The Ghana Fintech Awards, organized by the Ghana Fintech and Payments Association, on collaboration with Arkel Limited, a fintech management and research consulting firm, is intended to recognize excellence, growth, and innovation within the fintech, digital payments, and banking industry.
The second (2) edition of the awards witnessed an attendance of 187+ participants under the theme ‘Leveraging on fintech: an opportunity to achieve economic empowerment and financial inclusion’. On the night of the event, twenty-four (24) individuals and companies were awarded for their immense contributions to the growth of the Ghanaian fintech industry during the 2022 fiscal year.
During the night of the Ghana Fintech Awards, the Deputy UK High Commissioner to Ghana, H.E. Keith McMahon revealed, “financial technology remains a priority sector for UK private sector and investors….we are actively seeking fintech companies that we can match to UK investors”.
He further stressed that, “…we are also pleased to be supporting the 2022 award winners here today with an exclusive virtual roundtable with the Global Entrepreneur Program on fundraising for international scale. I hope we will all continue to work together to explore and exploit the endless opportunities that exist in the fintech sector”.
As a mandate of the organizers towards ensuring continues growth and development of the fintech ecosystem, an online masterclass was organized for senior leadership of awarded companies and individuals through the UK Department of International Trade on Wednesday, 15th February, 2023 on creating the perfect pitch and fundraising for international scale as an avenue to promote training and capacity building.
The Masterclass session was hosted by International Dealmaker Shirley Gilbey and facilitated by UK-based Dealmakers,Stephen Mooney and Eamon Tuhami, who are well experienced on raising of funds for fintechs.
The session was well represented by twenty-eight (28) participants spread across different fintech companies. The experts took them through a variety of topics including the four (4) main components of an elevated pitch, thus, problem, solution, product development and team management.
At the end of the session, participants had these to say:
“It was engaging and educative for entrepreneurs on elevator pitching and deck structure. The facilitators were practical and very experienced in the venture and startup scene. Glad to have participated, and the lessons learned will be used in our journey” said Eric Annan, Founder and CEO of Ayagigs (Techstars ’23).
Nelson Korshie Da-Segla, CEO of Korba applauded the laudable effort by the organizers for putting together the masterclass, as he believes it was knowledgeable and informative. “thanks to you, the organizers, and the facilitators, for such an insightful session. It was fun and very engaging,” he added.
As organizers of this prestigious event, we intend to foster a spirit of competitiveness and collaborations among fintech players which will breath the birth of extensive technological advancements, compliance, security and quality service. These improvements will upgrade the quality of the awards and intensify the interest among nominees.
Therefore, we are seeking to provide incentives for each year’s awardees to support scalability and innovation hence the partnership with relevant key stakeholders such as the UK Department for International Trade and the UK High Commission to Ghana for their valuable support.
In a closing statement on behalf of the organizers of the award, Mrs. Cristina Swan-Awagah, lead at Arkel Limited said to the winners “Our objective is not just to reward and recognize companies for their growth and development but to add value their companies through training and providing opportunities for growth and/or expansion.”
