SingularityU South Africa Co-CEO, Shayne Mann addressing Africa Exponential Finance Summit at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa. Photo by Mthulisi Sibanda, CAJ News
by MTHULISI SIBANDA
JOHANNESBURG – THE inaugural SingularityU Exponential Finance Summit recently-held in Cape Town has exceeded organisers’s expectations, paving way for the next summit scheduled for Johannesburg in October.
More than 600 delegates attended the event at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on May 29 and 30.
“As part of our journey in future-proofing Africa, we are thrilled that the inaugural Exponential Finance Summit was such a success,” said Shayne Mann, co-CEO of SingularityU South Africa.
He added, “It was tremendous hosting these world class experts and we believe that we have triggered exponential change.”
The Exponential Finance Summit was an industry-specific event hosted in collaboration with The Development Bank of Southern Africa, Deloitte, Discovery, and MTN. The summit showcased how exponential technologies are simultaneously shaping and disrupting the financial industry.
It aimed to empower attendees with the latest insights on how to boost economic growth, create employment, and attract foreign direct investment—a key enabler of economic growth that is especially important for emerging market economies.
Mic Mann, co-CEO of SingularityU South Africa, said the intention with the Exponential Finance Summit was to facilitate meaningful networking connections on a global scale, encourage ideas that could change the financial world, boost the South African economy and kick-start a strong venture capital ecosystem.
“We believe that the success of this summit was an excellent starting point for doing exactly that,” Mic Mann said.
Over the course of the two days, some 24 thought leaders took to the stage to address topics in the exponential finance space to share new ideas, spark debate and trigger collaborative partnerships in order to use innovative technologies to future proof Africa, and stimulate
collaborative futures.
The event was live streamed to 52 sites across the world.
The prestigious line up of speakers included world renowned cybersecurity expert Jaya Baloo, economics and exponential business models expert Amin Toufani, blockchain specialist Tanya Knowles, future of cities expert Geci Karuri-Sebina (PHD), Catherine Wood, founder of
ARK invest, and data science specialist Manu Sharma.
Other headline speakers included Ramez Naam, Kyle Nel, David Roberts, Kirsty Roth, Ashley Anthony, Mic Mann, Shayne Mann, Nathana Sharma, and Paul Pagnato – one of the top 35 global wealth advisors globally.
Benjamin Rosman adressed artificial intelligence and re-enforcement learning. CEO of Discovery Life Hylton Kallner and asset management specialist Magda Wierzycka shared invaluable insights in their presentations, as did South African IOT specialist Phathizwe Malinga.
The next SingularityU South Africa Summit takes place on 16 and 17
October in Johannesburg.
– CAJ News
