Celebrating 2023 with CFTE: A Year of Global Impact

Closing 2023, CFTE proudly reflects on a year marked by dynamic expansion and impactful initiatives. Our commitment to fostering an inclusive and efficient Financial Services sector has not wavered but only flourished. CFTE’s reach extended remarkably, welcoming new professional learners from diverse regions, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Rwanda, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, and India. This year encapsulates a dense array of achievements, marked by numerous partnerships, projects, innovative programmes, and a vibrant tapestry of growth.

Let’s take a quick look at CFTE’s 2023 journey:

A Year Of Global Expansion: Entering New Markets, Forming Dynamic Partnerships, and Creating Cutting-Edge Programmes

CFTE collaborated with the Central Bank of Egypt, and the Egyptian Banking Institute to create “The Innovator Programme” as part of the Egypt 2030 vision

In line with the Central Bank of Egypt’s FinTech & Innovation vision to become a globally recognised Fintech hub in the Arab world and Africa, “FinTech Egypt,” launched Egypt’s first “Digital Academy” to empower employees with the right skills in the banking, financial, and FinTech sector.

We are proud to collaborate with the Central Bank of Egypt and the Egyptian Banking Institute to create and successfully launch “The Innovator Programme”, tailored for senior leaders of the world’s largest banks, reaching an impressive scale with 300 participants from 37 banks in Egypt. Furthermore, we additionally collaborated with CBE to launch a new programme on Generative AI in Finance.

Congratulations to the 37 organisations, the alumni, and our partners for their commitment to advancing digital innovation and financial technology education in Egypt at scale!

The Innovator Programme’s first cohort was launched with exceptional industry experts

CFTE continued to expand its presence in MENA and Saudi Arabia presenting Financial Skills Gap, Fintech, & Blockchain Job Insights throughout the year

This year, CFTE increased its presence in the MENA and Saudi Arabia! Our co-founders, Tram Anh and Huy met our partners and presented insights from major industry reports including the “New Skills in Financial Services Report” highlighting insights to help address the current skills gap in finance. Additionally, they also presented the “Fintech Job Report” showing key findings and skills for future job opportunities in Fintech, along with the “Blockchain Job Report” with insights on jobs and skills in the competitive Blockchain market in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Riyadh. 

We are grateful to connect with our partners and explore the vibrant fintech ecosystem in MENA and Saudi Arabia!

Meeting our partners ADGMA in Abu Dhabi, Ecosystem in Dubai, discovering the Fintech hub Fintech Saudi in Riyadh

CFTE’s initiated the honourable Partnership at Inclusive Fintech Forum in Rwanda, Africa

At the Inclusive Fintech Forum in Kigali, the pressing need for talent development in fostering Fintech growth in Africa took centre stage. CFTE, in collaboration with Elevandi and Singapore Management University (SMU), is actively contributing to this cause by creating an “Online Certificate For Fintech in Africa” opportunity for 5,000 students. 

This initiative created a high social impact by offering access to sought-after skills for quality employment in the digital age. Additionally, our Co-Founder, Tram Anh carried out a roundtable strategy on Building a Digital Workforce in Africa. Here, she led discussions on aligning stakeholders to foster workforce upskilling and ignite growth for professionals, organisations, and entire countries. An extremely proud moment for the CFTE team to have Tram Anh, our cofounder, award certificates to the top 3 performing students alongside Hon. Irere Claudette, Minister of State for ICT and Technical Vocational Education and Training of the Republic of Rwanda, and Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer at Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

We sincerely thank our partners for their invaluable support in the programme’s success, reflecting our shared commitment to empowering Africa’s digital workforce. Excitingly, we extend these free courses to new learners at the end of 2024. If you know someone who could benefit, share the course!

Our Co-founder, Tram Anh at the first-ever Inclusive Fintech Forum presenting graduating certificates to inaugural students

CFTE marked its debut in India as the Education Partner for Global Fintech Festival 2023

Our co-founder, Huy, had the honour of hosting a panel on how Central Banking worldwide can collaborate to shape an innovative and stable future for the finance industry. He also led a Masterclass highlighting AI’s transformative impact on the industry. It’s always a privilege for CFTE to onboard new learners in the dynamic landscape of global finance!

Our Co-Founder Huy teaching a master class on AI’s impact and Hosting a panel on the future of central banks

We Collaborated With Our Exceptional Partners to Enhance Global Education at Scale Through Industry-Relevant Courses

We partnered with Singapore Management University to launch a reference programme on Blockchain and Digital Assets in London and Singapore!

CFTE was thrilled to partner up with Singapore Management University to collaboratively develop our reference specialisation “Blockchain and Digital Asset Certification.” This innovative programme, shaped by 200 global experts, was launched in Singapore and London. The programme was first officially launched in London where we welcomed Sopnendu Mohanty, Chief Fintech Officer – Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

This pioneering programme sets a new education benchmark with the largest ongoing project taxonomy and monthly live sessions from 25+ exceptional leaders. The course has also been accredited by the Institute of Banking and Finance, and endorsed by Swift, a leading provider of secure financial messaging services.

Thank you to our partners and experts for their collaboration in creating this outstanding course and congratulations to our inaugural graduating batch for this specialisation!

BDA launch events in London and Singapore

CFTE, as the proud Knowledge Partner for the Singapore FinTech Festival, joined forces with Elevandi to create an exceptional and insightful new course

We are extremely excited by the collaboration between Elevandi and CFTE to develop an online course on “Rearchitecting the Financial System“. It leverages the world-class speakers of the Singapore FinTech Festival (SFF) to explain the key drivers of the transformation of the financial system, from digital public infrastructure to digital money and digital platforms for SMEs.

Our Co-founder Tram Anh also had the great honour of hosting the Talent Stage during the SFF 2023 where she invited senior leaders and delivered her keynote on upskilling and re-skilling in an AI-powered world. 

A collaborative roundtable with the British Chamber of Commerce Singapore was also held on “Addressing the new skills in an AI world.” Along with our co-founder Huy, who led a workshop decoding blockchain and digital assets technology at SFF 2023.

CFTE team at the Singapore Fintech Festival 2023

CFTE to become the knowledge partner at Japan fintech festival – Our Co-Founder Tram Anh joined the Advisory Board of Elevandi!

CFTE could not be more delighted to have our co-founder Tram Anh Nguyen join the Advisory board of Elevandi in Japan.🎉We are thrilled to welcome you to join us at the Japan Fintech Festival in 2024, where CFTE proudly serves as the knowledge partner, orchestrating numerous engaging roundtables, panel discussions and events. Connect with us to be part of enlightening discussions alongside policymakers with an entrepreneurial mindset! 

CFTE joined Point Zero Forum in Zurich: Driving Dialogue, Roundtable Participation, and Blockchain Research

We have had the chance to exchange insights and ideas with worldwide outstanding leaders, founders, and policymakers in the past two days. We had the chance to exchange insights and ideas with worldwide outstanding leaders, founders, and policymakers in the past two days. CFTE then released a report covering what the future of  Digital Assets holds and summarised key takeaways from the Point Zero Forum 2023 on digital assets.

CFTE introduced the new Generative AI 360 in Finance Programme by collaborating with experts from Citi, Standard Chartered, HSBC and more

Remaining at the forefront of industry trends, CFTE promptly developed the first course in Generative AI just two weeks after the release of ChatGPT, offering a Gen AI certification. Our latest venture, AI in Finance Academy focuses on Generative AI 360, offering cutting-edge knowledge of AI in 15 minutes a day for 6 weeks of knowledge of AI in finance. The academy now has more than 20,000 professionals trained.

CFTE Stayed In The Spotlight With Our Roundtables with finance leaders, Worldwide Events, and Alumni Stories in 2023

In 2023, CFTE strengthened crucial partnerships within the fintech industry. Our proximity to the sector led to CFTE contributing to over 30 events worldwide, enabling us to build courses and grasp current trends through collaboration with industry leaders.  Globally, we extended our thought leadership through numerous roundtables, leading discussions on compelling topics like Blockchain, AI, upskilling strategies, and skills trends. We thank all events for inviting us to contribute, including:

• Finovate Europe, London, UK: Speaker on strategies for progressive finance and financial inclusion.
• Roundtable in Dubai launched by CFTE: Discussed the topic of AI and its potential challenges of getting out of control
• Paris Blockchain Week Summit: Participated in a talent fair about the new world of Web3.
• Asian Digital Finance Forum & Awards: Spoke on “Addressing the New Skills in Financial Services.”
• Roundtable in Da Nang City, Vietnam: Led discussions on “Building the financial industry’s future.”
• UK DBT Day: Discussed “Bringing the Ecosystem to You, Partnerships, and Culture.”
• UK Fintech Week: CFTE leads dialogue on spearheading investment on both sides of the Atlantic
• Point Zero Forum in Zurich: Driving Dialogue, Roundtable hosting for sustainability in Crypto, and Blockchain Research
• Asian Tech Pioneer Award: Recognised as “Top 10 Asia Tech Pioneers in the UK’s Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Builders.”
• Global Business Schools Network Summit, Cairo, Egypt: Spoke on “The Transformative Power of Talent and Technology.”
• Bermuda Digital Assets Symposium hosted by XBTO Global: Discussed “Furthering digital assets adoption.”
• Fintech Surge in Dubai (GITEX GLOBAL): Shared insights on “Magnetising Talent to the Region, Companies, and Fintech Hubs.”
• Roundtable at Abu Dhabi Finance Week with Citi and MENA FINTECH ASSOCIATION: Gathered industry leaders to dive into “The Impact of Generative AI”

We congratulate all our alumni who continue to excel in the fintech sector, demonstrating the real-world impact of our education and community support! 

CFTE has launched reports based on our roundtable discussions throughout the world

Additionally, this year also featured “WhatsNext,” a podcast series hosted by Ronit Ghose and Gaurav Dhar, racing 100 episodes!

To all our 400+ industry leaders and experts who helped design courses, we express immense gratitude. As we reflect on the year, your support has been integral to our success, and we extend a warm appreciation to every one of you.

CFTE’s SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES

This year, we pledged to be net zero, tracking all emissions, and recognising the journey ahead. While novices in this area, our commitment remains strong, with a long journey ahead, and we’re eager to contribute to sustainable advancements.

LOOKING AHEAD TO 2024