Banco de Moçambique (BM) recently took an important step in its efforts to increase financial inclusion in the country when the Ministry of Economy and Finance approved on 28 March 2016 the “National Financial Inclusion Strategy of Mozambique 2016-2022”.

Prior to the Ministry’s approval, the draft proposal was submitted for consultation among key stakeholders in July 2015. It was then subjected to a peer review by members of AFI’s Financial Inclusion Strategy Peer Learning Working Group ahead of the 2015 AFI Global Policy Forum (GPF) held in Maputo last September.

The approval of the national financial inclusion strategy marked an important milestone in the long journey for improving levels of financial inclusion in Mozambique, according to Banco de Moçambique’s Ms. Aurora Bila. “Sincere gratitude goes to the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, the World Bank and many others who contributed to this great achievement,” she said.

Ms. Bila commented from the the 13th AFI Financial Inclusion Data Working Group Meeting held 5-7 April 2016 in San Salvador, El Salvador, where Banco de Moçambique also shared an update on the AFI Member Zone on its financial inclusion indicators, as well as key indicators for monitoring and evaluation of the national financial inclusion strategy.

Banco de Moçambique is a key member of the Alliance for Financial Inclusion, and recently hosted the 2015 GPF which convened more than 500 high-level policymakers, along with external stakeholders and partners—the largest Forum to date.

Mr. Ernesto Gove, Governor at the Banco de Moçambique, has assumed an important leadership position within the AFI network as the Chairperson of the African Mobile Phone Financial Services Policy Initiative (AMPI).