#AITECBanking: Top banking Exec calls on tech innovators to educate Kenyan banks

Titus Karanja, CEO, Sidian Bank, has made a call for tech providers to help educate Kenyan bankers in order for them to better understand how technology can best benefit their banks.

Mr. Karanja made this announcement during, the AITEC Banking and Mobile Money COMESA Conference, where he was making his presentation on: “Banking in a new era!”

“I have one announcement, and it is a request. As technology providers you probably assume that banks we know a lot, but the truth of the matter is that we know very little about your businesses. So I’m saying as Sidian bank we understand there is a big opportunity if we were to partner with you. I’m also saying that we have humility to know; that we don’t really know what you do, and a lot of what you do and the language you talk and some of the acronyms you use are Greek to us,” said Mr. Karanja.

“Are you willing to educate bankers sufficiently enough; to do a partnership with you, or to want to finance you? If you are willing, we are willing to listen. And I think as Sidian, partnership with technology providers is a big thing for us, and you will see us announcing one or two initiatives in the future which will show that we are part of you,” he added.

“You can trust us not to run away with your idea. How can you trust us not to run away with your idea? Because it’s not in my best interest, I don’t know enough about it to run away with it. But even if you educate me the chances that I could run away with it and execute it as well as you could is very low,” he continued.

According to Mr. Karanja the Sidian bank board has given a mandate protecting entrepreneurs from such theft, whereby, to enable innovation the board has vowed to deal with anyone who tries to shortchange people of their ideas, regardless of whether the intellectual property laws in the country are weak or not.

The AITEC Banking and Mobile Money COMESA Conference is scheduled for 30-31 Aug 2016. AITEC’s 10th anniversary Banking and Mobile Money Conference will have Aly-Khan Satchu, a financial markets analyst as the conference chairman.