From 1-2 June 2022, our Trade and Economic Mission held the maiden edition of the Ghana-Israel Fintech Summit under the theme “Innovations in Financial Service Delivery.” 

The summit brought together leading stakeholders in the Ghanaian and Israeli Fintech ecosystem with the aim of leveraging their shared expertise to drive innovation in financial service delivery, further growth, and increase financial inclusion for development.

Speaking at the event were dignitaries such as H.E. Shlomit Sufa, Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, Senior Advisor, Vice President’s Secretariat, Office of the President, Yofi Grant, Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre and Mr. Kwame Oppong, Head of Fintech and Innovation at the Bank of Ghana. 

In her opening remarks, H. E. Shlomit Sufa expressed delight in the work of our Trade and Economic Mission’s work in Ghana since 2018. 

“For the past four years, our Trade and Economic mission has worked to promote trade and investment relations between Ghana and Israel. In 2021 alone, they facilitated over 30 business-to-business events by working with 200 Israeli companies and 1,300 Ghanaian companies in different activities. They also facilitated over 450 business-to-business meetings that resulted in the closing of about 18 million US Dollars worth of business deals and investments between Israeli and Ghanaian companies.”

She added that “the participation of these nine lading Israeli fintech companies in this summit depicts the great interest that many Israeli companies are showing in doing business in Ghana. From what I have experienced in Ghana so far, I am impressed with the Ghanaian innovation ecosystem and it is the reason, we are working tirelessly at all levels, be it with government or with the private sector to strengthen our trade and economic relations to mutually benefits all parties.”

On his part, Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu - Senior Advisor, Vice President’s Secretariat, Office of the President expressed gratitude for the collaboration between Ghana and Israel in the Fintech Sector and shared some of the policies the government is working on to ensure a stronger digital economy. 

“As a government, we are acutely aware of the numerous challenges around building a digital economy. The priority we give to the “digital economy” explains why we have The Ministry of Communications and Digitalisation. There are regulations, institutions and systems we have put in place to help mitigate the attendant risks,” he add.

Israel as a nation has made huge advances in the area of innovation and technology in various sectors including fintech. These breakthrough advances, are contributing to innovation in financial service delivery all over the world. 

The Ghana-Israel Fintech Summit was organized, to bring together the key stakeholders in the Ghanaian fintech space, to deliberate on positioning the sector as an engine of inclusive growth, and most importantly how a partnership with the Israeli fintech ecosystem can support this vision.

The two-day summit included exhibitions, panels conversations, networking lunches, B2B Meetings among others. 

It also saw the participation of nine Israeli fintech companies such as  Paygilant, StorONe, WeCard Ltd., Check Point Software Technologies, Credics Technologies Ltd., Fido, Centraleyes, Be The Bank – BTB Israel, Paretix (Pareto) Ltd. 

The summit was organized in collaboration with Israel’s Export institute, IT Consortium and Zeepay Ghana.