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By Governor Dasho Penjore, Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan

In 2009, the Royal Government of Bhutan delivered an announcement entitled, “Declaration of the Kingdom of Bhutan – The Land of Gross National Happiness to Save the Planet,” at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark. In this declaration, our country committed to remain carbon neutral where emissions do not exceed the…

By Amina Tirana, Social Impact, Visa Inc.

As the world faces the momentous impact of COVID-19, central banks, government ministries and private industry leaders are implementing solutions to address the immediate needs of their communities, in particular micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). MSMEs play an outsized role in livelihoods, employment and national gross domestic…

By Sulita Levaux, Working Group Policy Analyst & Nik Kamarun, Policy Manager, SME Finance, AFI

Making up 90 percent of businesses and more than 50 percent of employment in developing economies, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) can become active players in climate change strategy, adaptation and mitigation by adopting measures that adjust to its effects and help…

By Ghiyazuddin Ali Mohammad, Senior Policy Manager, Digital Financial Services & Adeyemi Omotoso, Policy Specialist, FinTech, AFI

More than 3 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 as of 28 April 2020, up from around 600,000 a month earlier. Despite reaching almost every corner of the globe, the crisis has exposed social inequalities with a disproportionate impact on informal…

By Majidah Hashim, Communications, AFI

One evening, not long ago, I received an unexpected group message from a friend that I have not heard from for a while. While the COVID-19 induced movement controls have indeed led to many reunions with long lost friends, this one was different.

“Go outside and look at the sky NOW!” the message simply said. No greeting. No small talk. Yet,…

This article was originally featured in Central Bank Payments News.

It is without a doubt that the world has gone digital and the fourth revolution is upon us – where technology is no longer a tool to improve how we do things but instead infused to all we do. New business models in financial technology (FinTech) leveraging on low marginal cost infrastructure like the mobile and superior…

The global population may be aging, but Bhutan is safely bucking the trend. With an estimated 60 percent aged below 25, this represents a key demographic that Royal Monetary Authority of Bhutan (RMA Bhutan) Governor Dasho Penjore hopes will help create a more level playing field against the country’s better-connected neighbors.

Governor Dasho Penjore recently sat down with AFI to discuss how…

By AFI Communications

In conjunction with International Women’s Day (IWD) this year, we decided to do something a little different. We reached out within our network for some words of wisdom and were pleasantly surprised by all the responses we received by AFI members. In fact, we were so overwhelmed by the enthusiasm shown by our members, that we extended our IWD tribute…

By Stephanie Oula, Women’s Financial Inclusion Data (WFID) Partnership Manager, Data2X

2020 is a milestone year for gender equality. It marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Beijing Platform for Action, where 189 countries agreed to a historic blueprint for achieving gender equality and advancing women’s empowerment during the 1995 UN World Conference on Women. Women’s economic…

By Paul I. Oluikpe, Head of Financial Inclusion Secretariat, Central Bank of Nigeria

Nigeria’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), is targeting an increase in the number of adult Nigerians with access to formal financial services to 80 percent by 2020. This ambitious goal is led by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and aims to increase financial inclusion by 16…