Bahrain will host a dynamic panel of influential speakers from across the world in March 2018 at the second edition of the Middle East & Africa FinTech Forum. Sponsored by Arab Financial Services (AFS) and Bank ABC, the event will witness one of the largest assemblies of renowned FinTech and financial experts who will discuss the challenges facing the realm of financial technologies and the opportunities that lay ahead.

The Middle East & Africa FinTech Forum 2018 is being held under the theme Beyond Disruption. It will kick off on March 8, in Bahrain’s capital city Manama and include 300 invited senior executives representing the financial industry in the Middle East and beyond.

Speaking of the vision behind the event, Sael Al Waary, Chairman of AFS and Deputy Group CEO of Bank ABC, said: “The conference tackles the most pressing and urgent themes in FinTech that are changing the banking and finance industry through advanced data analysis, the use of artificial intelligence and crypto-currency.” Rasheed Al Maraj, the Governor of Central Bank of Bahrain, will inaugurate the event this year, whereas the keynote speaker will be Anthony Thomson, the serial entrepreneur who founded Britain’s first fully-digital bank, ATOM. Joe Divanna, Chief Executive of Maris Strategies and a frequent participant in panel discussions at CNBC, will moderate the event.

Overall, the conference will explore the various ways the current unprecedented growth in technology and innovation is altering the manner in which banking and financial services operate on a global scale.

“This forum brings many of our esteemed speakers to the Middle East and Africa region for the first time, allowing the delegates the unique opportunity to benefit from their ground-breaking work in the financial technology sphere,” said B Chandrasekhar, Chief Executive at AFS. [Source]