Hiedberg at the Ghana Fintech Awards
The Ghana Fintech Awards is an annual award ceremony that celebrates Ghanaian fintech companies and banks that are innovating the way they service their clients.
Ghana FinTech Awards is an annual event aimed at identifying Financial Technology (FinTech) Companies and Banking Institution’s stalwarts and celebrating their successes through the year. Individuals and companies are recognized and acknowledged for their efforts and achievements as they strive to build competitive and sustainable companies in a fast paced and challenging environment. In addition, the Awards event aims at promoting Ghana’s FinTech competitive advantage and the journey to building a resilient Fintech space for economic growth and achieving financial inclusion, thereby enhancing on the convenience of financial transactions. The Ghana Fintech Awards has demonstrated an increase in scope over the years by expanding its reach and recognizing more differentiated fintech companies with the aim of encompassing emerging technologies. This is entirely due to the ability of Fintechs to be embedded or plugged into every industry that has an online presence or e-commerce.
Our Founder & CEO, Miriam MacCarthy had the opportunity to attend this captivating award celebrating Ghanaian innovators. It was an inspiring event where she got to mingle and learn from changemakers in the industry.
The two key takeaways regarding fintech in Ghana are:
- Balancing Innovation with Compliance
This conversation was centered around nimble start-ups who want to quickly and effectively forge a path forward, and then think about how to control ‘the beast’ they created. While legacy finance companies and government agencies remain risk-averse in how they innovate to ensure compliance and safety.
Both sides of the conversation brought important considerations that need to be weighed when implementing a new tool or building a new venture.
- How do we define growth?
- What problem are we trying to solve?
- Is our product a solution or a bandaid?
- What are the short-term (positive and negative) effects of shipping this product out to the public?
- What are the long-term (positive and negative) effects of shipping this product out to the public?
2. Gender Diversity in Fintech
Although it is 2024, finance and fintech are still male-dominated industries. However, women still took up space at the event showcasing ventures they built or the teams they were leading. We loved learning about the following women in fintech/finance and their journeys.
- Mary Boateng Coleman, CEO of Brassica Pay
- Victoria Ajayi, COO of WeWire
- Betty Blavo, COO of Motito
As we continue our journey building Hiedberg, we cannot wait to collaborate and leave our mark not only in the Ghanaian fintech community but the broader global community as well.