Experts from across Africa, Europe and the Americas are set to join a virtual event on July 28 for the launch of a new policy report by Bridgforte examining how trust can be built and sustained in increasingly digital financial systems, with the Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank, Nomfundo Tshazibana, delivering the keynote address.

The report, titled Trust Architecture in Platform Led Finance, examines a key governance challenge facing the financial sector as services become faster, more digital and increasingly delivered through interconnected platforms rather than individual institutions, arguing that while financial inclusion has expanded access to financial services, sustaining public confidence remains the defining unfinished challenge for the next phase of digital finance.

Bridgforte founder and former Central Bank of Nigeria Deputy Governor Aishah Ahmad said financial inclusion has transformed millions of lives by expanding access, but confidence in digital financial systems remains unfinished work that policymakers, regulators and industry leaders must now address. The launch will feature a panel of industry leaders including Bank of Kigali Chief Executive Diane Karusisi, Sparkle founder Uzoma Dozie, PiggyVest co-founder Odunayo Eweniyi and Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation Executive Director Chiso Ndukwe Okafor, moderated by Lagos Business School Dean Olayinka David West.

The report is the outcome of nearly a year of research that began at the inaugural Bridgforte Dialogues held alongside the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September 2025, in partnership with the Aspen Institute Financial Security Program, followed by a closed door executive roundtable in Lagos in February 2026 that brought together 30 senior leaders from banking, fintech and development finance to shape the report’s findings.