Zenith Bank Plc will on Tuesday, November 22, open its two-day Tech Fair with the theme: “Future Forward 2.0,” at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, from 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. daily.
The fair, now in its second edition, the bank said in a statement, patterned after such global technological events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and EmTech Asia, will showcase leading technology innovations cutting across different aspects of life, such as Artificial Intelligence.
Others are Computing, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Robotics, Big Data, FinTech, Augmented Reality, Data Analytics, 5G and Communication Technologies, among others, besides featuring Hackathon sessions to identify innovative startups, panel discussions, masterclasses and exhibitions.
The fair will feature a welcome address by Jim Ovia, founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank, and opening remarks by Ebenezer Onyeagwu, the bank’s Group Managing Director, who is also Chairman, Body of Banks’ CEOs, Nigeria.
The keynote address, “The Future of Banking: Digital Transformation Journey”, will be by Brett King, a renowned futurist, bestselling author, award-winning speaker, founder of Moven and author of Bank 4.0.
Other eminent IT practitioners who represent top global brands will make presentations, including: Tarik Alatovic, Senior Partner, McKinsey; Juliet Ehimuan, West Africa Director, Google; Ola Williams, Country Manager, Microsoft Inc.; Andrew Uaboi, Vice President/Head, Visa West Africa; Mrs. Rakiya Mohammed, Director of Information Technology at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); Chris Lu, Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Nigeria, and Dame (Dr.) Adaora Umeoji, Deputy Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, amongst others.
The fair will feature three panel discussions, the first of which will examine “The future of payments: what next and how can we get there”, to be hosted by Prof. Yinka David West of the Lagos Business School, with four discussants, namely: Agada Apochi, Managing Director, UPSL; Olu Akanmu, Managing Director, Opay; Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director, NIBBS; and Kari Tukur, V/P & Head of Products East/West Africa, MasterCard.
The second panel will explore the theme: “What are the main challenges of digital transformation in the financial industry? How do we solve them?”. It will be hosted by Brett King with Tosin Eniolorunda, Managing Director, TeamApt; Obi Emetarom, Managing Director, Appzone; Dr. Babatunde Obrimah, COO, FintechNGR; and Olugbenga Agboola, Founder/CEO, Flutterwave, as panelists.
The third panel discussion is titled “Driving the global trade revolution with technology: current transformation trends” and has as panelist: Mike Ogbalu III, Managing Director, PAPSS; Akeem Lawal, Divisional CEO, Interswitch; Massimiliano Spalazzi, Country Manager, Jumia; and Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji, Director of Trade & Exchange, CBN. It will be hosted by Samuel Eze, Founder/CEO, Ourpass.
The first edition of the Zenith Tech Fair was held on November 27, 2019, at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Tagged ‘Future Forward’, the fair featured a hackathon which produced 10 winners. The grand prize of N10m went to Octave Analytics Limited; while Neohaul Technologies, emerged first runner-up, receiving a N6m prize; while reQuid Technologies, the second runner up, won N5m. Other winners who went home with N1m each included: Termii, Xcard Nigeria Limited, Payonhold, Escrow Inc, Alerzo, Nairapacket and Qview.ai.
According to the organisers, each interested participants is expected to register at www.zenithbank.com/techfair, after which he/she will receive confirmation email.
The fair will be live on Zoom for participation and streamed on the bank’s social media pages including YouTube, the statement added.
