Flutterwave Hosts High-Level Roundtable on Africa’s Digital Economy at IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings
Washington, D.C. — On the sidelines of the 2026 IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payments technology company, convened a private roundtable with Invest Africa to examine the investment landscape and infrastructure needs of the continent’s digital economy. The closed-door session, titled The Digital Economy Roundtable, brought together global investors, development finance institutions, policymakers, and technology leaders to explore scalable solutions for cross-border growth.
Moderated by Shannon Stround, Chief Executive Officer, US, Invest Africa, the discussion focused on three strategic pillars: scaling digital infrastructure across borders, fintech integration and regulatory harmonisation, and mobilising investment capital for Africa’s digital economy. The event reflected a growing consensus that execution, rather than narrative, is now the decisive factor for investment in Africa’s technology sector.
Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, highlighted the country’s improving investment climate and the policy reforms supporting digital transformation. Senior executives from Afreximbank, Bank of America, Chapel Hill Denham, Citibank, Kuramo Capital, and the World Bank Group joined alongside representatives from Google, Helios Towers, and the Gates Foundation.
Bankole Falade, Flutterwave’s Chief Legal, Regulatory, and Public Policy Officer, opened the session with a decade-long perspective on building Africa’s “payments superhighway.” He noted that when Flutterwave launched, the continent’s payment infrastructure was fragmented across isolated systems. “What we’ve done is connect these disconnected islands with one API,” Falade said. “As we look forward to the next 10 years, what we want to do is connect Africa to the rest of the world, and the world to Africa, with seamless payment solutions.”
Bolanle Baruwa, Head of SME Business at Flutterwave, reinforced the link between infrastructure growth and employment, urging a shift from basic digital training to sustainable job creation aligned with systemic expansion. Bridgit Antwi, Head of Strategy and Operations, led the investment mobilisation segment, focusing on short-term liquidity solutions to support real-time transaction flows and working capital needs.
The roundtable underscored that while macroeconomic reforms and regulatory modernisation are improving the investment climate in key African markets, deeper regional integration and interoperable systems are essential for unlocking larger addressable markets. Participants agreed that scaling across borders, not just within individual countries, will be the key to unlocking the next level of growth.
Flutterwave’s convening of the event signals its continued role as a strategic partner in shaping Africa’s digital economy, with its regulatory frameworks, bank-grade governance, and cross-border payment infrastructure positioning it as a critical enabler for global capital deployment into Africa’s estimated $1.5 trillion digital economy.
