Nestled in the picturesque hills of Dushanbe and overlooking the Varzob river, more than 70 AFI members gathered for the 15th Financial Inclusion Data (FID) and 10th Financial Inclusion Strategy Peer Learning Group Meetings in Tajikistan this week. Co-hosted by the National Bank of Tajikistan, the joint meetings will be conducted from 24th-28th April and is attended by working group members from 47 countries.

Mr. Jamshed Nurmahmadzoda, Chairman of the National Bank of Tajikistan (NBT) opened the meetings by welcoming the members to Pugus, Dushanbe, the National Bank’s country residence. While relatively new to the network, NBT which has been a member of AFI since 2011 has made great strides in financial inclusion in Tajikistan. Most notably, NBT’s strategy for the protection on the consumers of financial services in Tajikistan for the period 2017-2019 has been developed and will be undertaking peer review with AFI members. In addition to this, the President of Tajikistan has also recently approved and signed the latest Law on the Payment system which will allow e-money and mobile transaction updates. Undoubtedly, these two important developments in Tajikistan will support NBT in achieving their Maya Declaration Commitment in ensuring 30 percent of the population have access to formal financial services, particularly through the use of digital financial services (DFS).

Mr. Norbert Mumba, AFI Deputy Executive Director noted the significance of the joint meeting as financial inclusion strategy and data are mutually dependent in order to achieve their respective goals. The implementation of the strategy in positioning working groups for policy leadership alliance was shared with the members. In addition, members also learnt the key objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and how to align SDGs with their national strategies.

The working group meeting participants took the opportunity to identify policy topic priorities that will be developed jointly by both working groups. Among the proposed ideas are creating monitoring and evaluation guidance notes for national financial inclusion etrategy (NFIS) and the measurement of outcome and impact of NFIS. Developing frameworks for measurement of the impact of financial transaction costs on financial inclusion, NFIS or financial inclusion policies on targeted segments and financial inclusion policies on the informal sector.

Furthermore, members suggested a standard definition for green finance and that case studies be conducted on socially responsible finance.