From 21 to 23 February, AFI members from Latin America and the Caribbean were in Luxembourg, exchanging insight and experiences with local financial inclusion stakeholders.

The event, which explored developments in inclusive green finance, regulating FinTech, and cybersecurity, is the latest in a series of joint efforts that started in 2022, when AFI initiated a pilot project with support from the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, to advance financial inclusion in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC).

“Meetings like this serve to deepen the synergies between the LAC region and Luxembourg’s inclusive finance ecosystem, and open up further opportunities for cooperation,” explained AFI Executive Director, Dr Alfred Hannig.

“Inclusive Green Finance and regulating FinTech and cybersecurity are perfect ‘convergence’ topics in that they transcend the traditional boundaries of Global North and Global South, and require cooperation across borders.”

AFI members attending included Margarita Hernández Naranjo, Superintendente de Economía Popular y Solidaria (Ecuador) and Marcio Sierra, President of the Comisión Nacional de Bancos y Seguros de Honduras, as well as representatives from Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador, Banco Central del Paraguay, Central Bank of The Bahamas, Centrale Bank van Suriname, Superintendencia de Banca, Seguros y AFP del Perú, and Superintendencia General de Entidades Financieras de Costa Rica.

European perspectives came from the Central Bank of Luxembourg, the National Bank of the Republic of North Macedonia, and Banco de España, as well as from a wide range of Luxembourg-based financial inclusion actors.

“This knowledge exchange has been very fruitful,” said Ghiyazuddin Mohammad, AFI’s Head of Policy Management. “Our members have been learning about innovations happening at a global level, and comparing their policy and regulatory approaches not just with their LAC peers, but with European countries”.

“The experience has been very rewarding,” confirmed John Moncur, Examiner IT/Operational Risk at Central Bank of The Bahamas, “both in terms of the expert technical content presented in the various sessions and in being able to meet and learn from one’s peers. It broadens one’s perspective, and will be very helpful in developing organizational objectives.”

“The opportunity to share experiences in person, and to learn how peers from other countries are tackling IT and cyber security challenges, is very valuable,” said José Munera López, IT Risk Supervisor at Banco de España. “These risks transcend borders, and ultimately we are all in this together.”  

“Cross-regional, multi-stakeholder dialogue of this type is very helpful,” said Laura Foschi, Executive Director of ADA, a Luxembourgish non-governmental organization active in inclusive finance since 1994. “Learning what is on regulators’ minds, and letting them hear our experiences from the field, lets us move forward together.”

AFI’s Financial Inclusion Initiative for Latin America and the Caribbean, which comprises member institutions from the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Suriname, aims to promote inclusive growth and poverty reduction across the LAC region through sustainable financial inclusion policies.