More than 90 participants from 46 institutions will convene in Cairo for a series of working group meetings co-hosted by the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) from 11-14 March 2019.

The event will see members from AFI’s Financial Inclusion Data (FID) and Global Standards Proportionality (GSP) working groups gather to discuss topics such as data collection and regulatory technology (RegTech).

Working groups play a key role in helping AFI achieve its vision of making financial services more accessible to the world’s 1.7 billion adults who remain unbanked – not having access to an account at a financial institution or through a mobile money provider. In host nation Egypt, for example, some 67 percent of adults do not have a bank account, according to the 2017 Global Findex.

For GSP members, this will be the first time that the International Associate of Deposit Insurers (IADI) and individual deposit insurers will participate as technical advisers, to work together with AFI members on topics such as the implications of technological innovation. On their agenda, members will use the meetings to develop of a toolkit on Balancing Financial Inclusion and Anti-Money Laundering/ Counting Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) as well as discuss recommendations for how to effectively apply RegTech for financial inclusion.

Meanwhile, one of the highlights in the FID calendar will be the speeches from representatives of CBE and Bank of Zambia on the development of a comprehensive sex-disaggregated data framework. Separately, CBE, a member of both working groups, will use the event to present a run-down of its key financial inclusion initiatives with a focus on leveraging data and analytics towards proportionate global standard implementation.

Participants will also have the chance to wind down at an AFI dinner and CBE gala dinners, as well as site visits to a local bazaar and the pyramids for its nightly sound and light show.

About GSP Working Group

The GSP Working Group (GSPWG), whose 44-member institutions are chaired by Bank Negara Malaysia, provides a platform to facilitate peer learning on issues policymakers and regulators face in achieving a balance between financial inclusion, integrity and stability, as well as to examine the proportionate implementation of global standards set by global Standard-Setting Bodies (SSBs).

About FID Working Group

The FID Working Group (FIDWG) leads discussions and knowledge-sharing activities on the measurement of financial inclusion including data issues, methodologies and global standards and principles. The group leverages lessons from AFI members and practitioners around the world with the aim to develop a common framework for measuring financial inclusion.

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