UCT’s African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management (AIFMRM) has pioneered a programme that challenges international mathematicians to work with young South African researchers to produce academic papers for publication in leading scientific journals over an intensive ten-day period.

Some of the best and brightest financial mathematics students from across the globe met in Cape Town in July to compete in the annual AIFMRM Financial Mathematics Team Challenge – a prestigious event that uses competitive and collaborative research to tackle the finance industry’s most pressing questions.

Donor Day 2018 saw some of SA’s most prominent financial services companies paying a visit to AIFMRM. These are the same organisations that made it possible for AIFMRM to go from a dream to a rapidly developing centre of excellence in a few short years.

Blockchain technology isn’t just about trading cryptocurrencies – it can make everyday life better. The winners at the continent’s largest blockchain hackathon last week proved this, delivering solutions that can incentivise water saving, facilitate cattle trading, increase transparency in voting and corporate governance, and more.

Regulators face substantial challenges when evaluating the risks associated with cryptocurrencies. While cryptocurrencies hold significant promise for economic growth in Africa, there is a strong case for cryptocurrency regulation.