2024 Summit Sessions

Parliamentarian Perspectives: Fostering Inclusive Open Payments in Africa

This session will bring together four Members of Parliament from various African countries for a mainstage discussion on the role of policy and regulation in developing responsible, ethical, open payment systems in Africa to enhance digital financial inclusion. ​​In a world increasingly reliant on digital connectivity, access to digital financial services remains a crucial determinant of economic empowerment and social development. Unfortunately, 400 million African adults are excluded from the formal financial system. This gap has left people reliant on cash or informal providers, which is costly and risky and leaves them vulnerable to economic instability. Interledger is unlocking access to the formal financial system and digital financial services for the financially excluded through collaborations with governments, central banks, the private sector, and development institutions. This discussion will explore the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting Open Payments, an open API standard that can be implemented by account servicing entities such as banks, digital wallet providers, and mobile money providers. The discussion will cover how Interledger-enabled Open Payments facilitate interoperability in the setup and completion of payments for various use cases that are of interest to small and medium-sized enterprises, nonprofit organizations, and individuals. In particular, the parliamentarians will discuss (1) how and why deployments of the Open Payments standard serve the public good, (2) whether these efforts align with human rights principles as guided by the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, and (3) how advancing digital financial inclusion fosters economic participation and growth in their respective country. The parliamentarians will provide insights into recent, relevant, regional, and national political developments and explore strategies for fostering pan-African innovation in digital financial services. They will also discuss the importance of regulatory frameworks that support ethical practices and prevent human rights abuses, drawing on examples from their respective countries, and emphasize the importance of digital financial services being accessible to underrepresented groups and vulnerable populations. Intended for a general audience, this session will provide a platform for African parliamentarians to share their perspectives on how regulatory frameworks can support the development of inclusive and ethical digital payment systems. For the broader Interledger ecosystem, this session will offer attendees insights into the regulatory landscape and policy considerations that drive the development and adoption of digital financial infrastructure. Neema K. Lugangira, a Member of Parliament from Tanzania, will co-curate the panelists for this mainstage discussion with the involvement of the Interledger Foundation.

Views from the Grassroots: Village Banking and Financial Inclusion in Southern Africa

The session builds upon 2023 Interledger F|M awardees, Esther Mwema and Jon Adam Chen’s creative project, 'Sikhula Sonke: Living Archives of Afrofuturist Village Banking.’ Through exploring the practice of village banking in southern Africa, the session will introduce audiences to the grassroots, locally embedded approach to financial inclusion and open payments. Providing a rare opportunity for audiences to learn from community leaders of village banks in South Africa and village banking experts from Lusaka, Zambia, the session will be host to novel perspectives rooted in African practices of financial inclusion. The session will provide an opportunity for the village banking community members featured in Sikhula Sonke to share their knowledge and achievements through participation in the Indigenous system of a rotating savings and credit association, including how it has empowered themselves and their communities to improve their quality of life. In addition, community leaders will share their involvement in the unique Sikhula Sonke project. The discussion with community leaders from Khayelitsha and Lusaka, Zambia will be combined with audio storytelling and will promote the knowledge that already exists within communities in the host city of Cape Town, South Africa. The session will prompt listeners to re-evaluate how to think about money and wealth. For more information on the Sikhula Sonke project, visit the website: https://www.sikhulasonke.net/

Tazama Real-Time Open Source Software for Fraud Detection

Tazama is a recently launched project in the Linux Foundation. Tazama offers open source real-time transaction monitoring software for fraud and money-laundering detection. Our presentation introduces the product and its origin story, from its ideation as one of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Level One principles, to its MVP launch in April 2022 and ultimately its integration into the Linux Foundation. We will provide an overview of our mission, specifically to enable financial inclusion by promoting trust in digital financial ecosystems. We will also provide insight into our adjacent work in establishing a standards body that will collect and publish standards for reporting, sharing and actioning information on Financial Crime. Finally we will present the product itself to give the audience an overview of the features, capabilities and context within their own ecosystems.

Immersive Debate: Is DPI Inherently "Gender Neutral"?

The best way to learn is sometimes to argue both sides of a question. In this session, we offer participants an opportunity to get up out of their seats and actively debate each other on the topic of whether Digital Public Infrastructure is Inherently Gender Neutral. You will be randomly assigned to be on the side of “Pro”, “Con”, or a judge. With the help of DPI Expert Facilitators, you will make arguments and ask questions to see who “wins”. You will better understand the reality of building inclusive DPI, issues for policy makers, regulators, and private sector; as well as how to build social capital and capacity for those that need the benefits of DPI the most. Whatever your assumptions coming in, we promise a fun, fast-paced ride that will leave you walking out the door knowing more than when you walk in.

ThitsaX: Interconnected Nodes to Bridge Worlds

ThitsaX connectors are interconnected nodes that facilitate cross-ledger transactions. They leverage the Interledger Protocol to route and process payments across various payment systems and core back-end systems of different types of financial institutions, enabling transfers between diverse ledgers and networks. This network expansion promotes financial inclusion and creates an easily accessible and interconnected financial ecosystem. ThitsaX connectors will enable secure transactions across diverse payment networks, promoting efficiency and cost-effectiveness. During this session, cross-ledger transactions through ThitsaX connectors will be demonstrated.

Meet the UN IGF Dynamic Coalition on Digital Financial Inclusion

Financial exclusion remains a significant barrier to sustainable development and equitable growth, and is an under-explored topic in United Nations policymaking fora. This in-person convening of the Dynamic Coalition on Digital Financial Inclusion - an intersessional working group convened under the auspices of the UN Internet Governance Forum - will offer the Interledger community an opportunity to substantively feed into the work of the Dynamic Coalition as it explores how the adoption of open, global interoperable payment networks can overcome existing barriers and leverage opportunities to enhance financial inclusion across diverse stakeholder groups. We invite participation from the Interledger community to engage with select members of the Dynamic Coalition and outside experts, and to share case studies on how ILP-driven solutions are contributing towards economic participation and growth. Inputs will later be shared with the entire Dynamic Coalition and will feed into its final report, thus setting the stage for ongoing dialogue and action which contributes to the broader objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Shared Infrastructure to unlock Last-Mile Financial Inclusion using the Mifos DPGs for Core Banking

In this talk we will present our vision for shared infrastructure powered by the Mifos DPGs for core banking and payment orchestration. By enabling access to modern core banking in the cloud for last-mile financial institutions, we can fuel adoption of the ILF technology stack and enable the meaningful usage of digital financial services by under-represented groups and vulnerable populations.

The History & Future of Digital Financial Inclusion

Join the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Deputy Director, Inclusive Financial Systems and ILF Board Member, Kosta Peric as he brings his perspective on the trends, innovations and projects that are shaping digital financial inclusion and what we can do together to shape it.

Cross-border inter-scheme transfer demo: from Rafiki to a Mojaloop switch

This demo will present the architecture behind People’s Clearinghouse solution and showcase a demo in which the audience will be able to send mock money from their Rafiki instances at rafiki.money towards a community bank’s account that doesn’t implement Rafiki.

Towards an inclusive cashless society: the digital payments landscape in South Africa

Unlike many of its peers, South Africa has made great progress towards financial inclusion, with 82% of the adult population having access to a bank account and 94% being financially included. Despite this, cash remains king and the adoption and utilization of digital payments are slow. This panel discussion will explore the barriers to increased adoption of digital payments in South Africa and what is needed to overcome these barriers to facilitate the transition to an inclusive cashless society.