a lot of the investors are interested in international cofounders as
oppossed to local.Mainly because we do not invest in our own.A lot of
cofounders who get funding are those who leave silicon valley for
Nigeria,Kenya and south Africa.Unfortunately we still prefer to invest in
property -land etc as compared to research and innovation which is one of
the reasons why a huge chunk of tech is foreign led.
Research on tech and innovation should start with the younger
generation.Note people like Mark Zuckerberg had programming tutors in
middle school.
Nairobi Innovation week is just a meeting place for tech enthusiasts,
investors and startups looking for funding.A lot of work needs to happen
all year round behind the scenes.
And yes the government needs to invest more in research as well as we(the
community) investing more in growing the next generation of innovators.

kind regards
Carolyne

On Fri, 13 Jul 2018, 9:23 am Barrack Otieno via kictanet, <
kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

> Hi Ali,
>
> 1. We have made many gains in the Fintech and E-Commerce space due to
> a conducive Policy environment. I am curious to understand why our
> market is attracting a lot of venture capital. Is it that we are
> innovative or do we offer cheap labor?, is there any capital flight
> associated with the Venture Capital that is being channeled into our
> market. I ask this considering the long debate about who invented and
> owned MPESA. It eventually turned out that after all it was not a
> Kenyan.
> 2. How much is the Kenyan Government through the parent Ministry of
> Information and Communications Technology pumping into the FINTECH and
> Innovation Space. Better still do we have any Research and Development
> fund to support the sector beyond the Nairobi Innovation Week. I
> appreciate the fact that we have a CS who is at the fore front of
> Innovation but are we matching the same with the kind of budget being
> allocated to the Standard Gauge Railway?
> 3. I would also like to find out from listers that might be in the
> know , how many Kenyans have access to mobile money and gaps if any
> that might exist. Is there any research that has been done that is
> showing the current status of the Fintech and e-commerce eco-system.
>
> asking for Wakanda
>
> On 7/12/18, Ali Hussein via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> wrote:
> > Dear listers.
> >
> > Since the advent of Mpesa, Kenya has been recognized as Ground Zero for
> > Mobile Money/Payments Innovation the world over. According to a World
> Bank
> > report one in every ten human beings regularly using mobile money is a a
> > Kenyan.
> >
> > Over the last few years Fintech (Financial Technology) has become all the
> > rage. American startups are setting up in Kenya. The more common ones
> that
> > we know are Branch and Tala who combined have raised over $150m of
> venture
> > funds in the last few years. These two are mainly mobile lending
> platforms.
> > Insuretech is taking root. Payment Platforms are proliferating. Banks are
> > jumping onto the Fintech Bandwagon with mainstream banks like Barclays
> and
> > HF Group launching their mobile lending apps. Equity Bank boldly
> announced a
> > few weeks ago that they are building an API Bank. Banking as a Service
> as it
> > were.
> >
> > Not to be left out, Blockchain and it’s offspring, Bitcoin is threading
> to
> > complete the upheavals in the financial sector. On top of it all the
> > government is playing catch up on regulation with the announcement of the
> > Finance Bill 2018. See analysis from KPMG on this.
> >
> >
> https://home.kpmg.com/ke/en/home/insights/2018/06/finance-bill-2018-analysis.html
> >
> > To ponder:-
> >
> > 1. Are we moving too fast? Is there a need to take a chill pill and
> reflect
> > on the gains and achievements of the sector?  Should we regulate lightly
> or
> > heavily?
> >
> > 2. Should we regulate and cap the mobile lending platforms? Are they
> playing
> > a crucial role of financial inclusion or are they just loan sharks on
> > steroids?
> >
> > 3. How about the Credit Reference Bureaus? Are they stuck in a time warp
> or
> > is the legislation in place encumbering them from innovation?
> >
> > 4.  Lastly is the BlockChain conversation being overhyped? And how do you
> > separate the technology from the cryptocurrencies it spawns?
> >
> > Over to you Listers.
> >
> > Ali Hussein
> > Principal
> > AHK & Associates
> > +254 0713 601113
> >
> > Twitter: @AliHKassim
> > Skype: abu-jomo
> > LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
> >
> > "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a
> > habit."  ~ Aristotle
> >
> >
> > Sent from my iPad
>
>
> --
> Barrack O. Otieno
> +254721325277
> +254733206359
> Skype: barrack.otieno
> PGP ID: 0x2611D86A
>
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