Leading home-grown financial institution and commercial bankers, FDH Bank Head of Global Markets and Trade Finance, Leslie Fatch will be among some eminent panellists at the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT) 2026 Africa Forum slated for May 13,2026 in Nairobi, Kenya.
Held in conjunction with GTR East Africa which starts on May 12, 2026, the BAFT Africa Forum is a special gathering of senior leaders in transaction banking, trade and payments.
It brings together senior leaders from banks, corporates, small/medium enterprises (SMEs) and across the broader trade and payments ecosystem for focused dialogue on the trends, risks and opportunities shaping transaction banking, trade and payments, with particular emphasis on developments across the African markets.
Themed ‘Opportunities in Africa’s Evolving FX Landscape’ the panel will be facilitated by David Smithson, Senior Vice President, FI Relationship Manager at Crown Agents Bank, a UK registered and regulated bank focused on emerging markets.
Besides Fatch, the panel will bring together other leading voices from across the African Foreign Exchange and payments landscape, namely Joseph Chikove, Head of Treasury for HFC Bank Kenya, John Njoroge, Visa Country Manager for Kenya, Somalia and South Sudan.
Fatch said in an interview yesterday that he is humbled to be selected among the panellists at the prestigious event.
“This is quite humbling at the same time exciting as I will be sharing with financial leaders some insights and experiences in the foreign exchange market especially from the Malawi and Southern African perspective,” said Fatch.
With over 14 years’ experience in Global Markets and Trade Finance, Fatch oversees the trading, origination and sales function for both global markets trading and trade finance, specifically focusing on business development and deal structuring, and as well as strategic acquisition and management of key financial institutional stakeholders.
In addition, Fatch is currently the President of Financial Markets Dealers Association in Malawi (FIMDA), an association that not only brings together all qualified financial market traders in Malawi but also collaborates with central bank to drive policies.
BAFT is the leading global industry association for international transaction banking.
It helps bridge solutions across financial institutions, service providers and the regulatory community that promote sound financial practices enabling innovation, efficiency and commercial growth.
BAFTbrings the financial community, its solution providers and stakeholders together to collaborate on defining best market practices that facilitate efficient delivery of trade and cash management products and service offerings for their clients.
BAFT was founded in 1921 as the Bankers Association for Foreign Trade, when international departments of 10 banks located in the Midwestern United States came together to collaborate on common issues and concerns of their international trade customers.
In 2010, BAFT merged with the International Financial Services Association (IFSA), an association formed by group of bankers in New York in 1924 to discuss ways to expedite the business transactions between themselves and their foreign correspondents, to form the BAFT-IFSA.
In 2014, the institution officially rebranded to the Bankers Association for Finance and Trade (BAFT), with a wider global scope.
“This is quite humbling at the same time exciting.”
Leslie Fatch
FDH Bank Head of Global Markets and Trade Finance
