Mr. Norbert Mumba

Deputy Executive Director, AFI

Dr. Rogerio Lucas Zandamela, Governor of Banco de Moçambique and Chair of AMPI,

Prof.Benno Ndulu, Governor of Bank of Tanzania and Chair of AFI Board of Directors,

Mrs. Luisa Diogo, Chair of the Board of Directors of Barclays Bank Mozambique and former Prime Minister of Mozambique,

Mr. Stefan Nalletamby, Director of Financial Sector Development, and Representative of the President of the African Development Bank Group,

Governors, Deputy Governors, Distinguished guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is my great honor to welcome you to the 5^th Annual AMPI Leaders Roundtable.

It is a wonderful pleasure for me to be back in this beautiful city of Maputo. As many of you are aware, Banco de Moçambique co-hosted AFI’s flagship event, the Global Policy Forum, here in Maputo in September 2015. It was a successful event with many achievements reached, so returning here brings back good memories.

Governor Zandamela, allow me to express my gratitude to you and the Banco de Moçambique for welcoming us once again to Maputo. We appreciate your efforts in co-hosting these meetings of AMPI, the Regional Initiative of the AFI network for Africa.

The Executive Director of AFI, Dr. Alfred Hannig, who cannot be here with us today, has sent his kindest regards to all of you who are taking part in this AMPI Leaders’ Roundtable.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Five years ago, we launched AMPI in Zanzibar, Tanzania, as a platform for AFI Members in Africa to provide High-Level leadership in the development of mobile phone financial services policy and regulatory frameworks and to determine effective policy solutions for advancing mobile financial services across the African continent. I am excited to see how far AMPI has grown in the last 5 years.

Today, AMPI is the unique platform for high-level dialogue among financial policymakers, regulators, market players, development partners and other stakeholders to help foster a common understanding on key issues and core enablers to spur access to and usage of a broad range of digital financial services in Africa. Through capacity building, experiences sharing and peer pressure, AMPI provides opportunities for AFI member institutions in Africa to enhance their capacity in creating enabling regulatory environment for mobile and digital financial services for the provision of basic financial services to a larger number of people.

The results from the 2014 FINDEX, tells us that 34 percent of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa have an account, up from 24 percent in 2011. While this is encouraging, we must not be complacent. Now more than ever, we must continue to seize opportunities and use new technology to rapidly expand financial inclusion in Africa.

I have no doubt that AMPI is at a unique position to do this.

Looking back, we can proudly say that AMPI has gained in maturity! AFI Members in Africa are increasingly faced with challenges, not only related to access to financial services, but also on usage and quality of services, with other priority areas emerging, forcing AMPI to adapt to members’ realities in deepening financial inclusion. This progression in maturity of AMPI can be noticed in the Strategic Plan of AMPI, adopted in April 2014 and revised in 2016. The revised three-year Strategic Plan aims to promote innovative policy solutions, facilitate policy advisory and capacity building, facilitate public-private engagement, promote the development and the implementation of policies in favor of women’ financial inclusion as well as strengthen the operational and organizational capacity of AMPI.

In line with this development, AMPI Leaders will discuss, during this 5^th Annual Roundtable, issues related to broadening the scope of the Regional Initiative. They will discuss a Charter of the Regional Initiative to strengthen its institutional capacity.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In terms of cooperation, AMPI has also made encouraging moves. Allow me to mention just a few:

·         Public-Private engagement: Since 2015, AMPI has been organizing capacity building events within the framework of AFI’s Public-Private Dialogue. The latest of these Training took place here in Maputo, over the last two days, where participants shared views on innovations and recent trends in digital financial services.

·         Enhanced cooperation between financial and telecom regulators: AFI African members adopted in September 2016 in Fiji, on the sidelines of the Global Policy Forum, a “Cooperative Arrangement Framework with Telecommunications Regulators” in the area of digital financial services. The Framework seeks to encourage financial regulators and telecom regulators in Africa to formalize regulatory cooperation in order to avoid market distortions by regulatory conflicts.

·         Cooperation between AFI and African Development Bank (AfDB) to support AMPI’s activities: AFI Management Unit and AfDB signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 31 January 2017 to enhance access to quality financial services on the African continent. The will  provide a great opportunity to enhance in-country implementation of financial inclusion policies in Africa and are confident that the activities and programmes under this partnership, will materialized once AFI’s Regional Office in Africa is established.

On that note, I am pleased to formally announce that, after a thorough evaluation of the four bids received from AFI Member institutions to host the Regional Office in Africa, the bid submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Côte d’Ivoire, supported by the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO), presented itself as the top contestant towards hosting the AFI Regional Office in the region.

Governors, Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me, on behalf of AFI Board and AFI Management Team, to congratulate the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Côte d’Ivoire and BCEAO on this success.

I would like to also take this opportunity to thank the other bidders for submitting highly impressive and comprehensive proposals.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This year’s theme for technical discussions of AMPI Leaders Roundtable is: ‘Driving Change for Financial Inclusion through Innovation in Africa’. We will soon gain some useful insights on opportunity provided by technology to close the financial inclusion gender gap in Africa.  

I am confident that, at the end of this meeting, we will all take back new insights and ideas to set AMPI on a stronger path of deepening financial inclusion across the continent and contributing to inclusive economic development in African countries.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Allow me to share with you my excitement about the upcoming AFI Global Policy Forum, the first to ever be held in the Arab region. Under the theme “Exploring Diversity, Promoting Inclusion”, we are now working closely with the Central Bank of Egypt to create a milestone event for financial inclusion. Official dates for the GPF are 13-15 September 2017 in Sharm-El-Sheikh, with the Regional Initiatives and Working Groups meetings set to take place on 11-12 September. We expect this to be another big event of financial inclusion in Africa. Undoubtedly, AFI African member and partners will play a key role in the success of this GPF. We look forward to welcoming you to Egypt in September.

I wish you all productive and successful discussions.

Thank you!