Financial education & literacy catalysts for Arab World financial inclusion efforts

AFI Executive Director Alfred Hannig was keynote speaker at a financial education focused event held in Rabat, Morocco on 20-21 October. “Financial education in the Arab World: Strategies, Implementation and Impact” was hosted by Bank Al-Maghrib who has been spearheading the design and implementation of financial education strategies in the Arab region, and the Arab Monetary Fund, in collaboration with the Government of Morocco, GIZ, the World Bank and OECD. The conference brought together practitioners, researchers, development partners, and high-level government authorities to share emerging best practices on developing financially educated and capable communities.

Participants from 16 Arab countries along with representatives from CGAP, ACCION, the World Bank, GIZ, and IFC, discussed and debated recent trends and experiences across the region. AFI was invited to share insights from its Alliance on the impact of financial education and literacy, and examine the linkages with economic inclusiveness and development.

In the keynote speech Mr. Hannig, emphasized the growing recognition amongst policymakers of financial education as an important life skill as well as a government policy priority. “Financial education empowers consumers to make informed financial decisions which can have a dramatic impact on their financial welfare and the well-being of the society”, said Mr. Hannig. Participants’ attention was also focused on how financial education reinforces financial stability, as educated consumers are more likely to help financial institutions to improve their debt management and mitigate bad loan portfolios. Mr. Hannig highlighted how educated consumers could provide the influence to strengthen market discipline through their demand for transparency and disclosure, better services, good management and observance of their rights. The Executive Director of AFI also indicated that as large segments of population made aware of the formal financial systems benefits, the pressure for financial institutions to expand banking services to the poor people will continue to grow.

Although financial policymakers have recognized the importance of financial education policy, they still face a challenge in producing solid evidence on the concrete impact of financial education programs. Thus, Mr. Hannig highlighted the necessity for all stakeholders to put a greater emphasis on gathering and sharing data on the impact on the ground of financial education and literacy. He invited policymakers from the Arab Region to learn from and share with peers in the AFI network, as an increasing number of AFI members are committing to the adoption and implementation of financial education strategies.

Bank Al-Maghrib, which made commitments under the AFI Maya Declaration in September 2013, was highlighted as an example of the kind of progress that can be achieved by working within in the AFI network. Bank Al-Maghrib made commitments to (i) consolidate initiatives for promoting financial literacy and to establish a National Financial Education Foundation charged with implementing the national financial education strategy and to (ii) launch a study to assess the financial capacity of the Moroccan population. At the end of the year 2015, these targets were reached with positive results. Mr. Hannig encouraged policymakers from other Arab countries to learn from the fruitful collaboration between Bank Al-Maghrib and other governmental departments in advancing financial literacy. Others in the region which have successfully moved forward with regards to the implementation of comprehensive financial education strategies include the Palestine Monetary Authority, Central Bank of Egypt and the Bank of Lebanon.

Topics covered during the conference included the linkages between financial education and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the importance of tailoring financial education programs to the needs of different target groups such as women, youth, migrants, Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSME) as well as the role of Financial Regulators and promoting financial education.

Participants agreed to institutionalize this meeting and organize it every two years with the aim to engage policymakers in adopting and implementing financial education strategies. In this regards, Mr. Abdellatif Jouahri, Governor of Bank Al-Maghrib, encouraged Financial Regulators in the Arab World, which have not yet joined AFI, to do so soonest to benefit from the network’s unique peer—to-peer knowledge sharing model of promoting inclusive growth through financial inclusion.