The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) has confirmed that Melinda Gates will address participants at the opening of the 2016 AFI Global Policy Forum via a short video message.

Her message will be shown just before the keynote address of the Honorable Prime Minister of the Republic of Fiji, Rear Admiral (Retired) Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama.

BMGF is a key partner and has been AFI’s largest annual donor up until the networks establishment as an independent organization in 2016. This is not the first time that BMGF has taken part in an AFI Global Policy Forum. Bill Gates appeared at the 2013 GPF in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia via video message in which he encouraged AFI members to expand their work and congratulated them on their vision for AFI independence.

The 2016 GPF is being held under the theme ‘Building the Pillars of Sustainable Inclusion’, with an agenda focused on many of the key areas for current and future financial inclusion policy focus. These include women’s financial inclusion, consumer empowerment, de-risking, technology, partnerships, data and SMEs and green finance.

The 2016 AFI Global Policy Forum is the first since the organization’s independence, and is set to be the largest event ever held by the Alliance, with over 500 senior policymakers, partners and private sector participants now registered.

The opening ceremonies, including the video presentation from Melinda Gates, will be livestreamed to a global audience at 08:30 in Fiji on 8 September (21:30 GMT on 7 September / 16:30 in New York on 7 September).

To access the live stream or for more information about the 2016 AFI Global Policy Forum, please click here.