How AI is Shaping Fintech Across Africa

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Ends:

Format: In person

Location: The Tryst, Sandton, Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, Joburg

Organiser: The Open Letter

About this event

We are joined by Shola Akinlade, co-founder of Paystack, one of Africa’s most important fintech companies and now part of the global leadership fabric at Stripe following its landmark acquisition. Shola helped build Paystack into the payments infrastructure powering thousands of businesses across the continent. Since joining Stripe, he has had a front-row seat to how the world’s most advanced payments company is thinking about AI, data, risk, and the future of financial infrastructure. Few people have a clearer view of where payments and fintech in Africa are heading over the next decade. Joining Shola for the main discussion will be Emmanuel Lubanzadio, Africa Lead at OpenAI, bringing a unique perspective on how frontier AI models are being developed and deployed globally — and what that means for financial systems across Africa. This evening explores: • How AI is changing the core economics of payments • What Stripe is seeing globally and how that translates to Africa • The infrastructure gaps still holding the continent back • How machine learning is reshaping fraud, underwriting, and financial access • Where the next wave of AI-enabled fintech opportunity lies Before the main session, we'll host a focused pre-panel on How AI is Practically Being Implemented Inside Real Financial Systems, featuring: • Head of AI @ Araxi - Archana Arakkal This conversation dives into how AI is being implemented inside real financial systems — model deployment, data constraints, compliance, and infrastructure realities in African markets. What is hype, and what is actually working. Together, these two sessions give you both the technical depth and strategic clarity on how AI is reshaping financial services in Africa — and how founders and operators can position themselves for what is coming next.

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