On 3 December, to celebrate ten years of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) hosting AFI’s headquarters, AFI and BNM organized a panel discussion on the ‘Socio-Economic Impact Measurement of Financial Inclusion Policies’.
“The positive impacts of financial inclusion on poverty reduction, gender balance, and economic growth are well known,” said AFI Head of Monitoring & Evaluation, Charles Marwa. “While it’s clear that access to inclusive finance such as savings, micro-credit, insurance, and investments boosts entrepreneurial activities and employment, measuring the effect of any particular policy within these broader development outcomes remains a challenge.”
Focusing on women and employment, the event sought to identify approaches, frameworks and methodologies to measure the impact of financial inclusion polices. Jasmina binti Mohd Mokhtar, BNM Deputy Director for Financial Inclusion, shared data and insight on the impact of the bank’s financial inclusion policies and initiatives, notably around the uptake of micro-savings, credit and insurance products by women and in rural areas.
Audrey Hove, AFI’s Head of Gender Inclusive Finance, provided AFI-network examples of women’s financial inclusion data measurement, while Jaheed Parvez, AFI Project Manager for Policy Programs & Implementation, examined the relationship between financial inclusion and employment, revealing how African central banks and financial sector regulators are contributing to job creation.