During the Easter break, FITSPA brought together members to attend an insightful and thought-provoking meet and greet with Emmanuel Daniel, a Singapore-based entrepreneur who is also the founder of The Asian Banker, a publication that majors in research, benchmarking and events like the Asian Banker Summit which has in the past scooped the Best Financial Conference for Asia Award.
Emmanuel has also the founder of Wealth and Society is a global programme where the wealthy are assessed by their relevance to the building of fibers in society through their philanthropy, corporate social responsibility or projects that contribute to the sustainability and well-being of society.
Conversations with selected experts from around the world or within the country are a new initiative within FITSPA. The main objective of hosting these conversations is to expose our members to the current trends in different markets hence fostering networking, groundbreaking partnerships across markets in the globe and innovation. We anticipate exposure of FITSPA members to global opportunities within Africa and beyond.
FITSPA members scooped some important trends from the conversation with Emmanuel Daniel, they were able to appreciate the nature of Finance in the West and how it has shaped its spheres of influence across the world over the years.
Citing retail banking as an example, he mentioned that in its advent, emphasis was put on credit cards and there was opposition from the banks against anyone who pointed out their usury. He further mentioned that that model of finance is extractive and abusive hence hindering individuals from controlling their own resources.
Additionally, he mentioned that in recent times, there has been an emergence of concepts like inclusive finance considering those that fall in bottom of the pyramid. There is emphasis that payments should either be made free or free. In Emmanuel’s perspective, the latter idea is also dominated by a western perspective as to what Finance should be, it is extractive and the whole idea of the platform economy is such that venture capitalists can profit from it. The platform economy is designed to bring everyone into the economy, and this would be a disadvantage to those at the bottom of the pyramid in terms of the being more indebted.
Emmanuel believes that there is a general shift in which economies are moving from platform economy (Westernized finance as we know it) to the personalization economy, where greater power will now exist in the hands of the individual because finance will be put in their hands through technology. This will change the role of financial institutions since they will have to figure out the value they add as intermediators.
All the ideas shared by Emmanuel Daniel are also articulated and expounded upon in his upcoming book titled The Great Transition.
Subsequent conversations with industry experts from across the world and within the country will be communicated to the FITSPA community for growth and insight.