SWIFT's (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) Africa Advisory Group (AAG) will hold its inaugural meeting on 16 May 2016 in advance of the SWIFT African Regional Conference in Balaclava Mauritius.

According to SWIFT the aim of the AAG is to provide crucial insight into the challenges and opportunities facing the African financial markets, as well as to find out how SWIFT can better support the needs of the growing African community.

Members of the AAG include leaders from across Africa's payments, securities and compliance businesses:

• Kyari Bukar, CEO, Central Securities Clearing System Nigeria

• Francis Chukwunyem, General Manager & Chief information Officer, Zenith Bank

• Dipo Fatokun, Director of the Banking & Payments System Department, Central Bank of Nigeria

• Patrick Gutmann, Group Head, Transaction Services Group, Ecobank

• Deon Kruger, Head of Operations & Investor Services, TPS & Corporate and Investment Banking, Standard Bank South Africa

• Jonathan Lamb, Head of Channel Management, Standard Bank South Africa

• Rose Mambo, Chief Executive, Central Depository & Settlement, Corporation Ltd Kenya

• Tim Masela, Head of the Payments Department, South African Reserve Bank

• Iann Seymour-Smith, Head of Operations, Strate

• Stephen van Coller, Chief Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking, Barclays Africa Group

• Nerina Visser, Exchange Traded Funds Strategist and Advisor, ETF South Africa

AAG members will also participate in ARC 2016.

Sido Bestani, Head of the Middle East, Turkey & Africa, SWIFT, says: "In recognition of the increasingly important role of African markets in the global economy and to SWIFT, we established the African Advisory Group in 2016. Our objectives are to share views and experiences on the challenges, developments and opportunities facing the African financial community, and to identify opportunities for mutual support and collaboration. ARC 2016 is a perfect opportunity for our first meeting as it will bring together industry participants from more than 40 African countries."

SWIFT and the African Advisory Group say their mandate is to help shape the future of solutions in the payments, securities market and compliance domains in Africa.