New Communities of Practice launched

The second half of 2019 saw four new Communities of Practice (COP) being established and another re-established. China held its first COP meeting in Shanghai, which was attended by 70 students, 50 from the current CIDM course and 20 alumni.

It was also fantastic to see the Lagos COP return thanks to a large group of students joining the CIDM course. Their first meeting saw 27 students getting together to discuss the regulatory environment and infrastructure within Nigeria. Nigeria also has a second COP established in Abuja! At their meetings they have been discussing mobile money and MTN’s super-agent license and application for a banking license.

West Africa is also home to our other two new COPs – Cameroon and Togo! The Lome COP have been discussing risk mapping and fraud in digital finance and microfinance. The Douala COP have had lengthy discussions about payments and risk, and cross-border payments, KYC and the vulnerability of refugees due to challenges with identification.

Events will be being held soon in Lagos, Abuja, Lome and Douala for DFI alumni. Your COP facilitator will be getting in touch with you, but you can also contact them to ensure you receive an invitation to the event:

• Lagos – Immanuel Umukoro
• Abuja – Adenike Adeniji
• Lome – Eloi Gome
• Douala – Gisele Yitamben

Our existing sixteen COPs in Abidjan, Accra, Addis Ababa, Blantyre/Lilongwe, Cape Town, Cotonou, Dakar, Dar es Salaam, Dhaka, Harare, Kampala, Karachi, Kigali, Lusaka, Maputo, and Nairobi are also meeting regularly and have event planned for our existing CIDM & LDMM students and our alumni. More information about your COP and facilitator can be found on the DFI wesite.

COPs provide an opportunity for like-minded individuals to get together to discuss developments within digital finance, including regulation, products, customer needs and inclusion. It provides a unique opportunity to network and collaborate with people from different organisations from regulators, to banks, to MNOs, to those in the development sector. We hope our alumni are taking advantage of these occasions to form connections, explore ideas and stay relevant within this fast-paced industry.    

If you would like more information about COPs or have any questions please do contact Sarah Corley, DFI’s Community & Professional Development Manager.