AFI’s Competition Enablers Knowledge Exchange held its third meeting of 2025 on 14 May in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. The hybrid event was attended by representatives from 13 AFI member institutions, as well as experts from Banco Central do Brasil, United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Acacia Economics.

The group discussed the actions needed to unlock more inclusive competition, how to implement those actions within their specific jurisdictions, and the type of support needed. Among the recommendations which emerged were to:

• Develop a competition diagnostic tool or framework to help countries identify and quantify competition challenges.
• Define country-specific KPIs for identifying market dominance and anti-competitive behavior.
• Enhance regulator capacity to critically assess cost breakdowns provided by financial service providers.
• Facilitate policy engagement at senior levels through communiqués or briefs to ensure high-level buy-in.

In the coming months, an AFI report on competition enablers for financial inclusion will be produced. It will provide an overview of emerging competition and regulatory issues in digital financial services, comparative analysis of how jurisdictions are responding, and case studies and thematic synthesis to generate policy recommendations.

From 14–18 July 2025 in Lima, Perú, AFI and SBS Perú, with technical support from UNCDF, will host in-person training on “Regulating for Competitive and Inclusive Digital Financial Services”.