WAIFC leaders convene in Casablanca for its first Annual General Meeting on the African continent
Expected to be attended by over 40 member & observer representatives, the Annual General Meeting will focus on topical themes including sustainability, innovation & FinTech, and the role of financial centers in the post covid recovery. With COP 27 also taking place in Africa a few weeks later, the timing of this meeting is significant for financial centers to facilitate an exchange around their role in the green transition, circular economy, and working towards the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
WAIFC is also expected to elect a new Chair, appoint new board members, decide on membership applications and prepare a revised strategy for further collaboration between financial centers. Being a non-profit association, members coordinate self-generated projects, to deliver mutual benefit and stimulate growth. Delegates will also participate in project meetings, roundtables, and institutional meetings before attending Casablanca Sustainable Finance Dialogue.
Finally, WAIFC leaders will welcome four winners of the WAIFC Young Academic Award 2022. With this competition, WAIFC seeks fresh perspectives from the next generation of researchers. 49 applications from 26 countries and 45 academic institutions were received, covering topics such as Sustainable Finance, SME Financing, Financial Inclusion, Tokenization, Sustainable Entrepreneurship, and AI Technology.
Commenting on the Annual General Meeting, Jennifer Reynolds, Chair of the WAIFC Board of Directors, stated:
"This Annual General Meeting of WAIFC being my last as Chair is significant for various reasons. The association has significant momentum and contribution from members with various projects concluding and new ones emerging. We have come out the other side of the pandemic and with COP27 only weeks away, questions are still being asked of the sector and the world at large to deliver a sustainable future. Collaboration between financial centres to exchange knowledge and best practice will only accelerate commitments being made to deliver sustainable economic growth. Casablanca 2022 will be the start of a new era for WAIFC and one that shall start to deliver on the findings we published as part of the 'Future of Financial Centers' paper in June."
Saïd Ibrahimi, CEO of Casablanca Finance City, said:
"CFC is honored to host the WAIFC AGM in Casablanca. It is the first time that WAIFC members will gather for an AGM in Africa which is significant given the scale of opportunities that exist in the region. A spotlight is on Africa with COP 27 around the corner and we at CFC are proud to showcase the development and contribution the centre has been making to serve Casablanca, Morocco and the wider African economy. We look forward to welcoming WAIFC and our peers and facilitating further collaboration and exchange of best practices during the course of the visit."
Dr. Jochen Biedermann, Managing Director of WAIFC, added:
"Casablanca will be our second AGM in a post pandemic world. Meeting face to face, agreeing upon deliverables and having an open exchange is invaluable as we strive to enable our members to share knowledge and practices and orchestrate projects for mutual benefit. We would like to thank CFC for their hospitality."
The World Alliance of International Financial Centers (WAIFC) is a non-profit association registered in Belgium, representing 26 leading international financial centers on five continents. WAIFC members are city governments, associations, and similar institutions developing and promoting their financial centers.
WAIFC facilitates cooperation between its members, the exchange of best practices, and communication with the general public.
Casablanca Finance City (CFC) has been a founding member of WAIFC since 2018. CFC is strategically located at a crossroad of continents and has built a thriving community of members comprising financial companies, regional headquarters of multinationals, service providers, and holding companies. CFC offers local expertise to access opportunities in Africa, with a strong regional platform and a complementing regulatory authority, Casablanca Finance City Authority (CFCA), which serves to implement CFC’s development strategy, promote CFC to International institutions and investors and drive reforms to improve the business environment.