From November 26-28 2014, the IMF’s East African Regional Technical Assistance Center (East AFRITAC) agreed to develop a training course on agency banking along with the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) through the African Mobile Phone Financial Services Policy Initiative (AMPI).  In discussion with the Bank of Uganda and the training team coming from the Bank of Tanzania, it was agreed to open this course as a regional activity in order to support the regional capacity building efforts of AMPI.

The three-day training on agency banking supervision included the following:

• The Bank of Uganda giving an overview of their payments systems oversight and their banking environment in relation to mobile financial services;
• General landscape of mobile financial services and payment systems oversight in Tanzania;
• The role of the telecommunications regulator in relation to mobile financial services;
• Regulatory framework for agent banking developed in Tanzania;
• Supervisory framework for agent banking developed in Tanzania, comparing it with other frameworks used in the region;
• Money laundering and financing of terrorism (ML/FT) issues and supervision on mobile financial services;
• Sharing practical experiences on the implementation process in Tanzania and other countries in Africa.

The 16 participants had a background in banking supervision and payments systems and oversight and included representatives from the central banks from Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Ghana, Zambia, and Mozambique.

The training was well received and gave participants a good understanding about the approach taken by the Bank of Tanzania in developing an enabling environment, while at the same time also implementing relevant regulations, oversight and supervision to address the risks involved.