AFI took an important step in the effort to increase financial inclusion for women today when the network presented the “Zero Draft AFI Action Plan for Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion” to participants at the high-level conference “Bridging the Gap: Commitments and Actions for Women’s Financial Inclusion” in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The meeting, co-hosted by AFI and the Bank of Tanzania (BOT), convened nearly 100 high-level financial inclusion policymakers and stakeholders at BOT’s headquarters, including representatives from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, World Bank, Global Banking Alliance for Women, Women’s World Banking, United Nations Capital Development Fund, Consultative Group to Assist the Poor, African Development Bank, New Faces New Voices, GSMA Mobile Money and more.

Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Ms. Samia Suluhu Hassan, delivered the keynote address. Dr. Natu Mwamba, Deputy Governor at BOT, and Mr. Alfred Hannig, Executive Director at AFI, provided opening remarks while Dr. Tukiya Kankasa-Mabula, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Zambia and Representative of the AFI High-level Committee for Financial Inclusion for Women, delivered the conference’s closing remarks. Professor Benno Ndulu, Governor at BOT, moderated a key session to examine and identify actions and strategies for the AFI network in closing the financial gender gap under the Action Plan.

“I would like to express my sincere appreciation for the commitment AFI and BOT have put to spearhead and propagate the financial inclusion agenda in the country through programs and initiatives, and globally through AFI’s direct engagement and Tanzania’s sharing of experiences in the AFI network,” said Ms. Suluhu Hassan. “I am keen to see this (gender) initiative bear fruit in individual AFI member countries and globally … the Government of Tanzania is set to learn from other countries and support all initiatives targeting vulnerable groups.”

The Vice President also recognized the importance of Governor Ndulu’s leadership as the Chair of the AFI Board, saying: “This indicates an honor that has been bestowed not only to the Governor but to the country at large for its leadership in promoting the financial inclusion agenda.”

Dr. Mwamba delivered a hopeful message aimed at those working to reach financially excluded women, noting that the AFI network intends to lead on this important issue: “It’s important to pay attention to details to find trends that are opportunities to address barriers to women’s finance. Looking ahead, I’m confident we will come up with concrete deliverables that will address financial inclusion issues through the AFI fraternity.”

The Zero Draft AFI Action Plan for Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion was offered to meeting participants for review and endorsement, ahead of the AFI network’s submission of the Action Plan for adoption at the AFI Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 7 September 2016, ahead of the AFI Global Policy Forum (GPF) in Nadi, Fiji.

The Action Plan will enable AFI members to agree at the AGM to strengthen their determination and affirm a commitment to close the gender gap in financial inclusion.

It identifies measures AFI members can take to reduce the number of women lacking access to quality financial services globally, closing the gender gap to ensure equal access to financial services for all. Furthermore, it promotes the development and implementation of smart policies and regulations to create an enabling environment to accelerate women’s financial inclusion. The Action Plan also emphasizes the importance of frameworks for measurement and evaluation.

Additionally, Deputy Governor Mwamba and Deputy Governor Kankasa-Mabula were named Interim Co-Chairs of the High-Level Committee on Gender and Women’s Financial Inclusion.

“We have a draft that has received the endorsement of this audience, and it is ready for submission at the 2016 GPF,” said Governor Ndulu. “This is a testament to the good work and rich discussion we have heard throughout the day.”

Dr. Kankasa-Mabula stated it is imperative the Action Plan is championed in individual institutions at the highest levels and with other stakeholders. “Governors and Deputy Governors will have to play an influential role in steering the implementation of the AFI Action Plan. It will need champions and it will need champions at the highest level.”

Throughout the day high-level attendees examined enhancing financial inclusion and economic growth by closing the financial gender gap, and to examine sex-disaggregated data indicators and regulatory strategies. Burundi and Tanzania—members of the AFI Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG)—delivered valuable presentations on sex-disaggregated data in their countries, highlighting how good data can make invisible markets visible.

“When you give financial access to women you not only empower women but you empower families because women will invest in their families,” said Amani Guntram Itatiro, from the Bank of Tanzania.

“Women’s financial inclusion is a human rights issue, as well as an economic issue,” said Ms. Elizabeth Kellison, Deputy Director of Financial Services for the Poor at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “In order to reach the poorest and most disenfranchised … the solution has to be digital. In order for women to fully participate in our economies in the coming digital age, we need to act and we need to act now. I believe if we all help each other out, we’ll be sitting here in five years celebrating that we have closed the gender gap.”

The conference’s afternoon also featured lively sessions on empowering women through financial literacy and consumer protection, policies and regulatory approaches to enhance access of women-owned SMEs to financial services, how to realize the power of digital financial services to empower women, and an examination and identification of actions and strategies for the AFI network in closing the financial gender gap, as proposed under the AFI Action Plan to accelerate financial inclusion for women.

“We have taken great strides in advancing financial inclusion in recent years,” said Mr. Hannig. “But if the progress of a society is measured by the degree of progress in which women have achieved equality of opportunity, we have much work ahead of us as advocates for inclusive finance. I look forward to the AFI network helping to propel action on this agenda as we head toward the 2016 Global Policy Forum in Fiji to submit the Action Plan for adoption at the AFI Annual General Meeting.”