Earlier today at the Board of Changemakers: “Financial Markets” plenary at the Future Investment Initiative (FII) 2025 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, I discussed Africa’s readiness for AI adoption and ways it will transform financial markets.
It was an engaging session discussing this with fellow panellists Tareq A. Al-Sadhan, CEO, Saudi National Bank (SNB), Jane Fraser, CEO, Citi, Jenny Johnson, President & CEO, Franklin Templeton, Kanetsugu Mike, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc., Ron O’Hanley, Chairman & CEO, State Street Corporation, Makoto Takashima, Chairman of the Board, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Su Shan Tan, CEO, DBS Group, Sim Tshabalala, Chief Executive, Standard Bank Group, C.S. Venkatakrishnan, Group CEO, Barclays PLC, and Bill Winters, Group CEO, Standard Chartered Bank.
To some, it is about AI adoption; to others, it is about AI accessibility. We must, as a global community, play our role in ensuring AI access and equity, to catalyse development. I encouraged my fellow board of changemakers to take decisive action: to catalyse AI accessibility within their respective capital allocation and investment boardrooms to unlock global capital access for the African continent.
We must democratise access to AI to ensure that no one is left behind. This is how we will co-create shared global prosperity.
