The FinTech Safari Launches For Africa’s Digital Finance Leaders

Ali Hussein Kassim, CEO of AHK Growth Partners, Chairman of the Association of FinTechs in Kenya, and Vice President for Eastern Africa at the Africa FinTech Network, has launched The FinTech Safari, a new executive education programme designed to give African business leaders, policymakers, regulators and investors an immersive understanding of the continent’s rapidly evolving financial technology ecosystem.

The initiative comes as Africa’s fintech industry continues to post some of the fastest growth rates globally, even as many decision-makers remain disconnected from the operational realities driving the sector.

According to Kassim, the programme aims to bridge that gap by moving executive education beyond traditional classroom instruction and into the institutions shaping Africa’s digital financial services landscape.

“Africa is not adopting the future of finance. It is building it,” Kassim said.

He pointed to the rapid expansion of digital financial services across the continent. Mobile money transactions reached $2 trillion in 2025, doubling since 2021, while Sub-Saharan Africa now accounts for 1.1 billion mobile money accounts, more than any other region worldwide. Africa’s fintech sector is projected to generate $65 billion in annual revenue by 2030, representing one of the fastest growth trajectories globally.

In Kenya alone, approximately $322.4 billion was transacted through a single domestic mobile money platform during the last financial year.

“These are not promising numbers. They are structural facts — the rails, the volumes and the institutions of a continent that has already moved,” Kassim said.

Unlike conventional executive education programmes that rely heavily on case studies developed around Western financial markets, The FinTech Safari is built around direct exposure to Africa’s own financial services ecosystem.

Participants will visit fintech companies, mobile network operators offering financial services (FinTelcos), payment infrastructure providers, banking-as-a-service platforms, banks, regulators and credit bureaus, while learning directly from industry practitioners.

The programme will be delivered in two stages.

The first stage takes place in Nairobi, where participants will attend executive sessions hosted inside fintech companies, financial institutions and regulatory bodies. The second stage moves participants to a Safari Camp retreat, providing space for strategic discussions and leadership reflection away from the day-to-day business environment.

The programme has been structured into three learning tiers.

The Explorer track targets entrepreneurs, new financial regulators, banking and insurance executives entering fintech, and board members seeking digital finance literacy through a five-day programme in Nairobi.

The Practitioner level is designed for product leaders, commercial bankers, fintech founders, regulators and investors, combining executive sessions with a strategic retreat.

The highest tier, Navigator, is reserved for C-suite executives, central bank governors, cabinet ministers, investment fund leaders and founders of established fintech companies, focusing on strategic leadership discussions and peer engagement.

Alongside the programme launch, Kassim announced that founding partnership opportunities are now open.

The initiative is seeking partners across ten categories, including payment infrastructure providers, fintech companies, banking-as-a-service platforms, agency banking networks, regulators, central banks, venture capital firms, InsurTech companies, WealthTech firms and RegTech providers.

Each category will have a single Founding Category Partner with exclusive branding rights throughout the programme, faculty participation across all cohorts, dedicated thought leadership sessions, access to programme alumni and participation in an annual Navigator executive dinner.

Additional partnership opportunities include Faculty Hosts, Venue Partners and Cohort Sponsors.

Founding partner discussions are already underway in Nairobi, Lagos, Cape Town and Cairo, with partnerships expected to be finalised during the fourth quarter of 2026.

The first Explorer cohort is scheduled to begin in Nairobi later this year, while the inaugural Practitioner and Navigator programmes, together with the first Safari Camp retreats, are planned for the first half of 2027.