Jim Ovia, IT Practitioners to Headline Zenith Tech Fair

Nosa Alekhuogie

The second edition of the Zenith Tech Fair with the theme, “Future Forward 2.0,” would be held on Tuesday, November 22 and Wednesday, November 23, 2022, at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotels & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos, from 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. daily.

Conceived in the mould of global technological events such as the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and EmTech Asia, the fair would showcase leading technology innovations that cut across different aspects of life, such as Artificial Intelligence, Computing, Machine Learning, Blockchain, Robotics, Big Data, FinTech, Augmented Reality, Data Analytics, 5G and Communication Technologies, among others.

According to a statement yesterday, the event would also feature Hackathon sessions to identify innovative startups, panel discussions, masterclasses and exhibitions.

The two-day fair would feature a welcome address by the Founder and Chairman of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia and opening remarks by the Group Managing Director of Zenith Bank and Chairman, Body of Banks’ CEOs, Nigeria, Mr. Ebenezer Onyeagwu.

The keynote address, “The Future of Banking: Digital Transformation Journey,” would be delivered by Brett King, a renowned futurist, bestselling author, award-winning speaker, Founder of Moven and Author of Bank 4.0. Other eminent IT practitioners who represent top global brands would make presentations.
These include Senior Partner, McKinsey, Tarik Alatovic; West Africa Director, Google, Juliet Ehimuan; Country Manager, Microsoft Inc., Ola Williams; Vice President/Head, Visa West Africa, Andrew Uaboi; Director of Information Technology, Central Bank of Nigeria, Mrs. Rakiya Mohammed; Managing Director, Huawei Technologies Nigeria, Chris Lu, and Deputy Managing Director of Zenith Bank Plc, Dr. Adaora Umeoji, amongst others.

The fair would feature three panel discussions. The first panel, which would examine, “The future of payments: what next and how can we get there,” has Prof. Yinka David West of Lagos Business School as the host, with four discussants, including Agada Apochi, Managing Director, UPSL; Olu Akanmu, Managing Director, Opay; Premier Oiwoh, Managing Director, NIBBS; and Kari Tukur, V/P & Head of Products East/West Africa, MasterCard.

The second panel would explore the theme, “What are the main challenges of digital transformation in the financial industry? How do we solve them?”. It would be hosted by Brett King and has four discussants, including Tosin Eniolorunda, Managing Director, TeamApt; Obi Emetarom, Managing Director, Appzone; Dr. Babatunde Obrimah, COO, FintechNGR; and Olugbenga Agboola, Founder/CEO, Flutterwave.

The third panel discussion is titled, “Driving the global trade revolution with technology: current transformation trends.” The panel, which will be hosted by Samuel Eze, Founder/CEO, Ourpass, has five discussants, including Mike Ogbalu III, Managing Director, PAPSS; Akeem Lawal, Divisional CEO, Interswitch; Massimiliano Spalazzi, Country Manager, Jumia; and Dr. Ozoemena Nnaji, Director of Trade & Exchange, CBN.

The first edition of the Zenith Tech Fair was held on November 27, 2019, at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Tagged ‘Future Forward’, the fair featured a hackathon which produced ten winners, including Octave Analytics Limited, who won the grand prize of N10 million; Neohaul Technologies, the first runner up who received N6 million prize; and reQuid Technologies, the second runner up who won N5 million. Other winners who took home N1 million each included Termii, Xcard Nigeria Limited, Payonhold, Escrow Inc, Alerzo, Nairapacket and Qview.ai.

“To register and participate, visit www.zenithbank.com/techfair. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email. The fair will be live on Zoom for participation and streamed on the bank’s social media pages including YouTube,” the statement added.