Tshazibana to keynote as Dozie, Eweniyi, Karusisi, Ndukwe-Okafor and David-West join Bridgforte conversation on trust in digital finance

South African Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Nomfundo (Fundi) Tshazibana will deliver the keynote as leaders from banking, fintech, consumer advocacy and academia come together to examine one of the defining questions facing digital financial services.

As financial services become faster, more digital and increasingly interconnected, the institutions that shape a single customer experience are also becoming more diverse.

Banks, fintechs, payment infrastructures, technology platforms, regulators and consumer advocates each influence public confidence in different ways.

Bridgforte’s launch brings those perspectives together in a single conversation on how trust can be built and sustained in the next phase of digital finance.

At the centre of the discussion is Bridgforte’s forthcoming policy report, Trust Architecture in Platform-Led Finance. Developed through dialogue with senior leaders from banking, fintech, regulation, payments and development finance, the report explores the governance questions emerging as financial systems become increasingly digital, interconnected and platform-led. It is intended to contribute to a broader policy conversation on the future of trust in digital financial services.

South African Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Nomfundo (Fundi) Tshazibana will deliver the keynote, followed by a panel featuring Dr Diane Karusisi, Chief Executive Officer of Bank of Kigali; Uzoma Dozie, Founder of Sparkle and former Chief Executive of Diamond Bank; Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-founder of PiggyVest; and Professor Chiso

Ndukwe-Okafor, Executive Director of the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Olayinka David-West, Dean of Lagos Business School.

Together, they will bring perspectives from banking, fintech, consumer advocacy, policy and academia to examine how trust can be built and sustained as digital financial services continue to evolve, and what that means for the future of financial systems across Africa and the Global South.

Where the work came from

The work traces its origins to the inaugural Bridgforte Dialogues, convened on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2025 with the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program and ConsumerCentriX. Conversations on the future of financial inclusion repeatedly returned to a central conclusion: while access had advanced significantly, trust was emerging as the defining question for the next phase.

That observation led to a second stage of inquiry through a closed-door Executive Table convened in Lagos in February 2026 in partnership with the UNDP Nigeria Innovation Centre. Bringing together thirty senior leaders from banking, fintech, payments infrastructure, insurance, capital markets and development finance, those discussions informed a wider programme of independent research and international comparative analysis.

The report presents a new policy framework for examining trust in increasingly digital financial systems.

The work is convened by Aishah N. Ahmad, CFA, OFR, Founder of Bridgforte and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

Financial inclusion has transformed millions of lives by expanding access. The unfinished work is confidence. Digital financial systems must now prove themselves worthy of public trust. That is the defining challenge for policymakers, regulators and industry leaders alike. It is the shift in thinking African finance now requires, and the work Bridgforte was built to do.”

— Aishah N. Ahmad, CFA, OFR, Founder, Bridgforte

The launch

Nomfundo (Fundi) Tshazibana, Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, delivers the keynote. Mrs Ahmad sets the context by introducing Bridgforte and the origins of the research. The framework is then unveiled, followed by an overview of the report by Ms Ladipo and a panel discussion bringing together four perspectives from across the financial system:

Dr Diane Karusisi, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Kigali — banking from outside Nigeria
Uzoma Dozie, Founder, Sparkle; formerly Chief Executive, Diamond Bank — the bank-fintech crossover
Odunayo Eweniyi, Co-founder, PiggyVest — the platform builder
Professor Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, Executive Director, Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation — the consumer advocate

Moderator: Professor Olayinka David-West, Dean, Lagos Business School

Hosts: Lehlé Baldé and Ugodre Obi-Chukwu, Founder and Chief Executive, Nairametrics

The 100-minute virtual event will be recorded. It is open to regulators, financial institutions, fintech leaders, development partners and researchers across Africa, Europe and the Americas.