Interswitch Group, one of Africa’s leading integrated payments and digital commerce companies, has emphasized the imperative for African technology players to champion locally relevant innovation that are tailored to the continent’s realities and nuances.
Speaking at the recently concluded 2025 Africa Soft Power (ASP) Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, Key industry players and leaders at the Summit 2025 summarily called for greater economic self-determination and stronger artificial intelligence governance as the continent seeks to reduce dependence on foreign capital and prevent unregulated technology deployment. The 4th edition of the two-day summit, running through May 22nd – 23rd, brought together thought leaders, policymakers, investors, and innovators from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Tanzania, and other African nations to address leadership, investment, and technological development challenges. The discussions at the summit highlighted the current reality that most African startup capital Decision-makers remain external to the Continent, limiting the ecosystem’s potential, and called for unified perspective towards challenging this longstanding reality.
Speaking at the summit, Interswitch Group, represented by Bernard Kinara, Country General Manager in Kenya asserted that the company, as a fintech leader proudly rooted in Africa remains resolutely championing technology solutions that connect and empower individuals, businesses, and communities, to drive prosperity across the continent. He noted that beyond her role as a pioneering innovator in the digital payments & commerce space, Interswitch is always enthused at opportunities to advocate and advance the conversation around digital transformation geared towards enabling financial inclusion.
Speaking on a pivotal panel discussion themed “Inclusive Leadership & Disruptions: Shaping Growth and Navigating Global Shifts”, He highlighted Interswitch’s impact – being the continent’s first fintech/payments unicorn – in strengthening cross-ecosystem linkages and partnerships by bringing together fintechs, banks and other financial service delivery enablers; in advancing borderless payments and cross-country value-exchange; and in driving required affirmative action on the social development front through the creation of opportunities for women and youth through corporate responsibility and sustainability initiatives; such as #InterswitchSPAK, in line with the organization’s corporate purpose – inspiring Africa to greatness through innovation, value-creation and excellence.
He furthermore highlighted AI’s potential to democratize access through natural language coding tools that break down gender and linguistic barriers, while cautioning against biases in AI systems. The summit also discussed topical themes such as AI Models, Sovereignty, and Democratizing Access, and highlighted the necessity of policy autonomy in the global digital landscape, citing successful regulatory actions by governments in Uganda and Nigeria against multinational tech platforms.
Philip Ikeazor, Director General of Financial System Stability at Nigeria’s Central Bank, emphasized that anti-money laundering and fraud detection standards are becoming mandatory, with AI supporting but policy leading these efforts. However, challenges remain around weak data protection and low digital literacy, which policy must address. The AI governance panel emphasized AI literacy for policymakers and the public, advocating tailored education approaches to ensure that AI tools solve practical problems for farmers, creatives, and civil servants.
A technologist noted the paradox of rising public AI awareness alongside skepticism, reinforcing the need for transparent, trustworthy AI systems. The Africa Soft Power Summit 2025 assembled Leaders, Innovators, and Creatives from across the Continent to address challenges in leadership, infrastructure, and technological development, with participants calling for frameworks that prioritize African decision-making and economic sovereignty.
The discussions covered infrastructure, digital finance, and artificial intelligence, with a consistent theme of moving beyond external dependence toward sustainable, locally-driven development models. Interswitch remains a leading technology-driven company focused on the digitization of payments and commerce across Africa.
Founded in Nigeria in 2002, Interswitch disrupted the traditional cash-based payments value chain in Nigeria by supporting the introduction of electronic payments processing and switching services, and launched Verve, Africa’s premier and leading domestic EMV-standard chip and pin payments card scheme. Today, Interswitch is a leading player with critical mass across Africa’s developing financial ecosystem and is active across the payments value chain, providing a full suite of omni-channel payment solutions.
Interswitch’s vision is to make payments a seamless part of everyday life in Africa, and its mission is to create transaction solutions that enable individuals and communities to prosper across Africa. Interswitch’s broad network and robust payments platform have been instrumental to the development of the Nigerian payments ecosystem and provide Interswitch with the infrastructure to expand across Africa.
