By Hardus Jacobs
As the global financial landscape undergoes a profound technological transformation, the African continent is poised for a new wave of growth. At the forefront of this change is the ongoing partnership between Andile Solutions, a leading professional services brand for capital markets technology in Africa, and FinMechanics, one of the fastest-growing global fintech innovators in the capital markets space, headquartered in Singapore. This collaboration, which has been in place since 2019, is already delivering cutting-edge solutions designed to help local financial institutions leapfrog legacy systems and embrace a future-proof architecture.
The cornerstone of this partnership is the FinMechanics FM Converge platform, a cross-asset trading and risk management system built from the ground up on a microservices-based architecture. This modern design provides a stark contrast to the rigid, monolithic systems that are often complex and costly to upgrade. The platform’s modularity allows for “minimum-disruption” implementation, enabling banks to adopt specific capabilities without a complete system overhaul.
Local Expertise, Global Technology
Andile Solutions brings to the partnership a deep understanding of the local market and a strong track record of project execution. The company’s team of highly specialised subject matter experts, including financial engineers, software engineers, and regulatory experts, provides the crucial human layer of advisory and implementation services that ensure a smooth deployment and maximum value for clients. Andile has a proven ability to deliver implementation projects with cost certainty and to provide end-to-end execution capabilities, from project management to testing and migration. This local expertise is a key differentiator, enabling African financial institutions to access world-class technology with the confidence of having a dedicated, regional partner.
Our commitment extends well beyond go-live, with a full suite of local support and cloud-managed services designed to ensure ongoing performance, security, and operational stability for the long term.
FinMechanics’ Platform Strengths
The FM Converge platform, backed by Andile’s local support, offers a compelling value proposition that directly addresses the most pressing challenges faced by financial institutions. Key strengths include:
- Agility and Performance: The services-based architecture ensures unmatched flexibility and performance, allowing for rapid time-to-market for new products and quick adaptation to new regulations.
Comprehensive Regulatory Coverage: FinMechanics offers a specialised suite of modules for complex regulatory requirements such as FRTB, SA-CCR, ISDA SIMM, and XVA. The company’s deep quantitative expertise ensures these are robust, reliable and performant solutions. - Cloud Ready and Future-Proof: The platform is inherently cloud-ready, with flexible deployment options on leading public cloud providers. This offers clients the benefits of reduced infrastructure costs and dynamic scalability, ensuring their investment is protected against technological obsolescence.
- AI Automation: The platform’s new AI-powered modules drive automation across the enterprise—delivering true end-to-end value for banks and their customers. From doubling FX volumes to bundling and distributing multi-asset structured products.
- Structuring and pricing: The platform has the ability to combine various capital markets products into a structure and price and provide comprehensive risk management as a unit. This can then be distributed via the client platform for execution.
This collaborative effort has already yielded concrete results, including a successful implementation at a major South African corporate and investment bank where the platform replaced a legacy derivatives pricing and distribution solution. As FinMechanics prepares for its visit to the region, it is clear that the partnership with Andile Solutions is set to play a significant role in empowering African capital markets with the technology and expertise needed for future growth.