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Nigerian marketing and communications professional, Sandra Ireti Adebayo, Head of Marketing and Communications at FinTribe, was among speakers at the 5th Annual Africa Pension Technology & Digital Innovation Conference held in Mombasa, Kenya.

The four-day conference, which held from September 22 to 25, 2026, brought together professionals and stakeholders from across Africa to examine developments in pension technology, digital innovation, insurance, governance, employee benefits and the future of financial services on the continent.

Adebayo was hosted in Kenya by Finnet Trust, the organiser of the conference.

She delivered a keynote address titled, “Making Pensions Relatable,” where she examined how digital storytelling can help pension and financial services providers build trust and communicate more effectively with consumers.

Adebayo, who has a background in finance marketing and communications, argued that financial institutions need to rethink how they communicate complex financial products, particularly to younger consumers and women.

“If people cannot understand the message, it becomes difficult for them to connect with the product. The financial services industry needs to communicate complex subjects like pensions and insurance in language that everyday people can understand,” Adebayo said.

She also highlighted the growing influence of digital creators and community voices in financial education, noting that conversations about money are increasingly taking place outside traditional financial institutions.

According to her, digital platforms provide an opportunity for financial organisations to reach audiences that may not engage directly with conventional industry communication.

“Digital creators and community voices can help take financial conversations beyond the traditional industry audience. They can make these conversations more familiar, practical and relevant to people’s everyday lives,” she said.

During her presentation, Adebayo also shared footage from FinTribe’s Finance Fair 2025 with delegates at the conference.

The footage provided an insight into the scale of the organisation’s financial education and community engagement activities.

She noted that the initiative forms part of FinTribe’s wider work across financial education, savings, investment, communications and community building.

The conference also provided an opportunity for Adebayo to engage with professionals from several African countries, including Kenya, Uganda, Zambia and South Africa.

Among those in attendance was Magline Jeruto, a Kenyan tourism professional, who commended Adebayo’s presentation and communication approach.

Jeruto noted that Adebayo had demonstrated an ability to explain complex ideas clearly while keeping the presentation engaging and accessible.

The conference provided a platform for discussions around how Africa’s financial services industry can respond to changing consumer expectations, technological developments and the increasing demand for accessible financial information.

For Adebayo, the engagement also represented an opportunity to contribute a Nigerian perspective to a wider continental conversation about the future of financial services.

She said effective communication would remain important as financial institutions seek to build stronger relationships with younger consumers and other groups traditionally underserved by conventional financial communication.

“The future of financial services is not only about technology and products. It is also about how effectively we communicate with the people those products are designed to serve,” she said.

The Mombasa conference brought together stakeholders at a time when pension and financial services providers across Africa are increasingly exploring digital platforms and new approaches to consumer engagement.

Adebayo’s participation added a Nigerian perspective to the discussions, drawing on her experience at the intersection of finance, communications, digital storytelling and community engagement.