AFI Working Group Leaders Virtual Meeting

Opening remarks by Dr. Alfred Hannig, AFI Executive Director 

Chairs and Co-Chairs of the AFI Policy Working Groups, AFI Management Unit, ladies and gentlemen, let me take this opportunity to welcome you all to this virtual Working Group Leaders meeting and thank you for your time in attending.

We have all survived 2020 and what a year it was. For many of us, it is a year that we will remember spent in lockdown modes, having unlimited number of zoom calls & meetings, and spending time not only with our family, but individually as well.

Despite the circumstances, it also provided us with a renewed sense of our purpose, and for us within the financial inclusion ecosystem and as members of the AFI network, this pandemic allows us to see how important our purpose is for those at the bottom of the pyramid.

On that note, I wish to acknowledge the active engagement of the working groups despite the challenges brought forth by the pandemic in 2020. It is a testament of the sustainability of our working group model as a network. Well done and I encourage you to keep up the active engagement.

The works undertaken in the implementation of the current WG strategy is now structured towards positioning the WG for policy leadership. In our last strategy discussion in Rwanda, additional issues were raised, and I am pleased to note that these have been addressed and integrated into the efficient management of the WG’s.

I wish to take this opportunity to share that at the 22nd AFI Board of Directors Meeting on 17 December 2020, the AFI Management Unit (MU) presented to the Board the Working Groups deliverables for the year 2020. The Board commended and expressed appreciation for the outstanding leadership shown by the Working Group Chairs and Co-Chairs and remarked that the excellent set-up of the Working Groups has made them key to creating passion and drive in the AFI network.

On behalf of the AFI Board of Directors, I wish to convey once more the Board’s commendation and appreciation to the Working Group leaders. I also am pleased to inform you all that a letter recognizing this has been sent to your Governors.

The results of the Member Needs Assessment (MNA) Survey 2020 has recognised that members’ satisfaction on Working Groups remains high at 78% and when asked whether AFI Working Groups are an effective mechanism for knowledge generation on Financial Inclusion policy, 86% agree. In addition to the Working Groups, members gave an 87% level of usefulness rating for AFI Financial Inclusion Policy Grants and 89% level of usefulness rating for Technical Support for In-Country Implementation (ICI) support.

In the year ahead of us agility, flexibility and focus, will be the proven qualities that will successfully guide AFI. As presented at the Annual General Meeting in September 2020, we are planning to implement key initiatives that leverage on strategic opportunities arising from the crisis and the current operating environment:

• Enhance member practical policy implementation and knowledge through a hybrid delivery mechanism, that combines physical and virtual platforms in the most optimal way.
• Increase policy implementation support programs to members while targeting acceleration of the use of technologies that advance regulatory and supervisory capacity in a cyber environment, as well as create enabling environment for affordable and sustainable financial services.
• Maintain organizational sustainability through further diversification of the funding base, decentralization through regional offices and increased use of technology in order to efficiently deliver services to members.
• Reinforce members demand on gaining access to practical policy solutions from outside of the network on topics that are not available within, through strategic engagement with developed country regulators and by engaging with standard setting bodies as part of the support in the implementation of financial inclusion policies.
• Expand delivery of programs that target the disproportionately excluded population and sectors of the economy, such as women, youth and MSME’s, as well as build resilience and adaptation of such segments against the impact of climate change.

In that regard, we request the WG leaders and relevant WG members to contribute to the implementation initiatives.

I am also happy to see the progress of AFI’s youngest working group, the Inclusive Green Finance Working Group (IGFWG). Seeing that AFI members are championing IGF and rapidly developing knowledge and guidance in this important but unchartered space is encouraging.  

Proof of this is the seven knowledge products already released and two more to come in the first quarter of 2021. Globally, there is mounting interest in Inclusive Green Finance and this year we see this policy area moving from theory to practice. I am also excited to know that IGFWG members are encouraging to elevate the relevance of IGF to standard setting bodies as a missing element in ongoing discussions on green finance and financial inclusion. You as working group members are essential in this process.

Measuring effective COVID-19 financial inclusion related policy responses to curtail the economic and financial impact in the livelihoods of the most vulnerable individuals and SMEs at a global scale should be now one of the focus of the Financial Inclusion Data Working Group (FIDWG). These will allow our network to be more resilient and stronger after the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. The global poverty is increasing for the first time since the last 20 years. It is estimated that 119 to 124 million people entered poverty in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Although vaccines are being rolled out, it will take time to reach many emerging market economies. Within this context, there is an urgent need to strengthen financial inclusion as a key tool to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic. So, we urge you to critically look at various thematic areas under financial inclusion and establish linkages to economic recovery from COVID-19.

As we continue to work towards our aspirations to consolidate as a policy leadership alliance, I wish to thank and congratulate all the WG’s that have successfully codified the endorsement and publication of AFI Financial Inclusion Policy Models (PM). To date we have four (4) PM’s approved and we look forward to an additional two this year that will focus on E-KYC and SME Finance. You will agree that the work that the working groups painstakingly undertake needs to be put to good use among the members.

The first step towards this is to widely disseminate the good work among members and stakeholders. We seek support for WG leaders, sub-group leads and working group members in disseminating the WG knowledge products within their own networks. This could be within your own institutions, professional and social media networks.

Sustainable and balanced growth will also support those who are most vulnerable, particularly those at the base of the pyramid. There is a need to ensure policy is not gender neutral but is developed and delivered through a full gender lens. We need to work towards an equitable future where all persons are included with products and services designed to fully meet their need.

The WGs play a key role, through the gender focal points, in integrating these vital gender considerations into their work to support all members in fulfilling their pledge made in the Denarau Action Plan so we can ensure we work towards closing the gender gap, meeting the sustainable development goals and ensuring no one is left behind.

One of the strengths of the AFI network is collaboration across borders and its delightful to learn about the collaboration between AFI working groups. Leveraging expertise and knowledge from different policy areas and ensuring that what we discuss and create is driving policy change is crucial.

This can be seen in the on-going joint work between the IGFWG and the DFSWG on creating guidance on how to accelerate and enable IGF through DFS, or the joint work between the IGFWG and the FISPLG, resulting in the newly launched guideline note on how to integrate IGF in an NFIS. Additionally, there is also the RegTech and Transaction Data Analytics case study that the FIDWG, DFSWG and GSPWG are working on; and the Green Credit Risk Guarantees Guideline Note that the SMEFWG and IGFWG are developing together.

Before I conclude, I would like to reiterate the importance of the working groups. As the backbone to driving the implementation and realization of AFI’s Phase III strategy, your role is of critical importance in finding innovative solutions to progress our work and deliverables as we move ahead.

The AFI Management Unit stands ready to provide its support and you, as leaders of the working groups play an important role in leading, guiding and directing your working groups members in the implementation and realization of the deliverables mapped out in you action plans. I wish to thank everyone again for their participation and to AFI team for arranging this meeting with the WG leaders. I wish you all a fruitful and positive deliberations and hope that 2021 will be a better year for all.

Thank you!