The upcoming AfroTalks Lagos, set for October 11, 2025, at Alliance Française Lagos, will convene some of Africa’s most dynamic thinkers, builders, and policymakers under the year’s theme: “Matrix.” The gathering aims to interrogate inherited systems shaping African societies and reimagine them for the continent’s future.
Among the anticipated speakers is Mariama “MJ” Jalloh-Heyward, a fintech strategist whose work spans the United States, Ghana, and the Gulf. Jalloh is known for her focus on Africa’s informal economy and for urging founders to design financial products that align with local realities rather than imported frameworks.
Mariama “MJ” Jalloh-Heyward’s career spans global institutions and transformative roles across finance and technology. She began her journey at KPMG, where she honed her expertise in financial services consulting, compliance, and regulatory frameworks. In that role, she served as a consultant and advisor to leading global institutions such as Goldman Sachs, which gave her firsthand exposure to investment banking and global capital markets. She later worked closely with central banks and regulators in the U.S., Ghana, and the Gulf, advising on financial innovation and policy. Today, MJ channels this depth of experience into fintech and startup ecosystems across Africa, bridging her global background with her mission to design financial systems that are inclusive, resilient, and growth-driven.
Her session, titled “Empowering African Startups and the Future of Fintech,” is expected to tackle pressing issues around interoperability, infrastructure, and investor readiness. Jalloh has previously argued that while mobile money has transformed access, fragmentation continues to limit scale and inclusion. “If a customer on one network can’t send money seamlessly to another, true financial inclusion remains out of reach,” she noted in a recent commentary.
Observers see her contribution as timely. In 2022, African startups raised $5.4 billion across more than 900 deals, according to industry trackers, but many have since struggled with sustainability. Analysts argue that funding alone is not enough; systems, culture, and resilience matter just as much. Jalloh’s framing of the “Maximum Viable Product mindset” building ventures that are adaptable, culturally fluent, and built for scale is likely to resonate strongly with founders navigating fragmented markets.
AfroTalks Lagos has grown into one of the continent’s more influential convenings on innovation, and asking the difficult questions, regularly drawing youth, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and changemakers. From Accra to Lagos, AfroTalks would be hosting the bi-annual event in Rwanda and Kenya in 2026. This year’s focus on redesigning systems puts fintech at the center of the conversation, and Jalloh’s perspective on linking grassroots realities with structural reform will be closely watched.
For a startup ecosystem balancing rapid growth with persistent volatility, her remarks may offer both a challenge and a roadmap: innovation is not just about speed, but about building systems that last.
