News

The African Economic Research consortium (AERC) recently participated in the International Conference on Global FinTech Ecosystem. This conference took place at the University of Essex in the United Kingdom on July 22-23, 2024. It was part of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Indian Council of Social Sciences Research (ICSSR) sponsored UK India Fintrade project.

Prof. Victor Murinde, AERC Executive Director, who was one of the key speakers at this event observed that the financial technologies (FinTech) revolution is in full swing globally. “FinTech lenders will replace banks, perhaps because banks are developing their own FinTech platforms or working with FinTech start-ups”, adding that regulation, global infrastructures and geopolitical frictions will shape the future of banking.
“This project was timely, given the global FinTech revolution. It has generated new evidence that will directly inform policies and strategies for enhancing trade in FinTech and FinTech-enabled services between the UK and India”, said Prof. Murinde.

Professor Thankom Arun at the University of Essex commented “FinTech provides enormous opportunities for the development of financial markets and economic growth. This project will make significant contributions to the ongoing India-UK economic cooperation, by contributing to the development of the FinTech sector and FinTech-enabled services in India and the UK.”
Dr. Reji Joseph of the Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, and the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, noted that, “FinTech is one of the focus areas of economic cooperation between India and UK, and both countries have globally leading start-up ecosystems. This project captures the potential of FinTech start-up ecosystems in both countries in promoting bilateral trade in services and the regulatory issues that affect their growth and contribution”.

Other key speakers who gave invaluable insights and contributions included, Prof. Sheri Marina Markose, professor of Economics at the University of Essex, Professor Sachin Chaturvedi and Dr Priyadarshi Das, New Delhi University, Dr. Philip Kostov, UCLAN, Dr. Dize Dinçkol, University of Oxford, and Dr. Meng Xie School of Finance and Management, The School of Finance and Management at SOAS University of London among others.

This project aimed to assess the role of FinTech in the expansion of UK-India bilateral trade in goods and financial services. The project focused on analyzing global developments in an ever-evolving field of fintech and financial services. Further focus was on analyzing the bilateral trade and trade in financial services between the United Kingdom and India: a lucrative economic relationship poised for significant future expansion in financial services. The main focus areas of the project included an in-depth analysis on the growth of fintech opportunities across the two economies, boosted by technological and infrastructural advancement.

The impact of these improvements was assessed across a number of sub-sectors, including Neo-Banks, Digital Lending and Digital Currency. The role of the government across the two economies was analyzed to showcase the benefits it reaps in accommodating financial services growth and facilitating cross-border trade.

The research partnership involved SOAS University of London, University of Essex, the Research and Information System for Developing Countries of New Delhi University, UCLAN, Gulati Institute of Finance and Taxation, and the Institute for Studies in Industrial Development, New Delhi.