Congratulations to the graduates of the Fletcher School Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion! Celebrations took place in the Rwandan capital of Kigali on 11 September, as 18 fellows from 17 countries received their certificates in the executive program that helps policymakers design and implement better financial inclusion policies, following an intensive nine-month program.

A graduation ceremony was held in the run up to the 2019 AFI Global Policy Forum (GPF) and in front of a room full of program alumni and representatives from development sector organizations.

“Now it’s time to lead using your newfound leadership skills … share your knowledge, apply those skills, act on what you’ve learnt and help move the financial inclusion needle,” a director at Financial Systems FSD Africa and guest speaker, Juliet Munro, told the graduates.

The program – now in its 8th round – has been designed for the “rising stars” of public institutions in developing and emerging markets, with the goal of providing policymakers with the necessary skills to design, implement and evaluate sound and innovative financial inclusion policies.

The Fletcher course is divided into three parts that opens with a 12-module online course, followed by a two-week residence at Tufts University.

A key element of the coursework sees fellows hone their studies on a specific policy area that often complements their institution’s strategic priorities. Policy memos are published after the graduation ceremony, and this year feature work in a variety of areas, including access to affordable financing for microenterprises in Costa Rica, Fintech services for Ethiopia’s youth and the development of instant payment infrastructure in Kosovo.

Since 2011, 127 fellows have graduated from the program, with the majority hailing from AFI member institutions. Hosted by the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, program alumni continue to proactively champion financial inclusion within their institutions as well as maintain proactive engagement in the AFI network. 

Among them is Herbert Asiimwe from Rwanda’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. A graduate of the 2017 cohort, Asiimwe used his time at the program to work on a policy that aimed at introducing a long-term saving scheme for Rwandans working in the informal sector. Since then, the policy has been developed further and implemented under the Ejo Heza sheme, a voluntary long-term saving scheme that targets both the formal and informal sector and began rolling out earlier this year.

AFI’s long-standing collaboration with the program supports the strengthening of members’ technical capacity and the development of leadership skills.

Let’s hear it for the class of 2019!

Below are the graduates of the Fletcher School Leadership Program for Financial Inclusion in 2019:

Stephen Mathew Ambore, Head, Digital Financial Services, Financial Inclusion Secretariat, Central Bank of Nigeria

Ben Ayuk Besong, Unit Head, Microfinance Promotion, Regulation and Follow Up Unit, Ministry of Finance, Cameroon

Lucy Charles-Shaidi, Manager, Bank of Tanzania

Nonhlanhla Chiromo, Principal Bank Examiner, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe

Dardan Fusha, Director, Department for Payment Systems, Central Bank of the Republic of Kosovo

Eyob Gebreyesus Habtu, Director-Payment and Settlement Systems Directorate, National Bank of Ethiopia

Md Tohurul Hasan, Program Manager, Access to Information (a2i), Information & Communication Technology Division, Bangladesh

Ibrahim Umar Hassan, Deputy Director/Head, Market Conduct & Development, Central Bank of Nigeria

Muhammad Mushaf Khan, Financial Advisor, Agriculture Delivery Unit, Department of Agriculture, Government of Punjab, Pakistan

Suzgo Judith Luhanga, Chief Economist, Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning and Development, Malawi

Mehrechane Nayel, General Department Head, Central Bank of Egypt

Samuel Martin Kamunyu Njoroge, Manager Investor Education and Public Awareness Capital Markets Authority Kenya

Lilliana Orozco Vindas, Banking Supervisor, General Superintendence of Financial Institutions, Costa Rica

Nompumelelo Prudence Radebe, Director, National Treasury of South Africa

German San Lorenzo, Deputy Manager of Financial Innovation, Central Bank of Argentina

Veny Tamarind, Manager, Bank Indonesia

Liya Banda, Tembo, Director-Legal & Policy, Financial Intelligence Centre, Zambia

Ann Valery Victor, Financial Inclusion Analyst, Bank of the Republic of Haiti