Dr. Ashigbey recommended that regulators create an enabling environment that balances innovation and security, while banks and financial institutions prioritize security in their products and services. He also stressed the importance of public-private-academia partnerships to combat fraud and educating consumers on fraud prevention and detection. He admonished the security agencies to modernize their systems as the fraudsters were getting more and more sophisticated in their operations.

Dr Ashigbey noted that our culture and limited literacy also poses a threat to us. He said that people go to MoMo vendors to transact business and readily give their handsets to the MoMo vendors to perform the transactions. When asked for their PIN, they instantly call it out loudly to the hearing of anyone around.

The summit featured esteemed speakers, including Kwame Oppong, Director of FinTech and Innovation at the Bank of Ghana, and Dr. Albert Antwi-Boasiako, Director-General of the Cyber Security Authority. Diana Yorke, Business Development Manager at LexisNexis Risk Solutions, emphasized the need for regulatory landscapes to implement measures such as multi-layer processes to counter potential attacks from cyber attackers using AI.

Other speakers highlighted the importance of leveraging machine learning to prevent sophisticated cyber attacks, suggesting the use of biometric features, behavioral analysis, and adding machine learning to existing systems to detect cyber attackers. Mr. Bernard Gyebi, Managing Director of Prudential Bank, noted that achieving digital transformation required the transformation and training of people's minds, hearts, and skill sets.

Panelists who discussed the theme: “Customer-Centric Strategies for Enhanced Banking Experiences”, said that banks must understand the needs of their customers and do all they can to meet those needs or, else, they would lose them to other banks. They said that customers want to be pampered and personalized and not treated as one of a bunch of people.

Dr. Dominic Oduro-Antwi, President of the Global Africa Trade Advisory Chamber and the Ghana India Trade Advisory Chamber, the Guest of Honour for the occasion, said that banking employed over 18% of the African population. He noted however, that more than 350 million Africans still remain unbanked, which meant that more work needed to be done to get the unbanked on board. He called for more collaboration between industry players and cross-border integration to make banking more attractive.

Panelists who discussed strategies for banks to fortify their defenses against cyber threats in an era of increased digital banking services, advised companies to always back up their data to counter cyber attacks. Industry employers were advised to do thorough searches on people being employed, and constantly take their staff through training and drills on how to counter cyber attacks. 

The summit concluded with the Innovation & Excellence Awards ceremony, celebrating and honoring notable achievements within the banking industry and recognizing trailblazers who have driven impactful change and excellence in the sector ¹.