Innovation into Impact: Africa Alumni Webinar Series

alumni webinar

 

The “Innovation into Impact” alumni webinar series is a collaboration between Harvard’s Center for African Studies and Harvard alumni clubs across Africa, focused on delivering cutting-edge research findings to innovators, decision-makers, and thought-leaders around the world. It builds on the lessons of Harvard Africa Office STEAM symposia to bring emerging research findings and novel agendas to audiences of applied expertise, African researchers, and practitioners. The online format of the series aims to maximize reach and impact. It showcases new ways of thinking about Africa-centered research in STEAM fields to foster engaged global conversations on scientific and theoretic advances for the public good.

In Fall 2025, the Africa Office co-hosted the first Innovation into Impact alumni webinar alongside the Harvard Nigeria Club - Navigating the Future: Challenges and Opportunities for Nigeria’s Finance & Banking Sector in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how business, financial services, and regulators operate and compete across Nigeria and much of Africa. The rise of fintech, increased mobile penetration, and digital banking present opportunities for inclusive development, and complexity for regulating a dynamic market. This conversation features Harvard researchers working on documenting for the first time the nature and pace of AI adoption in Nigerian businesses and understanding how those trends compare to other private sectors across Africa and around the world. Already, Professors Khwaja and Iyoha have identified rapid changes in the way of doing business since the large scale public introduction of generative AI tools. Leaders in the Nigerian financial sector will present their own experiences and early analysis of AI as a catalyst for positive or negative disruption and development trends. This "Innovation into Impact” webinar, co-hosted by CAS Africa Office and the Harvard University Alumni Club of Nigeria, is designed for business leaders, innovators, and policymakers seeking to understand and harness the full potential of AI for their organizations and societies.

Watch below:

 

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