Morocco/Casablanca: Al Akhawayn University holds the 2nd edition of its Executive FinTech Talks

On Wednesday in Casablanca, Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane (AUI) held the second edition of the AUI Executive FinTech Talks, a quarterly event dedicated to analyzing the dynamics of the fintech sector and its implications for the Moroccan and African economy.

Under the theme "How to build trust in fintech?", this event aims to share knowledge and strengthen continuing education, by bringing together academic experts, finance professionals, entrepreneurs and representatives of public institutions to discuss the challenges of building trust in fintech.

Speaking at the event, Nadia Bouhouch, Head of Innovation at the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC), emphasized the importance of regulators' proximity to the financial ecosystem.Nadia Bouhouch, Head of Innovation at the Moroccan Capital Market Authority (AMMC), emphasized the importance of regulators being close to the fintech ecosystem in order to build lasting trust, stressing that "it's not enough to set up a legal framework, we have to understand the projects, support the entrepreneurs and evolve with them".

By combining regulatory innovation and active listening, regulators can become true partners of trust in the emergence of a robust and credible Moroccan fintech sector, she continued.

According to Ms. Bouhouch, supervisors play an essential role in building trust within a sector as new and evolving as fintech, by ensuring that they support innovation while guaranteeing a secure regulatory framework adapted to current challenges.

In this vein, she returned to the subject of the "regulatory sandbox", which enables innovations to be tested in a secure environment under the supervision of the AMF.

This is a win-win environment, in which the regulator learns from startups and adjusts regulations in line with their feedback, she pointed out.This mechanism, based on agile regulation and graduated according to the level of risk, is a concrete response to the uncertainties of the sector".

For his part, Souhail Benhamou, Director of Products at Go Mobile, highlighted the importance of a "Made in Morocco" fintech built on the real needs of the local market.

Drawing on his experience in microfinance and digital, he highlighted the limits of imported models that are not adapted to Moroccan realities, calling for a move beyond simply "copying and pasting" models from countries such as Sweden and France.

He also warned against an exclusively technocentric vision of fintech, pointing out that, despite technical skills, adoption is still hampered by usage, and that the potential of fintech is limited.He also warned against an exclusively technocentric vision of fintech, pointing out that despite technical skills, adoption is still held back by usage, and that the field agent, who favors the human relationship, must be helped rather than replaced, by means of hybrid tools that reinforce trust.

Thus, M. Benhamou emphasized the need for fintech products to be culturally rooted, noting that compliance, data security and identity verification are powerful levers for building trust.The "by Moroccans, for Moroccans" label is a growing guarantee of credibility.

Hamza Cherkaoui, Deputy Managing Director of Bank of Africa Tanzania, gave a pan-African overview of fintech ecosystems, highlighting the central role of trust in their development.

In detail, he cited the example of Rwanda, where the total digitization of transactions supported by the state has established an almost natural trust among citizens, making technology accessible and familiar, including for the payment of fines via e-wallets.

In Tanzania, where he currently works, the approach is different: it is the telecoms operators who have driven the transition, relying on over 500,000 field agents, recognizable by their branded vests, who provide a local human interface facilitating digital transactions.

Returning to the case of Morocco, Mr. Cherkaoui called for closer collaboration between banks and local fintechs, believing that "each bank should give startups the opportunity to access the end-user directly".

In a fast-changing ecosystem, where trust is becoming a sine qua non for development, the event reminded us that building an inclusive Moroccan fintech is an essential prerequisite for success.an inclusive Moroccan fintech depends as much on ingenious solutions as it does on a thorough understanding of social, cultural and human realities.

Source: www.mapexpress.ma/